Come out come out, whatever you are.
After his wife’s (Alias’s Amy Irving) apparent suicide, Manhattan psychiatrist David Calloway (Robert De Niro) takes his daughter (Dakota Fanning) away to live in a remote house in upstate New York. Against the advice of the girl’s therapist (Famke Janssen), father and daughter seek a fresh start in this isolated summer community that houses creepy woods and even creepier neighbors. The real threat, however, does not come from the outside. Having lost her beloved mommy, the withdrawn girl develops a friendship with an imaginary friend by the name of Charlie. Mutilated dolls, bloody messages appearing on the bathroom walls and the girl developing circles under her eyes that make us think of Christina Ricci in The Adam’s Family make this a challenging experience for daddy who thinks his daughter has gone loco.
After Meet the Fockers, Robert De Niro tries something completely different by starring in this awfully lame horror flick. Even though he is more or less convincing as the caring father, it is Dakota Fanning who steals nearly every scene she is in. As one might guess, Robert De Niro must have learned from previous stinkers like Godsend to actually read scripts before signing for a movie but probably didn’t for this one either. The most annoying thing is that nearly everything in this movie has already been done before; and in a much better way. Creepy woods, isolated houses, dimly lit cellars and cats jumping out of closets are no ground-breaking additions to the horror genre. Moreover, the frustratingly slow pacing of the movie makes it even harder to give it any credit besides Fanning’s possessed child acting.
Stay away stay away, whoever you are.