Premise: After his wife and daughter die in a tragic accident, a composer moves into a house that turns out to be haunted.
I was definitely overpromised with this movie. It's one of those that for years I've heard people reference as a really great horror gem. Actually, it's a pretty unremarkable horror movie that happens to have George C. Scott giving it all he could. That alone does bump the movie up a letter grade or two. Beyond that though, the movie didn't do much for me. It has some good visuals. The recurring red ball was a nice throughline. But there wasn't a lot to actually scare me. By the end, it felt more like a murder mystery than a horror movie. Granted, a lot of horror movies turn into that, but they often have enough scares to sustain me through that third act. The result is a movie that felt like it was trying to be The Ring but ended up closer to What Lies Beneath. And when I'm looking for horror, a supernatural thriller doesn't always hit the spot.
I am intrigued by what was going on with horror in Canada in the 70s and 80s. Starting with Black Christmas, it seems like for every American horror movie, there was some interesting Canadian equivalent; often that came before the American one. Just this spooky season I've seen The Changeling, Prom Night, and My Bloody Valentine. Perhaps I need to research the Canadian film industry a little further.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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