Strictly average movie

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

This was actually really spooky. The film has some great visuals and an eerie tone. It is a different take on the haunting/possession genre and quite frankly one I enjoyed immensely. This will no doubt go down as a classic.

The mom must be the worst actor in Russian history. Her reactions are unbelievably delayed as if no one edited the movie. Her character has no real use in the movie nor any good dialog yet she had a lot of screen time. The doctor was equally bad as was the father. The kids outperformed the adults... As for the movie, if you are looking for something new, keep walking. This is about the most generic horror flick ever made. You have 1 early teen girl, 1 late teen girl, mom, dad and a guy who once had to deal with the bad ghost. Add in mirror, and possession and I bet 9/10 people can tell us what happens. There are about 3 jump loud scares and that's about it. The ghost design looks like something out of Japanese horror and comes with the obligatory noises that they make, so nothing new there either.Skip it.

In the very first scene Anya summons the Queen Of Spades, the Russian equivalent of a Bloody Mary minus the vodka. Kids get haircuts and die. When the Bloody Mary aspect of the film gets old, they combine it with an exorcist type film (pick one, they are all about the same) with Vladimir Seleznyov playing the duel role of Zelda Rubinstein and Jason Miller.The film is Russian with English subtitles. It had some decent cinematography and story line. Was that a butter knife she cut her finger on and tried to stab people with? Also, one more time, a defibrillator can NOT start a stopped heart. It is used to STOP a heart that is fibrillating, hence the name "defibrillator". Kudos for the Russians to work in some obscure 2014 science fact that mice share 70% of their DNA with humans, although I fail to see why an entity would jump into a rodent because of it or even why someone would think that. Where is the major "B" film precedent? I know some of you want to quote Matthew 8:28-34, but that was pigs who share 98% DNA, not a mere 70%. The take away: The human race is mostly rat and nearly all pig.The film had some slow scenes and I think a black mirror would have worked better for the Queen of Spades with Russian pagan music with off-setting drum beats similar to the ones used in "Red Riding Hood" (2011-Amanda Seyfried). But that is just me. Anya was not too convincing when possessed, even with the funny contacts. Okay to watch when you can sit down and pay attention to the screen, unless you understand Russian.No swearing, sex, or nudity.

Let me say this first, even before the opening credits start, the sound design grabs you right away. It is unusually moody and atmospheric, at least it really had that immediate effect on me.Finding English subtitles for it took a little work, since the Blu-ray is released in Germany and has only German and Russian audio and only German and Russian subtitles, but I found them :)For me personally, when I watch any films but particularly Horror movies, the thing that really grabs me first and foremost is the tone, mood, and atmosphere. And, let me tell you, this movie has it BIG time! So, if you are like me and you really like that aspect of Horror, you should really like this one. Again, I cannot say enough about the sound design. It is rather dominant and is a large part of the film, but I felt that it added tremendously to the Intensity and Surreal nature of the movie. It isn't aggressive in the sense that it is super harsh or loud, but has a deep, creative, ambient style that genuinely adds to the Suspense of the movie. Some people who may find strong soundtracks intrusive in their Horror films, MIGHT not like it. But, I feel that IF it is done well, it can really add to the feel of the film. It kind of reminds me of Retro Horror movies of the past where soundtracks were more aggressive.I can't speak for other people, but I personally kind of preferred the German track to the original Russian. I'm probably going to watch the movie again with the Russian track, but for me, I kind of liked the smoother, calmer sound of the German as a counterpoint to the Dread and Suspense of the film. But, that could just be me; since the disc is German you will have a choice. Being in the U.S. and watching foreign films, it didn't detract really from the movie at all. The German was synced quite well with the actors. Now, with some movies that can really make a BIG difference. One Spaghetti Western I had had a German soundtrack. And, try as I might, it sounded really jarring and I just couldn't buy the Spaghetti cowboys speaking German. But, in this case being a Russian film, to me it blended just fine. That will be up to you which language you prefer...I also really liked the pacing and calmness of this film; it had a very classic feel to it, rather than artificial jump-scares or quick editing being dominant. The acting, considering the age of the actors, was actually done quite well I thought. With nice restraint and believability that you usually do not see so often in modern Horror films.Since there are SO many different kinds of Horror movies and people have their preferences, I would say that primarily for this film you would have to like the type of Horror movie where atmosphere and mood is emphasized over brutality and gore. There IS some of that here, but this is no Torture Porn film. So, if you are into the 'Action' more so than the Mood for Horror movies, then I'd say you may not care that much for this one. BUT... if you DO really like moody, atmospheric Horror films like I do, then I think there may be a very good chance that you might like this one...