Sadly Over-hyped

Did you people see the same film I saw?

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Reading the various negative reviews of this film here indicates just how dumbed down audiences (particularly American audiences) have become by the garbage that Hollywood has been spewing out for decades. Here we have a film that succeeds on every level as a Thriller. It has a dark and disturbing atmosphere, sets its premise out quickly and subtly, then goes about its business without any of the formulaic story by numbers or fanfare that the major studios feel compelled to feed their clueless audiences. If you can't sit with this gently told story for two hours without relishing the expert editing, photography and direction that spins a tale of horror and suspense as good as you would find in any great Thriller of note then you deserve what you get...rubbish like the Independence Day series or Halloween. This is a movie for those who love a dark Thriller, loaded with atmosphere whose journey is much more important than the destination - as shocking at that might be in this case. There are elements here of the Girl in the Hornet's Nest trilogy, Seven,and other films that grab you by the throat and don't let go even as the end-titles are running. If you want simple, idiotic horror films where you know from the opening scene where things will end, this film is not for you. If you relish a couple of hours of slowly building tension that has a degree of challenge about it, then you should enjoy this little gem. Reading some of the truly bizarre reviews here saying people found it incomprehensible or hard to follow leads me to comment that they should stick to what they know...which clearly isn't much. There's nothing overly complicated about the plot...you just need to pay attention and enjoy the ride. This is a moody. atmospheric, tense thriller any fan of the genre will love.

Please, don't do it, do not waste your time!! When I came scrolled down to see the film reviews I saw that it had been nominated for an award. I said to myself, for worst movie ever. Guess what? Nominated for worst film of the year!

The critics gleefully rip this one to shreds. They have many valid points, such as the dragging flow, confusing narrative of it all--a insipid and pervasive banality underlying. But the acting, cinematography, lighting and direction keep this one moving in a lesser impact than Crimson Rivers, but at least at par with Dennis Quaid's "The Horseman." This one should probably be a mainstay in film school about a movie that failed though all the right ingredients were present: a popular novel about a serial killer, one of our best actors living, superb supporting cast and a great premise. But the film feels like they shot a bunch of scenes, threw them into a lotto grinder, and hoped for the best. Was the editing the fallure? And if so, who approve the editing failure? Was it a direction failure? If so, which producers signed off on their final product? Really, all they had to do was follow the basic 80's horror films: a traumatized child, a mother complex, followed by compulsive sausage grinding. Why didn't they just follow a few episodes of Blacklist or Hannibal? So Easy. Was the ego of the director allowed so much freedom to mess this one up this bad? Honestly, without any film experience at all, following basic formulas, I'm sure I could have directed this one into a pale version of Silence of the Lambs, leaving all tech to everyone else, and instead using my skills as a psychologist to work with the actors to give their best performance. Let's just see if we can come up with our own story....there is a detective. An alcoholic detective--who strangely experiences missing gaps in time. Suddenly, he begins receiving messages from a serial killer--formerly dubbed as "The Picasso Killer," (because he arranges his victims within grotesque picture frames in surreal fashion). The messages taunt and tease him, sending him vague clues he must decipher in order to stop the next killing. But then a twist occurs. The detective is actually suffering from multiple personality disorder, and it is then revealed he has been writing letters to himself all along. But then there is another twist, a twist within a twist, for we then understand the detective has a paradoxical form of multiple personality disorder in which he believes he and his twin are one person, due of course to childhood abuse. Who is the cop and who is the twin? The twin is a high ranking political candidate, sure of his victory, which is predicated on his twin detective solving his murderous rampage. Sounds great, doesn't it? Movie Time!

I read the book and was super excited for this. I have NEVER wanted to walk out of a movie until this one. Just bad.