My rating: Worth Seeing Once

I've been a fan of Dark Castle films' efforts since Thirteen Ghosts. Movies like House on Haunted Hill and Ghost Ship seemed to slip by the viewing public virtually undetected, so I suppose they picked Halle Berry up so folks would take notice. I think it worked... this was one of the more popular movies in the franchise.

I like scary movies a lot. Heather can't watch them... she ends up breathing mostly through my sleeve, and I have a permanent imprint of her face on my shoulder before the whole thing is over with. Anyway, back to the point... I like scary movies. And this, ladies and gentlemen, was a scary movie.

It follows the Bill Castle tradition (hence the name "Dark Castle" for the studio) of setting the majority of the story in one very scary place... in this case, a mental institution. There's a ghost, there's a bloody murder. There's a surprise. (No I'm not going to tell you!) It's all very richly done, and the time spent watching is not regretted.

I think my favorite thing about movies like this and DK's other films is that they make me feel like I am, myself, trapped as well. The setting is claustrophobic, the outlook looks hopeless, and before I know what's going on, I'm stuck inside the cell and it's me that the ghost is chasing. This film pulled me in. It grabbed hold of me, held on tight, and didn't let me go until the end.

On the downside, the ending was a little predictable. But heck, folks... it's a horror flick. If you want to be baffled by an ending, go rent the Sixth Sense again. This movie succeeds in doing best what it set out to do, I think... scare the bajeezas outta ya. And for that, for that wonderful scared-to-death feeling, I salute it.

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