This movie is not for wimps. Its many plot twists and surprises will have you on the edge of your seat, if not hiding under it. Ladies, be sure to have your man beside you when you go to see this film. It is far better to have someone you know whose arm you can grab, rather than to scare some poor, strange guy next to you. Veteran actress Ellen Dow was great as Natalie Shaw, as was newcomer Rhett McKinney as Roger, and the setting of the foothills of the Sierras was beautiful. Mr. McKinney artfully told his story within the time and budget constraints of an indie film. Although a basic story line, the plot had plenty of depth for thinkers.I viewed this film in the vintage Crest Theatre in Sacramento. I look forward to seeing its release in modern venues where theatergoers will benefit from up-to-date sound and projection equipment. Northern California is fortunate to have Ryan McKinney at the helm in promoting the movie industry in the Sacramento area. His passion, drive, and ethics are inspirational. I cannot wait to see where he takes us next.

This movie was made on a realtively small budget in a very much larger landscape of feature films, and was impressive to me because of the smartly written plot and how much was done with so little. I am a writter and tend to analyze movies from that standpoint. What I decided after watching this movie at the Crest Theatre--it was the marquee film for the Sacramento 2010 Film Festival--was that this dude Ryan McKinney is smart, very smart, and does not treat his audience as if they were any thing less. He lets your brain work out details rather than step-by-step going, "Ok audience, 1 + 1 equals 2, and 2 + 2 equals 4...." No, no, no, no, McKinney respects his audience and takes you on a journey (ride!) that kept me beguiled from start to end because I, frankly, did not know what was going to happen next.And then, BAM!, came the ending. It was as if, on a clear blue day, a piano fell straight from the sky. It, if I can show my age and use an expression from back in the day, "Blew my Mind!"

I also saw this film's screening at the Sacramento Film Festival and agree that it is about one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Besides some decent cinematography and nice locations, the film was a complete let-down. A majority of the acting was pathetic, and to think that director McKinney is coaching aspiring film actors at a studio in Sacramento is ridiculous. The plot line was far too simple, and the dialog left so much to be desired. The pace of the film and editing was way too slow at times, the thrilling moments seemed predictable. The only shock was at the very end, and then the film just leaves you hanging, not understanding the purpose at all.McKinney spends so much time hitting the audience over the head with religious overtones, but then you don't really understand to what purpose. A main character, Natalie Shaw, wonderfully played by Ellen Dow, accidentally unleashes this evil as a child. But she has apparently lived a full and decent life if she is over 90 years old at the end of the film! We see her with rosary beads in her retirement home, so she must have achieved some personal faith and belief in God during her lifetime. But when she attempts to destroy the evil "spirit board" the devil sucks her into hell? So... if the lesson of the film is... "have faith or the devil is going to get you" then she still ends up being sucked to hell, so where's the reasoning? Looks like a whole lot of money was spent on actors and visual effects on a real dud of a script and no direction. There is no dialog about why the mother doesn't want her baby baptized (apparently an important trait about why her character has no faith.) She screams and kicks uncontrollably while doctors are trying to help her save her baby... how unrealistic! The most annoying thing is everyone keeps going back into this house that is possessed, and the spiritual guide (a decent cameo by Pam Grier) tells them to get out, several people have already died... would you go back in? Also, in McKinney's bio he claims to have directed "over 60 films" but when you look at his IMDb credits, there's not much there. He's given the film festival's legend award? What a joke!

I saw this film last night at the Sacramento Film Festival and it is, by far, the worst fill-length film I have ever seen. This is not an exaggeration. I've seen some bad movies and this tops them all. It's not even all the blood that makes it horrible...it's the entire story. It's filled with cliché plot lines and has so many loose ends that you're left wondering what the director was thinking. The word at the festival is that he has a prequel and sequel to film, but I really hope he doesn't. They're only bound to be worse than this one and I don't want to see them.I know some people who read the original script and was told post-film what the original ending had been. The original ending would have been far superior and would have made actual sense to the overall story, but no. The director decided on an ending that was hideous, unnecessary and sick. In fact, I would label this entire film as unworthy of anyone's time and/or money.I will say that the only bright spot in this film is Ellen Dow. She's always awesome.