Feminist Fear Freak: Haunter

I really want to love this movie. The conceit is great, and a lot better if it's not given away before the film starts. Abigail Breslin is always all-around phenomenal. And the film is tight... for the first half. The second half could have been shorter, tighter, and lighter on the special effects.

When the film begins Groundhog Day echoes loudly. Young Lisa gets up, irritated with her family, and tells her mother she did the laundry yesterday. It's soon revealed that every day is the same. Every day is the day before Lisa's 16th birthday and the car is broken, the phones are out, heavy fog prevents going outside and the day putters on in a monotonously simple pattern. Lisa is the only one who knows. It's an interesting take on the Groundhog Day concept, locked inside a somewhat ominous but initially just boring house. Every teenagers worst nightmare.

Until it gets worse. Lisa receives an ominous warning not to question the neverending repeat of their lives, or someone could get hurt. She begins hearing creepy things in the house. Her family begins acting strangely... though at first anything outside the routine feels "strange". She has no idea how long she's been repeating this day.

This is the section of the film that really shines. At first, as Lisa is hearing strange things and questioning her parents behavior, the viewer is somewhat unclear whether she is delusional (perhaps due to a quietly abusive home) or whether her parents are the ones who won't accept what is happening. This is where the film is taut, tense, and starts to show off the acting chops of Breslin.

Unfortunately, once Lisa figures out why it is that their days keep repeating, the film slowly but surely starts to go downhill. The effects get bigger and thus cheesier. The beginning twist starts out interesting but then meanders a bit, trying to hold together. Traditional ghost story tropes aren't used in a particularly interesting way, often coming off as odd and out of place. And the longer the film goes on, the worse the cinematography gets. Which is really a shame.

Overall, a hard-working lead actress, female-driven script and interesting conceit don't quite hold this film together through to the end. There's many parts of the film that I really loved, to the point where initially I forgave the clumsiness of the ending. But looking back more objectively, it's just not quite all there, and that is unfortunate given a great premise and a great actress. I'd recommend it for those days when you don't want to think too hard or get too scared or existential, but just want a bit of silly creepy fun. Because it is still a fun watch, as long as you don't think about it too hard.