Like most of the other horror films I've seen so far this year, this one had some genuinely creepy/scary moments, but did not pass the true test--those moments did not follow me home and keep me up at night (the best example of a film that did pass this test is the original "The Omen"--when I closed my eyes that night the only thing I could see was Billie Whitelaw's creepy, evil stare, and I ended up sleeping on the floor of my sister's room).
The film follows a strange structure, starting out disjointed, then gradually coming together before kind of falling apart again. Early on it is a series of seemingly unconnected police investigations by police officer Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana) and his partner (Joel McHale). Bana plays a highly fictionalized version of the man who the film is "inspired by". The fictionalization is so great that the end of the credits bears the traditional "This film is a work of fiction.." disclaimer. Each of these investigations has moments of creepiness, some greater than others, but it takes a while for the "demonic" connection between the cases to take shape. This wasn't a problem for me, as I don't mind films that take a slow-burn approach, so long as they ultimately pay off. Here, in some ways, it does, as Bana's attempts to uncover the truth about what is going on is a genuinely compelling mystery. Edgar Ramirez, as an unconventional priest who at times joins Bana in his investigation is a welcome presence. This middle section is the best the film has to offer, though it does have its problems. The screenplay often doesn't know what to do with Bana's partner, leaving him off screen for long stretches of the film with little explanation. The film also saddles itself with a cliched "family drama" storyline about Bana's work interfering with his home life. It doesn't derail the film and is not horribly done, but it is unoriginal and takes momentum away from the primary narrative.
The film doesn't fully fall apart towards the end, but it could have been a lot better. The possessed man Bana is hunting doesn't seem to have any ultimate goal in mind beyond recruiting more people/demons to its cause. An exorcism scene, basically the film's climax, goes on for way too long, offering nothing we haven't seen done better before in "The Exorcist". The film also resolves the cliched family storyline by using the equally cliched "family gets kidnapped" storyline. For a film boasting about being inspired by real events, much of it feels written by a Hollywood focus group.
In the end, the film's slow start pays off, but only to a point. Until the final third it tells an interesting story from a sometimes fresh perspective, but when it comes time to wrap it up, there's nothing that hasn't been done before.
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