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[The New Daughter]
Plot:A single father moves his two kids into a home in rural Illinois near a burial ground which begins to slowly change his daughter for the worse.
Cast:Ivana Baquero,
Kevin Costner,
Noah Taylor,
Samantha Mathis,
Gattlin Griffith.
My Thoughts:Saw it already.
Review:"The New Daughter" received a brief theatrical run a few months ago, and not only brief, but small as well. I wondered why though. Kevin Costner, established actor, and Ivana Baquero, young up and comer with a bright future in acting. What exactly was the problem? Well, after seeing the film, I now know why this film got a small release. Because I have seen it already! And....it sucked! I'll explain more on what I mean by "seen it already later", but on the subject of the movie, it follows a father who after a divorce, is now a single dad.
So he moves him and his son and daughter, to a house way out in some parts of Carolina. And by way out I mean way out, even by "the sticks" standards. Anyways, his daughter Louisa, is having the usual pre-teen spats with her dad. And matters get made worse when Louisa discovers a mound of dirt in the backyard of their house. But it's no ordinary mound of dirt. It's really a tomb for an ancient race of people, who now have their sights set on Louisa as part of their plan to repopulate themselves.
Causing Louisa to undergo some dark and ominous personality changes that get worse with each passing day. Can her dad save her and the rest of his family before it's too late? So like I said, I've seen this movie already. And who hasn't really? It's another tale of a naive family moving into a house that sits on or close to some bad juju. Plenty of horror films have used and recycled this stale plot device. The people in town are scared of the house, and even they know something is "up", with it.
But this still isn't enough to get Costner's character to pick up his family and get away from the place. His daughter is quickly changing into a whole nother person, yet still....he decides to stay. And the beat goes on. Yeah, like I said, SEEN IT ALREADY. There's nothing ingenius or even a little creative about this movie. Ivana Baquero acts the heck out of her role, and does a decent job carrying the film on the acting front. But the story is so flawed and weak that it overshadows her, and everyone elses performance.
The story is just too predictable, and the minute the weird stuff starts, you already know how it's all gonna end. Is there any saving grace for this film? Sad to say, none, well...maybe except the ending. The ending is a real twist, and really clever, and bold. And it's a shame that kind of spice wasn't spread around the rest of the movie. Because "The New Daughter" is anything but new, it's old. Same old story, same old twists, same old character behaviors, everything is old, stale, and reused.
I don't know why Kevin Costner even took on a role in this movie. I doubt after all these years he needed the money. Costner can still act, but his character is written so stupidly. The character practically goes out of his way to give his daughter to these creatures. And by the time he finally does something smart, which comes in the finale when the monsters encroach upon the house, it's too little too late, and everyone is doomed.
The film does have some decent death sequences though, one involving the babysitter, who always seems to "get it" in films like these, and Erik Palladino cameoing as a cop, only to find himself in some "trouble" of his own. But the demises are far from bloody or gory. In fact, they're quite tame, and in line with this sort of movie. Which is more supernatural in origin, and not really about hacking and slashing, etc. While "The New Daughter" shows flashes of brilliance from time to time, in very short spurts no less, it's not nearly enough to make the film enjoyable on any level really.
It tries too many of the same old tricks, inserts story caviats which make absolutely no sense (mound walkers? come on), and just isn't sharp enough from the get go to hold any big impact for a long period of time. Suburban soccer moms might find this one absolutely terrifying, but hardcore genre fans should look elsewhere for their killer/possessed kid horror flick jollies.
Positives:Bold ending, and Ivana Baquero gives a good performance.
Negatives:The bold ending represents about 1% of an otherwise dull film. The movie lacks entertainment value, and an original story.
Overall:One star out of four.
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