A newlywed couple named Sarah (Katherine Isabelle) and Cory (Robin Dunne) move into their new country home to start a new life but Cory's son Liam (Peter DaCunha) makes things tough for Sarah not adjusting to his stepmom since his mother has died and is attached to his stuffed toys.
What the family doesn't realise is that inside the house lives a sadistic cult-like family of maniacs that wants Liam for themselves and will pursue to kill these two in order to keep him to themselves.
When Liam ends up missing these two must fight for their lives to try and get him back.
A very nicely mysterious beginning in the film focusing on a dysfunctional family at a dinner table mainly surrounding a nasty father which looked pretty disturbing and intense as well as catching your attention here wondering why he is behaving this way.
Also, there's a perfect dark moment with the mother trying to find the family dog by pulling the leash with good shots on this as well as blood on it which looked cringing to spot here.
Plus we have perfect shots on the mysterious killer attacking others with garden shears which looked nicely shot and giving it a perfect old school dark slasher feel to all this.
Nice moments when the newlyweds Cory and Sarah are travelling to their new home as well as Sarah herself trying to warm up to her stepson Liam and him being ignorant as this gives you a feeling that he doesn't like having a stepmom which makes you feel bad for her when she really tries to like him and he refuses.
Things look intense when he gets hysterical when she sits in a chair of the home that belonged to his mother which adds great mysterious moments into the story. This moment looked strong.
Perfect moment when Cory goes down into the cellar to find Liam's stuffed mouse toy and behind him hides the dark figure that killed the parents in the beginning of the film grabbing onto the daughter which looked marvellously spooky while spotting this.
More great mysterious moments when the family discovers vandalism in a room and they're aware of who's doing all of this. Kinda makes you think that they may have a few dark secrets of their own which is a nice add on to the horror plot.
A good still discussion between Liam when he questions Sarah as to why she married his Dad and she explains pleasantly that she loves both of him and his Dad and that Liam bluntly tells her he doesn't love her which also looked disturbing and breaking this happy moment which looked very natural and upsetting by how he deals with her answers.
There's a perfect shot focusing on the stuffed toys when there's dysfunctional situations start to occur which grabs your attention here as you wonder why they're in the picture within all of this.
A nice creepy feel when we spot footsteps near a doorway at night which totally gives you the chills while spotting this.
Also we spot a moment when these toys heads are torn off as well as a near terror happening along with both Cory and Sarah calling the police and then suddenly the car is there right after they do so which leaves a chill running down your spine big time when they slowly approach the car as this gives you a creepy feeling that something isn't right here. This moment was carefully shot and nicely put in.
There's perfect dark moments when we have a confrontation between Cory and the head burly killer wearing the mouse head that was torn off the toy which draws you in as to how this maniac manipulates him along with showing perfect peer pressure forcing to tell his son that he doesn't love him anymore else this child will be killed by his garden shears as this looked powerfully done and emotionally intense to watch this scene too adding perfect psychological elements apart from this being somewhat a slasher film.
Also, nice dark shots on Sarah racing through the deep dark woods which adds a perfect level creepiness here. Plus some great shots on one of the killers in a ripped off stuffed animals head of a rabbit chasing her and trying to shoot her down which was done in a great horror style. Plus some good moments with her trying to distract this killer in order to prevent from Liam getting killedwhich keeps you watching and wondering on what's going to happen next.
Some good dynamic moments with Sarah struggling against one fo the killers near a pond and fighting for her life which works in perfectly here.
Plus we spot moments when it makes out that the terror is supposedly over but you thinkthat something is going to happen and it does just that.
Bottom line is that this was a terrific independent flick that could easily ride the theatrical circuit even if it would've been a limited one than just in the film festival circuit as it combines alot of creepy and weird horror situations and borrows a bit from others like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Stranger and Saw. This should please fans that love mysterious dark horror flicks.
Katharine Isabelle (Sarah Morgan) did a terrific job in her role since she took on a different part here than just playing a teenager like she did in Ginger Snaps or Freddy Vs. Jason. This time she portrayed a caring stepmom. She really knew on how to act mellow and speaking softly as well as acting warm and caring. Plus she shows good moments when she feels hurt by certain moments too. Also did a nice job getting into a nice romantic mood too. Shows terrific energy with her fearful reactions to the terror that's surrounding her as well as doing a great job with her blocking while battling against her onscreen killer showing perfect adrenaline. Wioth all the horror credits she's done over the years she could be crowned as a scream queen. She was the best out of the cast.
Robin Dunne (Cory Morgan) really studied his part perfectly here as a young at heart family man offering a perfect believeable chemistry with his light hearted sense of humor here. Also does a nice job with his upsetting and disturbed attitude when there's mysterious moments happening which which also looked good and natural. Does well with his stern attitude too whenever he needed to act like this which showed off nicely plus shows a nice change by acting peaceful and sympatheitc too. Does a terrific job acting intense when the terror attacks him like reacting in pain or showing an upsetting and an emotional attitude too. Was great acting alerted when using a gun trying to kill off his onscreen maniac.
Peter DaCunha (Liam Morgan) really got into his part wonderfully as a close minded little boy with a convincing negative type of attitude as well as showing off some nice spunk when having a good time. Shows off a perfect hype and intense attitude when he's upset or scared plus really briught it out big time with his emotional attitude while pleading in a certain scene really losing control here which looked perfectly believeable. I could see him getting more work within what he did here.
Amy Forsyth (Mary Bronson / Little Monkey) had a nice effective supporting role in which she really shines off as someone whom is perfectly mysterious within whatever she did here. Showed a perfect focus with her still, expressionless and quiet type of behavior. She also does well by acting creepy and coldlike later on in her performance too. She for sure know on how to play a horror character here and acted believeable as someone whom was brainwashed later on in the story.
Some mild blodsheds splattering after someone is killed off screen.
Two small hooks are stabbed in a person's chest.
The music was perfectly put together by Trevor Yuile as it sounds perfectly dark for the story hearing great low key sounds like some deep trombone playing as well as some toned out piano music too. We also hear some light piano playing which fits in not too badly. Plus there's more powerful classical music in other spots sounding perfectly suspenseful as well as great odd banging sounds which for sure has effective jumping moments. There's also the odd metal scraping sounds and groaning effects that blends in marvellously.
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