Don't Knock Twice (2016)

90 minutes of a pretty good, scary, well-acted movie totally trashed by an absurd, nonsensical ending. Too bad.

Fmovies: I don't understand such a low rate on IMDb.

This movie is really good and Caradog James did a really nice job as a director! The whole story is really good, the entity is really scary (and I am not easily frightened person).

The mystery unveiled at the end is just mind blowing!

A troubled teen is released into the custody of her estranged mother, but a demon from the past comes back to wreak deadly havoc.

Dramatic horror with a completely incoherent mythos, but an iron determination to ramp up the tension in every scene. The daughter's peril is introduced immediately with the urban myth key to the plot, then we switch to the mother's predicament, and nothing is normal or easy going - every scene infested with unsettling '80s synth. It ends with flash-back reminders of how the plot is supposed to make sense, culminating in a clumsy twist.

The mother is well played, with good emotion in her regret at being inadequate yet loving. The detective is poorly played, and there's hardly any point in the character of the husband. The initial feel is London soap opera, and at various points tributes to The Shining, Ju-On, and Time Bandits.

There's one interesting sequence in the photography, when the cliché of ghost passing in the background is repeated three times - otherwise it's ordinary. Bad judgment on the music, but it fits the story telling style of constant huffing and puffing to maintain interest.

Overall: meh.

Don't Knock Twice fmovies. Director: Caradog James

Well, let's get down to it then. Being an avid horror fan for manys a year now, I would consider myself fairly clued up on current and upcoming releases within the genre. It was then more than a bit of a mystery how this flick somehow managed to slip through the net until I found out about its existence this very week! Needless to say, it went straight to the top of the must watch pile...

BASIC PLOT: A woman tries to regain custody of her teenage daughter after years spent apart. The daughter however has struggles of her own, with close friends vanishing simingly at the hands of an old urban legend surrounding a sinister house nearby. As things escalate and apparitions become more violent, can the estranged family finally put the past behind them to try and save their future?

REVIEW: This is a tough one. I can easily see why the internet is awash with such mixed reviews and agitated confusion regarding the movie. A simple explanation for this is no doubt because of the promise the film holds in its premise. A straight forward storyline to be sure, witches and curses a plenty, but don't we all love that in horror when it's done right? The film jumps straight into it and although it can be stated that it perhaps suffers from a lack of character development (particularly in the early stages), it did also surprise me how quickly it gets down to the initial scares. My hopes weren't all that high in the 'scare' department going into this one, but absolute credit where it's due, there were indeed some unnerving scenes scattered throughout which almost called for the flip of a light switch! The cinematography is what really drives this piece however. The camera work and shot choice help to propel the overall tone of the film, keeping things very bleak and murky but with a beautiful depth and clarity also. The acting of the 2 leading ladies is to be commended also. Both Katee Sackhoff & Lucy Boynton do their upmost to sweat out anxiety and fear for the full 93mins that the movie plays out, and indeed without these convincing performances playing off each other, the movie would have been a sure bust. It is fair to say then that the real unraveling of Don't Knock Twice is in its screenplay. It's all there-a scary urban legend, heavy and dark cinematography to back it up and strong leading actresses to deliver the characters, but when the initial story and dialogue that's drafted is mediocre at best and at worst bogged down by countless plotholes and underdeveloped characters, then the amount that an audience truly invests in the story and it's characters fates will always suffer. The ending itself is testament enough, with what should have been a thrilling and indeed terrifying conclusion instead playing out as what felt more like a rushed half-explained brush off.

VERDICT:: Beautiful visuals, strong acting, a good creepy musical score throughout and a few genuinely disturbing moments help keep an underdeveloped and messy plot afloat. Well worth a watch for a fan of the genre, just don't expect the world. (6/10)

If you want to watch a horror movie without actually investing too much of a thought to it or don't want much - just a few scares with a so-so plot, then go ahead and watch Don't Knock Twice.

But; if you want a GOOD horror movie with suspense and building up the tension until you're about to crawl all over the walls, then just skip this.

Don't Knock Twice makes it absolutely clear from the very first few minutes of the film; it tries way too hard to be scary. So it relies to jump scares, shadows in the dark corners, blood, scary masks and hands reaching out from whatever. These effects would be absolutely fine when scattered just right, but when they're all mushed together and presented within the first 20 minutes in, they lose their power. Sadly, this is something the writers and/or director didn't realize, and so they just start with full steam when you haven't even got the chance to get to know the people you're supposed to relate with.

The acting varies greatly. Katee Sackhoff, who plays the mother, is okay, but Lucy Boynton playing the daughter is far from believable. I do understand that a role of a teenager with a difficult past is a challenging role.

So in conclusion; lots of jumpscares and clichés, and you can forget about any relateable main characters, since there isn't one. But if you tune your brain to low setting, grab a bowl of popcorn and just go with it, it's bearable.

It's kinda strange though, who doesn't knock Twice when banging on a door? Kinda puts everyone in danger.

So Kastee Sackhoff plays an artist who's trying to rebuild a relationship with the daughter she left behind for her career, when her daughter becomes hunted by the town's urban legend.

The story lays out pretty cool, but the movie overall is very cheesy, but at the same time it can scare you (or at least the attempt to is decent).

Don't knock twice has good creepy sound effects and music that really help set that mood. It's amazing how two movies could have similar visuals yet one movie is able to scare you with those visuals and the other doesn't. Don't knock twice is the other. What this movie does have for you is some great sound that makes up for stereotypical and non scary visuals. The grunts the bumps and the music all work in the films favor Makes sense as the movie's sound is design to make that knocking on a door hunting, which it can be.

However, despite that little enjoyment, I would not really recommend going to see it. It's met to scare but it's best effort was not good enough.

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