Wow! Such a good movie.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

I wanted to watch a ghostly flick and was not disappointed with "Haunter". A teenage girl tries to reach out to the living to prevent them from bad things to come. I was positively surprised by the acting of the protagonist. Very convincing for her age. The story is interesting and has scary moments. But it doesn't only feed on scares. You get tension and surprise moments. Its not gory though. The setting is limited but that didn't bother too much because it makes sense and doesn't get boring. It got me till the end. One of the best movies of that genre I have watched so far.

After being told for ages by a family friend that Abigail Breslin is an underrated modern Scream Queen,I was pleased to find one of Breslin's Horror titles being sold at a local DVD shop for £2! Taking a look at some old issues of UK film mag Empire recently,I noticed Kim Newman give a review where he praised it as a straight to video breakout,which led to me decided that it was time to get haunted.The plot-1984:Waking up the day before her 16th birthday, Lisa goes downstairs,and spends the day planning with her family about where to go on her birthday,whilst Lisa's dad Bruce tries to fix the car.Waking up the next morning,Lisa is horrified to discover that she is re-living the entire day.As the day repeats itself for weeks on end,Lisa tries to make the rest of her family aware of the time loop they are stuck in,but finds that when she wakes up that everyone is back to being completely unaware. Failing to change the family routine,Lisa starts investigating every corner of the house,where Lisa soon discovers that she and her family are not the only ones trapped in a time-warp.View on the film:Casting the location against Gothic Horror fog and an icy score from Alex Khaskin,director Vincenzo Natali and cinematographer Jon Joffin enter the house with an extraordinary creepy atmosphere.Locked up in the house, Natali and Joffin cloud the house in long,lingering shadows which give the house an excellent doom-laden mood.Working in time with editor Michael Doherty, Natali unlocks the secrets of the house with dazzling stylisation,as jagged overlapping images and blazing tracking shots bask the film in a gripping,tense vibe,as Lisa starts breaking the foundation of the house.Initially giving the parents a sweet appearance,the screenplay by Brian King takes the unique approach of keeping the family away from being the "monster",with King (a good last name for a Horror writer!) instead allowing some breathing room for the scenes with Lisa and her well-meaning,but flawed family.Putting everyone in a time spin,King superbly weaves dark comedy,mind-bending time travel and nerve-shredding horror. Pilling up the time-loops,King gives each loops its own distinctive quality by linking each darkly comedic family moment with the sinister mystery,that King opens up in an expert manner,which cleverly allows the viewer to put the bricks of the house together with Lisa.Wrapped in thick dark shades, Stephen McHattie gives a fantastic performance as the mysterious "Pale Man",with McHattie cracking brittle voice breaking the "perfect" façade of the house. Leaving a bedroom filled with iconic Rock posters, Abigail Breslin gives an excellent performance as Lisa,thanks to Breslin being able to deliver a scream with real guts,and also giving Lisa a deep sense of determination to solve the mystery,which Breslin links with a delicate consideration over what effect the time loop is having on her family,as Lisa tries to find the haunter.

HAUNTER is a pretty dreadful teen horror film, which is a pity given that the guy who directed it is none other than Vincenzo Natali, who of course made the wonderful CUBE. He actually references CUBE throughout this movie in terms of some of the plot twists and single-setting location, although this is a very different kind of product.HAUNTER is your usual haunted house horror with a twist: the main character is stuck in a time loop that sees her going through events time and again. THE OTHERS is a definite inspiration here, but it doesn't count for much when the film is so murky and unappealing. I have no idea who Abigail Breslin is or why she was cast in the central role, but she's completely out of her depth and impossible to take seriously as the lead.There's one cool horror scene set around a family dinner table which is absolutely spoilt by Breslin's fake and cheesy reaction shots, no matter how cool the effects are otherwise. And the film as a whole feels slow and unfocused, another one influenced by the success of TV'S American Horror Story. Stephen McHattie (A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE) makes a good villain but even he is underutilised here.

Teenager Lisa (Breslin) is literally repeating the same day over in over in the style of the film Groundhog Day. Her family in the house doesn't understand what she is saying and a thick fog surrounds her house not allowing her to leave. This time warp she is caught in also has an evil force in the scary vision of a Pale Man (McHattie) who keeps warning Lisa to leave things alone. Lisa soon discovers her level of reality can be broken as she warps into the body of a girl in the future named Olivia (Eleanor Zichy) who is trying to make contact with Lisa. Realizing that Olivia is actually contacting her spirit, Lisa realizes she is dead along with the rest of her family. She can still save Olivia from her fate in the future. Director Vincenzo Natali and Writer Brian King challenge the audience to keep up with this layered story as it unfolds through the eyes of young Lisa. The story is both clever and compelling and the movie plays out almost like a mystery. There are some shocks that deliver jump scares and a certain eerie feeling that Natali keeps for the entire film. Solid performances especially from lead Abigail Breslin makes this an engaging horror film that plays out well.