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Director Nispel has some very nifty tricks up his sleeve--the film looks beautiful in a music video sort of way, with shafts of light coming from nowhere to bisect each scene, water dripping in every set (and if it doesn't, there are handy fire sprinklers or a sudden rainstorm to keep things sticky), and art direction that's clearly obsessed with filth. Sadly, all of these things undermine the story because they're so artificial and silly, not to mention overused in the genre (David Fincher has a lot to answer for!). The cast is very good, bravely diving into stereotypical characters who continually do moronic things while a superhuman (all-powerful despite physical affliction, all-knowing despite mental disability) villain chases them. And the film's framing scenes are very nicely done, as are a few seriously intense sequences, such as the sheriff's encounter with three terrified young people. But mostly this is just another lame monster-in-the-backwoods movie that makes us flinch because of the sheer gruesomeness of what's on screen. We certainly never feel any real tension or fear in a story this predictable. Ho hum.