Rish Outfield's reviews
I read the book by Dean Koontz a few years ago and found it to be a nice yarn with a memorable twist at the end.* I'm not sure how faithful the filmed version is, but it is well done--obviously cheap, but well done. If there's a good story and characters, the budget isn't important, especially in Horror.
When a fanatical religious cult, led by a mad high priestess (Grace Zabriskie), decides little six year old Joey Scavello is the Biblical Antichrist, it's up to his mother (Belinda Bauer) and the forces of good to protect him.
There's something particularly fiendish about a person (or group) who preys upon a child. As a non-parent, I can only imagine how much more horrible such a person would seem if I had kids. I'm a kid still, though, so it's scary stuff. To tell a kid you're going to cut his "vile little heart out" is pretty cold, regardless.
The dog's name is Chewbacca (not a complaint or a praise, just commenting). Joey, the kid, is played by a pretty good child actor, Jarrett Lennon. He responds very realistically, and that's hard stuff to achieve. But a lot of the time, when faced with alarm and danger, the boy is pale and emotionless-–a more frightened kid would've sold me better. Bruce Greenwood (who went on to star in the recent Double Jeopardy and Thirteen Days) plays a private detective hired to protect the boy. Bauer, who plays the mother, is pretty darn attractive for an Everymom. Her accent alternates between strong and weak from scene to scene. I prefer the non-American accent myself. I once had a British friend and I asked him if he was ever worried that his kid was the Antichrist. We haven't spoken since, so it's easy to see how you'd react if a cult convinced itself that YOUR kid was he.
Though the idea of the ending is the same as the book, the film version is very muddled and inferior. A much more subtle ending would've been more effective, as this one really crumbles in the finale.
I'd Recommend It To: Big fans of Koontz's work. Or members of religious cults.
*Hey, I'm sorry for using the word ‘yarn,' I don't know what came over me.

Total Skulls: 7

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood hits camera
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?