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Why do such "trends" arise? Why have the last few years been marked by the proliferation of insipid horror films with demonic children? Why do directors keep churning out these flops?
These are questions I keep asking myself because, as a viewer, I cannot understand how films like "Case 39," a work by Christian Alvart, manage to get produced. If we were to find a valid explanation, we could say it's all driven by money, although I find it hard to believe that a film of this genre could achieve significant box office success. But beyond possible economic explanations, what is surprising is the absolute lack of cinematic substance. It's blatantly clear that stories of this type are not exciting. Especially in a genre like horror, where the recent years have been a triumph of banality.
The moment you base an entire film on a little girl who seems so pretty and sweet, but in reality is the devil, you are already starting within the logic of a film that reeks of rehashing the idiocies of recent years. It reminds me of "Hide and Seek" and "Orphan," almost identical films, although the latter at least has a reason to exist.
Yet the first half-hour is well-constructed, with the film seemingly wanting to find its footing in psychological and behavioral aspects, but it's everything else that falls flat. The problem is that everything has already been seen, not to mention that films of this type (with rare exceptions) have never really succeeded. Especially since Alvart's work is also weak from a horror and purely "gore" perspective.
It's unfortunate for the talented Zellweger, forced against her will to deal with a little demon but, above all, forced to act in a "film" that is the result of the absolute lack of creativity into which American horror has sunk.
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