Review of The New Daughter (2009) by Clayton F — 21 May 2010

A fine supernatural thriller which attempts a balancing act between family drama and supernatural thriller and pretty much succeeds. Obvious reference points include 'The Orphanage', 'The Skeleton Key', 'Paranormal Activity' and (deliriously so) 'Aliens'.

Costner turns in an excellent performance as a father trying to connect with his feminine side, whilst being confronted by situations which scream out for an action hero. Ivana Baquero is a fantastic young actress and her accent coach deserves a Best Accent Coach Oscar.

Admittedly the pacing is fairly slow but if you're in the mood for an intelligent, emotionally powerful journey into the heart of darkness, then peel yourself a good orange and settle down for a rare treat.

The use of silence is exemplary and whilst most of the violence occurs off-screen (or we witness its aftermath), the sounds of terror are employed to great effect. Three personal spoilers: 1). This film does not contain any nudity, orgies of blood letting or jittery hand held camera work.

2). Whilst resolutely a genre piece, it bears closer resemblance to (early) George Romero than Roger Corman. 3). Checco Varese's cinematography is quite beautiful. This film flew completely under my trailer radar in 2009 and I wish the marketing folks had spent more cash promoting this instead of 'My Bloody Valentine' in the same year.

It's worrying when braindead tosh (which has it's rightful place in cinema) gets more airtime than thought provoking tosh. After all, everyone likes bit of tosh...