The Unwilling

source: The Unwilling

Decent premise for this overlooked film. An estranged family gathers to hear what their hated patriarch left each of them. Needless to say, what they receive is not what they anticipated. The concept has promise, and although I wish it had taken a different direction, it is a fun film. Dina Myers looks amazing and gives a fine performance, as do the rest of the man cast. The acting is good, most of the characters developed and interesting, and the menacing feel of impending doom made me want to see what played out. Although the basic plot was obvious from the start, this genre-bender that kept me watching until the finish with plenty of unpredictable twists along the way. Why not give it a try?

Starts off well for the genre. There's even some darkly hilarious lines but unfortunately they ran out of gas trying to come up with another 20 decent minutes and it rapidly deteriorates. A pity! 5 stars for some good laughs and Hey it's that Startship Troopers girl and she hasn't aged a day in 20 years damn son.

A mysterious chest without history or concrete relation to its owner and that looks like it was melted in a fire houses a demon who, for no given reason, arranges for six people-a tolerable man with inconsistent OCD, two unlikable men, and three bodaciously derrièred women-to gather on pretext of hearing the recently deceased family patriarch's will read, and genie-like grants a single wish to one unwitting victim at a time whose body it then possesses in order, for no reason, to try to kill its next victim. Dialogue is ridiculous, people open doors for no reason and enter rooms with no purpose. I really hated the husband and the dope fiend, and it is incredible that the husband's women want that creep, incredible that the cousin weeps for her brother. The shadows, the road, the mirror, the darkness, the trap, and the hurricane are nice ideas. Dina Meyer, Bree Williamson, and Austin Highsmith vie with one another to see whose plump booty is most tantalizingly in-your-face. I love them all. They make the film worth watching. Ending classical music over credits is beguiling. Watch with two grilled-cheese sandwiches and Perrier.

And, as John Shooter (speaking through Morton Rainey) once said, the ending is the only thing that matters. The acting was slightly cheesy in the beginning part of the film, but it improved as it went on. Most of the characters seemed like they fulfilled roles rather than being actually rounded themselves, but a few of them seemed very realistic (such as the junky kid) or endeared themselves to the viewers. And yes, to me, David seemed like a very real, very flawed, human being. The spoilery part: But yes, the ending bothered me quite a bit. Just by its nature, it was obvious that the box would pick off the characters one by one. It's at this point during which the viewer could have used a bit more backstory with the characters, to understand their motivations. However, as it was never intended to be an Oscar nominee, the viewer could probably forgive this issue. The ending was, no doubt, truly a lazy ending because of the "mysterious" finding of the box in a grassy area at the close. I was disappointed that David actually died at the end--but he did the right thing and the brave thing by killing himself in an effort to combat the box. I wanted him to live, but a lot of films seem to go with the depressing ending these days, rather than what people consider the "Hollywood ending." Overall, I enjoyed the film. I may have gone as high as an 8 with a different ending.

Loved this movie. Very interesting characters and premise. Original and exciting! Loved the acting and visual effects. I see some people had a problem with the ending but I loved it! Would recommend!

Started off not bad but slowly got more and more stupid with a truly awful ending. The very best part was when the hot Nurse at the beginning undid her blouse a bit and I'm not kidding.

6 "friends" in a creepy home 1/1 on classic tropes. At least two misogynistic creeps, check. One rapey creep, check. Should've been 8 because of the Octopus. The acting/set/props better than 99% of this genre. Nice twists on methods of destruction. Daddy knew them well despite jumping rope with the genius/ crazy line.I want to give it a higher rating but this trope never needs encouragement. Still, an MD who literally loses her feces every 1.5 minutes, well, I wish she'd gone first.

Can't believe I wasted 1 hour 24 minutes of my life on this movie.

If you're a fan of horror that is so bad that it's good, you might just have a blast with this one. The first hour is original and unusual; I can't remember a story-line quite like it. The ending fails to impress, but horror fans are used to that. Overall, it's a hoot!