Don't Knock Twice

If it had skipped the clichéd supernatural elements to instead concentrate on the relationship between the two central characters, Don't Knock Twice might have emerged as an interesting film.

The makers of Don't Knock Twice never successfully flesh out their characters as people, leaving viewers to roll their eyes whenever characters open the wrong door.

A warmed-over hash of "Candyman," "Oculus," "Insidious" and a half-dozen other spook-shows.

This is the second film in a row where James has proven himself a talented orchestrator of complex low-budget genre fare ... wringing the most out of a limited budget through moxie and smart casting.

It's essentially the intuitive accuracy of shattered Sackhoff's performance that makes this Old Dark House chestnut worth catching.

Although replete with creepy shocks, this lacks the narrative finesse to match the committed performances and slick visuals.

The film's nonsensical mythology quickly unravels. Shame.

Professionally mounted, but too familiar to provide anything other than routine jump-scares.

The story fails to find its way around all of the missteps and clichés, ultimately becoming another failed attempt of murky shadows and flaky scares.

The actual horror and thriller aspects just don't gel together with any of the other elements, making James' latest genre effort a movie I respect multiple elements of even if I can't say I enjoyed near as much as I can't help but wish I did.

While a substantial early portion of Don't Knock Twice may feel a bit familiar, it quickly finds its feet and settles into a nice spooky groove that fans of indie/import horror will be sure to appreciate.

Watch carefully. Katee Sackhoff's performance in Don't Knock Twice is a silent cry to find projects worthy of her.