SPOILER DISCUSSION

1.The planchette scene with Brock genuinely scared me because of how well timed and serious it felt. The cuts to Brock and back to the ever-changing room along with his increasingly frantic conversation with his camera man felt serious. If only the cameraman was a character we were given time to know. If the movie spent time with Jessica,Molly,and David I also wish it spent some time with Brock and his cameraman just to make that duo’s eventual fate more impactful. It didn’t help that the scene also ruined itself with the awful unscary ghostly face at the end.

2. Jessica’s decision to investigate the hotel based off an anonymous letter describing tapes being hidden in fridges might be the most inspid and contrived nonsense I’ve seen in a long time. Did she genuinely think that the police would just not check the house after so many disappearances and find DOZENS of tapes stashed away? That’s even more when she makes it apparent that she thinks the force is corrupt and trying to hide something. If they’re trying to hide something, why would they leave it in a hotel that’s well known for getting repeatedly broken into? The moment Mitchell brought up the objection I had hoped the movie would’ve smartly changed something up but no I hoped for too much. Instead of rationally considering the suggestion, Jessica goes full NPC and routes the troop to the hotel anyways because there’s where the movie happens. Then like the final boss in a video game, Arnold/Andrew comes out and explains that he knew that sending the tapes would cause Jessica to come and that’s he actually planned everything out (okay Aizen) to maximize the number of people who will come into the hotel. I guess that logic works, but did Andrew really know that Jessica had the investigative rationale of a peanut? I guess so.

3. Why were the scenes of the Mallet family/their flashback sequence necessary? It feels so forced and gets no further substantiation in the third movie to make it worthwhile. It just feels like some absurd way to make Andrew seem more powerful than he is, which raises its own can of worms. Laura Frenzer’s acting here as the distraught mother also just comes off as disingenuous and tv-like (think dramatic re-enactment) as opposed to a natural documentary feel.

4. Speaking of Tully, what is the actual range on his power? This guy can somehow project his spirit out of the hotel to talk to children into playing creepy tunes on the piano and create corporeal versions of himself that are capable of communicating and the movie expects me to believe that he can’t just go out and advertise directly to get people into the hotel. What’s the point of all these games to trick people into bringing people when you can go into TV for interviews. Forget posing as a police officer. Just put in some advertisements for cash prizes for anyone brave enough to stay the night and collect some easy souls for the pool of fire.

5. The movie also carries over and expands the annoying glitch effect that shrouds the screen whenever something “spooky” pops up. I guess it’s an aesthetic choice but I don’t vibe with it.