Scream Bloody Entertainment

Sometimes dead does not mean gone.

A faux supernatural specialist reluctantly takes on a job at a private boarding school where the ghost of a child has apparently been sighted.

- intriguing premise
- beautiful filming locations
- Rebecca Hall's laudable leading performance
- some intense moments

- plot holes galore
- becomes progressively confusing
- some scenes are completely out of place and unnecessary
- relies too much on cheap jump scares
- leaves a lot of plot points unconcluded
- weak and contrived twist
- unsatisfying finale

- low violence and gore
- moderate scares and frightening scenes
- moderate nudity and sexual themes
- low profanity

- people actually like believing in ghosts
- you can't hunt what doesn't exist
- people pretending to be ghosts leave footprings
- apples rolling down a set of stairs are creepy

Despite exhibiting good intentions by going back to the roots of horror with its Victorian setting and atmosphere driven tension, The Awakening lacks the staying power due a storyline that becomes more and more incoherent as it moves along and which ultimately leaves plot holes big enough to drive a truck through. It does attempt to build suspense using different methods (with varying degrees of success), but in the end, too much reliance is put on cheap jump scares that have already been done to death in recent genre exercises. Rebecca Hall shines in the leading role and the rest of the cast is solid as well, but acting alone is not enough to save The Awakening from the muddled and confusing mess that it is.

horror meter: 2 pretend stars (out of 5)