Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011)

Two duds in a row.

I think I need to take a break from horror movies for a while.

Inkubus (2011)

Unwatchable.

Absentia (2011)

I walked away with mixed feelings on this one.  For an indie, this was pretty good.  Great cinematography, and one very creepy scare.  In fact, it was pretty entertaining. Yet, no matter how much I think about it, I can't bring myself to like it.  As with Insidious, I'm just not sure if I enjoyed it or not.  What that means is that I need to give this one another try.

The Pack (2010)

The first twenty minutes are misleading, for the remaining sixty minutes offer up a run-of-the-mill mash-up of survival and creature-feature.  I am fully cognizant of the fact that, after the wave of High Tension, Frontiers, Martyrs, et al., I've come to expect too much from French horror, but the only moment that makes the movie worth watching (at least the first half) is a well-executed comedic moment that occurs as soon as our protagonist arrives at the backwoods saloon.  I watched this little clip repeatedly.  But, sadly, it wasn't enough to redeem the film from mediocrity.  And, strangely enough, the film seems to pride itself on its violence, yet it is quite tame.  Overall, it's skippable; the short segment I'm referring to as hilarious, however, is required (I'm sure it is or will be on YouTube).

Retreat (2011)

Against my usual self-mandated restrictions, I read a couple of reviews about this one; and for the most part the reception was very negative.  In this case, though, I think reading the reviews properly set my expectations (I realize this statement is itself a sleight to the movie).  Retreat does not offer anything new to the survival-thriller genre, but it does do a great job at prolonging the mystery of whether the military fellow is completely delusional or not.  And for that alone, this is 90 minutes well spent.