Wicked Little Things (2006)

Director: J.S. Cardone

Writers: Boaz Davidson, Ben Nedivi

Composer: Tim Jones

Starring: Lori Heuring, Scout Taylor-Compton, Chloe Grace Mretz, Geoffrey Lewis, Ben Cross, Craig Vye, Chris Jamba, Julie Rogers, martin McDougall, Michael McCoy, Velizar Binev

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Prey for them

Plot: Karen, Sarah, and Emma Tunney are all moving to a small town in Pennsylvania where, unknown to them, in 1913, a horrid mine accident trapped dozens of children alive, underground. But there's a problem. They're still alive.

My rating: 4.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I really dig horror films set in the woods, forest, etc. but not this one.  It's mostly shot at night, making it more difficult to see anything and maybe that's the point.  Under the right circumstances it can be scary out in the middle of nowhere at night but I got the feeling it was done, not so much for artistic reasons but for practical ones.  It's cheaper because it's easier to hide things like gore effects.  If I'd known that most of the "scares" would be jump scares I would've avoided this one altogether.  I hate that shit.  It shows a lack of ability to build fear and truly scare an audience.  What's it got going for it?  The inclusion of Geoffrey Lewis and Ben Cross and that's it for me.  I really dig these guys so they're always welcome.  Argh.  Fucking jump scares, man.  This is director Cardone's most recent picture but the guy's been making films since '82!  I think I might check out some of his earlier work.  The Lionsgate After Dark Horrorfest DVD has a commentary with Cardone and Lori Heuring and 7 red band trailers (YES!) for more After Dark horror films, all non-anamorphic.  Can someone explain to me why so often the trailers on DVDs aren't formatted to fit a 16:9 screen but instead sit well inside the boundaries, completely surrounded by black?