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51%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #4,133
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After witnessing a horrific and traumatic event, Julia Lund, a graduate student in psychology, gradually comes to the realization that everything which scared her as a child could be real. And what's worse, it might be coming back to get her...
--IMDb
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Don't let the title fool you. This film is billed as "Wes Craven Presents They", but Wes Craven had very little to do with the picture other than dishing up a few bucks for the budget. He didn't write it, he didn't direct it, and he doesn't have a cameo in it like he did in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back". But, Wes Craven's influence is dripping from this picture.
Like "Jeepers Creepers", this is not your typical horror film. There is something about this flick that recalls horror movies from the early eighties and sometimes even horror films from the fifties and sixties. Sure, the modern day special effects and soapdish acting techniques are a little off-putting, but it is sometimes easy to look past all that if the suspense and overall creepiness are just right. In most instances in "They", those aspects are timed just perfectly to produce optimum scare and fright. Or, at least that's how I felt about the whole situation.
The plot to "They" revolves around occurrences known as 'night terrors'. They are a real phenomenon and are usually experienced as children. They are very real and vivid dreams that cause a person to sometimes sleepwalk, become disoriented--and once they have awoken--impair their ability to distinguish dream from reality. According to Billy (Jon Abrahams) and his two eccentric friends (Ethan Embry and Dagmara Dominczyk), there are demons that cause these night terrors. Sometimes these demons take us as children, mark us with an implant, and then come back to collect us as adults. Billy explains this to his lifelong pal Julia (Laura Regan) mere seconds before he pulls out a revolver and blows his brains out all over the diner table. Traumatic, eh? The rest of the film deals with these 'night terrors' and the attempts of Julia to discover the truth and stop them. It turns out that they only true way to keep them away is with, you guessed it, light.
So, the plot sounds kind of, well, dumb. But, it really turns out a lot better than it sounds. Director Robert Harmon has really only had one successful film before, the Rutger Hauer slasher flick "The Hitcher" which has become more of a cult favorite than anything else. This film shows his talent for timing and suspense, which he masters to an art with some of the scenes in this flick. We never really see the creatures close up, we only hear screeches and bangs and see the occasional dark figure or shadow. The creatures do, however, bare a striking resemblance to the creatures in the "Alien" films. Go figure.
"They" does have a couple of flaws, however. The ending hits us like a freight train and comes about way too quickly. We are barely given enough time to work things out for ourselves. Also, some of the dialogue and scripting is a little boring and redundant. I know the director was going for a mood, but "A Nightmare on Elm Street" does not mix well with "The English Patient" and "Ten Things I Hate About You".
Overall, "They" managed to startle me a couple times and flat out scare me several times. This is not nearly as startling as "The Ring" or "Signs", but it was nice to be scared and entertained in November. It's a good feeling. They (I don't know who 'they are', and if I did, it would have spoiled this movie for me) should release horror films near Thanksgiving more often. The Pilgrims would have wanted it that way. 7/10.
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