The New Daughter (2009)

Elevator Pitch: John James is a divorced author who moves into a mansion in the woods in South Carolina with his teenage daughter and young son. Before long strange this begin to happen, and the daughter in particulr is attracted to what is said to be an Indian burial mound out in the woods. The daughter often returns to the house covered in mud and eats like an animal. Distressed the father seaches for guidance and finds that the mound is studied by some academics who turn up as he is preparing to blow it up. He also visits a man who has has similar experiences, but while he is away the baby sitter disappears. He calls the police, but is that enough?

Content: No sex, nudity, smoking or drinking. A lot of spooky stuff in the grounds of the mansion mostly in the dark. The daughter often returns to the house with mud nup to the knees and dirt encrusted on her features. The father spends a lot of time on the internet, crouching over his laptop. He does not do any writing, but has a discussion with his agent.  There is some violence and sights of dead bodies. The creatures who, it seems, live in the mound look like aliens with big teeth. They could be frightening for young children, particularly if you’ve got a mound in your garden.

A View: The very limited number of critics who saw it felt that maybe Kevein Costner was badly cast. I felt that he was the saving grace of what was a poorly plotted film, even though the mansion was pretty fine. In the end, what was the motivation of the creatures who lives in the mound. Why did they keep killing people. Why did gthe dughter attack John’s possible girlfriend. There seemed to be no answers which is why I’m making it an “Almost Don’t See”.

Additional info: Only two trivia items on IMDb, a true sign of a disaster.