Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

It Waits Blu-ray Movie Review

It waits for ____________ (fill in the blank, because I don't know, and neither, it seems, does the movie).

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 17, 2010

There's some kind of evil darkness closing in.

Low budget, low shock, low value Horror. Know it, live it, love it. That's It Waits, a movie that features pretty cool packaging (reminiscent of that old style skull-with-eyes cover art for Evil Dead 2, even going so far as to sport a very similar blood-red font) but doesn't offer anything of substance inside the box and on the Blu-ray disc. Just another fly-by-night direct-to-video Chiller, It Waits is about as unassuming as they come and not all that scary to boot. What's the point, then? There really isn't one, truth be told; It Waits plods along with an absence of thrills, clumsy editing, stale direction, minimal gore and violence, a bland plot, and uninteresting characters, all of which keep this from being little more than, at best, a serviceable Horror/Thriller with zero replay value but just enough good -- but good that's not fully realized -- to keep the viewer watching from beginning to end.

Waiting...

Park Ranger Danny St. Claire (Cerina Vincent, Return to House on Haunted Hill) is mourning the loss of her best friend who was recently lost in a horrific automobile accident. Her life is in shambles; she's shut herself in, is not answering the phone, wants to be alone, and has turned to liquor in hopes of finding answers, or at least solace, at the bottom of a Vodka bottle. Alone at her post, she investigates a strange noise and finds scratches across a supply shed door. Enter her boyfriend and fellow Ranger Justin (Dominic Zamprogna) who dismisses her gut feeling that something bad is afoot, chalking it up to her raw emotional state. It doesn't take long for Justin to become a believer when strange occurrences that couldn't possibly be the result of a wild animal raise the tension level and lead Justin to believe that Danny may be on to something that's not alcohol-induced. As Danny struggles to find out what it is she's dealing with, it becomes clear that her fragile emotional well-being may be at the epicenter of a string of deadly and gruesome attacks by an unspeakably evil creature.

It Waits delivers a simplistic plot that, to its credit, tries to be a bit more intellectually significant than it probably needs to be. It attempts to give weight to Danny's burden of psychological trauma, self-doubt, regret, and sadness by inventing a visible and physical manifestation that feeds off of those negative emotions. In a better movie, such might prove a fascinating idea if handled correctly, meaning that the main character's personal suffering would have greater consequences beyond just some random Horror movie elements -- people getting killed and the final showdown between beauty and beast -- to show for the effort. It Waits offers a nifty enough idea, but one that's ultimately put to waste vis-à-vis its inclusion in a picture that just doesn't have the heft -- financial or professional -- to pull off even something of moderate interest and thematic significance. The picture also falls short by failing to build its characters to a point that their pains become more than a plot device, where the audience becomes engaged in their well-being and the idea that their own suffering begets more suffering around them. As it is, It Waits simply meanders while intermittently killing some people off, and the movie seems content to merely linger on its heroine as she wanders around in a form-flattering tank-top.

By extension, It Waits struggles to find a pacing that suits the admittedly chilling atmosphere that accompanies several well-crafted sequences. The attempt to build up its lead character to a level that allows the "monster-feeding-off-raw-emotion" angle to work is necessary but handled clumsily here, and while the picture opens with an extended collection of scenes that set up this most crucial plot device, it takes too long to get going and fails to construct characters that the audience can truly empathize with, resulting in a slow start out of the gate from which the film never really recovers. Adding to the problem is the fact that It Waits offers no other real incentives to watch; it's so by-the-book and predictable that anyone clued in to the film's basic premise and with an understanding of how on-the-cheap Horror pictures work will be able to zone out for extended periods of time and pick up later on without having lost any relevant information. The entire second act does nothing other than kill off some characters and deliver the bulk of the film's action, and it's not until Danny randomly meets with a college professor in the middle of the forest to kick off the third act that the movie offers something that's relevant to the story, and even then, It Waits has reached a point where nothing outside of some kills or a good look at the monster really matters. On the plus side, Cerina Vincent turns in a surprisingly levelheaded and engaging performance. She doesn't have much to work with, but she (and a few decent special effects) are the only real bright spots in an otherwise competent but forgettable DTV Horror movie.

It Waits Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It Waits arrives on Blu-ray with the sort of 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer that's as-expected of a release of this nature. It's a good effort -- no surprise from Starz/Anchor Bay -- but it's not perfect, again no surprise considering the picture's small budget. Still, viewers will enjoy a fair image that often boasts adequate detailing and good color reproduction, the latter in particular a strength as evidenced by the nicely-rendered greenery that's so abundant in the film's daytime scenes, helping to build some convincing environments. Fine detail never brings with it that "wow" factor, but only a few shots appear downright sloppy or devoid of at least a passable level of detailing, even though the image on the whole takes on a somewhat flat appearance and intermixes several softer shots into the fold. Black levels, despite a hint of crushing here and there, prove to be one of the transfer's strengths, and flesh tones consistently appear fresh and natural. The source is clean -- mostly free of distracting pops and scratches -- though a bit of noise is visible in some of the darker recesses of the screen. A slight bit of edge enhancement and occasional banding bring the image down a notch, but given that this is a budget release of an inconsequential Horror film, it's hard to dwell too much on the negatives.

It Waits Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It Waits leaves fans waiting for a lossless soundtrack; only a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is included, and while it gets the job done, it proves to be somewhat lacking in several areas. A few explosions heard early in the film are presented with an honest and natural tone but lack in power, even at reference level. That's a theme that defines this track; it's generally clear and precise but absent a more substantial feel, certainly a cardinal sin for an Action/Horror movie like It Waits. Some effects are accompanied by a fair sense of spacing, but the several songs that play in the movie sound awfully cramped and jammed into the center channel. Atmospherics are decent; the track never builds a convincing aural environment, but sounds of nature -- singing birds, rustling leaves, and the like -- are at least present and accounted for and sometimes even work towards building an honest ambience. Dialogue occasionally lacks in authority but there are never any times where it's a struggle to understand what characters are saying. This is a hit-or-miss track that's not all that great but never subpar, either. It's about what one should reasonably expect of a title like It Waits.

It Waits Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

It Waits contains no special features.

It Waits Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It Waits is pretty average for what it is; some DTV flicks are better, some are worse, but few are as inconsequential as this. Horror buffs certainly won't find much of value here, and at this stage in the game they're not likely to give a movie like this a spin when there are so many better options out there, DTV or otherwise. The best thing that can be said of It Waits? It's not an embarrassment. The film is structurally sound, acted well enough, and even the special effects manage to look better than those found in some larger-budget films. Otherwise, this one's just forgettable, a serviceable picture with a good premise that's never realized, ultimately making for a decent enough time killer but nothing more. Starz/Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of It Waits doesn't contain any special features, but viewers will enjoy a modest 1080p transfer and a decent, albeit lossy, soundtrack. Interested parties will want to stick with a rental.