a_baron
This is a film on a far from original theme, even though it owes nothing to the "Halloween" franchise. In 1986, some kids knock on the door of a house at Halloween, something they are not supposed to do. They are murdered, and the first police officer on the scene - who reappears later in the film - sees something unreal.Fastforward 31 years, and it's Halloween again. This time, whatever was inside emerges to wreak its horrors on the wider world. Then our first responder rescues two of the damsels, telling them this sort of thing has been happening in other locations for a long time, going back to at least the 1940s. The key to the mystery is the door to the house. And this is where the film really begins to lose its way because this line of investigation is not developed, instead the guy is killed off.There is a bit more to it, the creature, daemon or whatever it is, feeds off fear, producing custom-made hallucinations for its victims, hallucinations that pack a punch or even burn. This could have been a decent film but it takes too much for granted, and the ending is utterly predictable.
Platypuschow
The Scyfy Channel are infamous for their bad films but it's rare they do horror. History has shown they can actually pull it off and within the first 15 minutes of Neverknock I was oddly gripped.The film was tense, the concept original and I expected this to turn out to be a surprisingly entertaining little gem.Sadly the movie runs out of steam quite early on, as if they ran out of ideas. Alas this doesn't turn around and plods along to a laughable pitiful finale that I actually did facepalm at.Don't get me wrong Neverknock has a lot going for it and is still perfectly watchable, it's just one of those films that should/could have been so much better.Further to its credit it actually looks great and raises the question why more Scyfy originals don't have the same level of cgi and practical effects.Starring former child star favourite Jodelle Ferland this is still worth your time but don't expect the greatness that it failed to attain.The Good: Original Fairly decent kills Good antagonist The Bad: Loses steam real quick Incredibly dumb ending Things I Learnt From This Movie: I suddenly want to knock on that door just to see what I'm scared of
SnoopyStyle
In 1986 Halloween, 3 trick-or-treaters are killed after knocking on the door of 59 Oakwood Lane. One is found with Never Never Knock carved into his belly. The case remains unsolved and the house becomes urban legend over the next 40 years. In present day, Leah (Jodelle Ferland) and her friends invite troubled Grace (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) to a haunted house show. Grace survived a car fire which killed her mother. She brings along little sister Jenna. The group decides to do the Never Knock. Jenna disobeys Grace and knocks on the door after bloodying her hand.Daylight often kills horrors. That is the major drawback in this movie. It would help in the kills and especially the CGI monster. All the CGI looks cheap which is par for TV movies. The idea of a creature killing with your greatest fear is good. The creature design is feasible and should only come on the screen after day turns into night. The horror designs are simply not good enough. It needs more creepy atmosphere. Otherwise, it's functional as a lower grade horror. The filmmaking is inferior but passable as a TV movie.
InDyingArms
Syfy's time of the year is here - Returning TV movie director Sheldon Wilson takes on 2017 with Neverknock; In a sense we pretty much follow a group of friends who decide to embark the Halloween night out around the town. Said town has a legend upon a specific house, 59 Oakwood lane. While out, they overall provoke the legend - And have to now survive and then some. Honestly, compared to some other SyFy original Halloween films, this one isn't the all time worst. However not entirely great either. The plot is a clichéd endeavor for sure. How many times have we followed characters who decided to provoke a legend, thus leading them to constantly run from said legend / entity - uncovering more and more of it? Get ready to watch it again! Only this time it involves knocking on a door! The overall following story- line and plot just prevail as tired, as well as just something we've seen many times before in general. The entity / monster we get to watch actually seems to borrow heavily from iconic Freddy Krueger, seeming to lead on a demon contortionist version of him. This can only be emphasized if the movie is seen - to not spoil. To keep fair, however. This film manages to keep said creature interesting, leaving us to want more of him. His gimmick is, much like the plot, clichéd however. We've had such a gimmick through a threat also done plenty times before. However through a visual stand. The entity.. or "The Neverknocker" looked well done for the most part, standing out as practical, and not CGI, which for me personally was an interesting surprise; Going into this film completely blind, not knowing this was even premiering, the visuals including the Neverknocker, and overall camera work was all pleasant surprises, comparing to other SyFy films that is. The acting isn't the most abysmal either, with the exception that there are a select few that emphasize flimsy, as well as a few who seem to not even care. Looking back further upon the film however, most to pretty much all the characters weren't the more intriguing. The film seemed to focus solely upon their fears ( Which were the most common or basic. ) Not so much upon the characters themselves. We only truly focus on two characters, others there for the sake of dying, it'd seem. For what story or background was given, it wasn't the most in depth-given. Again, it seemed to give off a vibe that it was just there for the sake of being there, or giving the monster a motive. With the given story, really, the film seemed to drag upon getting to the point; Despite the overall pacing being actually decent, the point being drawn across the line was overly slow it felt. As audience, sitting there listening to out characters sit, yelling "JENNA, JENNA! WHERE ARE YOU!" Throughout the first 15 - 25 minutes or more of the film, we sit and listen to the characters yell each other's name, running around constantly continuing such, not ceasing to do so for a bit of a tediously long amount of time. To conclude - If you're going into this with typical SyFy original movie expectations, you may find a slight, slight surprise or two. However this film is nowhere near special, spectacular, or unique. With a cliché, tired plot as well as creature flick motive / gimmick, In and out pointless characters, and rushed-like actions that follow. This film could've been so much worse - But still had relatively bad, noticeable cons. Though as said. This had a surprise or two. This wasn't the worse film. It just became tired after time as it used and based its entirety on a gimmick - The never-knocker. As said his motive is heavily similar to Freddy Kruger. ( I can't emphasize my view upon that factually enough. ) Fears kill. Hint, hint. Finally the payoff, ending perhaps even wasn't really worth the ride, lowering my view on this overall experience just a bit. Like this entire film, nothing spectacular, nothing new, and I could even go as far as to say disappointing. Would I recommend giving this film a watch? If you're bored, looking for something to just watch with a group of friends - This would probably be a good resort. This is simply another SyFy film with a bit of a pleasant little outcome. Note - LITTLE. But for me personally. It wasn't terrible; Just over the top cliché offerings that didn't totally work.
