Wes Craven Presents: They

WES CRAVEN PRESENTS: THEY

Rating: B

Surprising shocker.

I really didn't intend to see this movie. Including someone's name in the title in an attempt to drum up box office is usually a sign of unmitigated desperation. The film will suck as surely as if the words "Tom" and "Green" appear together somewhere in the credits. But there's simply not a lot out right now, and I've already seen the interesting films. So each time I scanned the list, I passed over They with a smug "there's no way I'm going to get suckered into that one." And then I'd reach the bottom and start over again. Maybe it's time to admit I have a serious problem.

So I saw it, and it's actually rather good. The movie opens on Billy, a small boy wrestling with nighttime fears of monsters in his closet and under his bed. Flash forward umpteen years to psychology student Laura Regan on the verge of completing her master's thesis. Apparently, there are some colleges in this world where you actually have to prepare a defense for a master's thesis, which was news to me, and poor Laura is enrolled at one of them. As if a randy boyfriend wasn't enough of a distraction, the boy from the first scene (now an adult) contacts her from out of the blue. We learn she was a childhood friend of his, and that she experienced similar "night terrors" as a kid. Billy warns her that something from their childhood has returned and is now stalking them. Subsequent happenings convince her that maybe he's right...

The visual effects are cheapo bargain basement crap, but it matters little since director Robert Harmon keeps them in the shadows. The scares here derive from things unseen lurking in the darkest corners of the room, not from the latest well-rendered digital beasties. The formula is pretty standard stuff: the victim suddenly finds him or herself alone, the lights go out, we hear the sound of cracking eggshells in snail mucus (okay, I'm not sure why this one is supposed to be scary, but it's in all the horror movies so it must get on some people's nerves), desperate cries for help go unheard, and ever so slowly the monsters close in for the kill. The only thing missing is the weird janitor who just might be the killer but whom we know really isn't. But on the most primal, instinctual level, it's effective.

The thing which sets this movie apart from so many others is the final scene. It's impossible to describe or even hint at without ruining its impact, so I'll say I found it memorable and very well-conceived, and leave it at that. If you do see this movie, give the ending some thought afterward. Because it actually adds a deeper layer of meaning to the whole film.