Kevin Costner is one of those movie stars whose films can be hits or big budget bombs. Usually, you never see him in a film that flies under the radar, until recently at least. He has a few films hit the big screen, but the past few years some small projects such as this film, The New Daughter have landed in his lap.
The New Daughter is about a single father John James (Costner) who buys a home in the middle of nowhere for himself and his two children. His seven-year-old son, Sam, is very close to his father, but fears everything. His daughter, Louisa, on the other hand, is a bit of an outcast and is upset about the separation of her parents. When Louisa and Sam go exploring around their home, they find a large hill on the property. Louisa thinks it’s great and begins to climb it while John and Sam don’t bother to do so. Soon , Louisa begins to venture out alone and envelops herself in some occult-like behavior, making dolls of straw and behaving oddly. John begins to notice his daughter’s strange behavior and, after hearing rumors and folk tales about the house he lives in, he begins to investigate. What he learns is something he never would have expected to find. However, as every father would, he ventures out into the darkness to save his daughter from the unknown creatures living in the woods outside his home.
The script is nothing great, at least for the first two acts. There is a slow storyline which is told as a mystery. The audience has no clue as to what is going on. The first hour is really long character development and slow narrative. Every detail about the film is a mystery up until about the last twenty minutes where we learn there is something crazy involving monsters going on in the woods surrounding the house.
The film has good production value with some basic location sets and some good special make-up effects. It has that old school thriller feel going on for it, much like House of the Devil and The Descent do. This film’s end and monsters are very much like those of The Descent. If you have ever read the short story by John Connolly on which this film is based, you would know what I’m talking about. Personally, I found the story to be a cross between Michael Laimo’s “Deep in the Darkness” and Brian Keene’s “Dark Hollow,” both of which are being made into films. (Dark Hollow begins production soon). There is an occult thing going on that happens to include monsters living in the woods, so the idea is nothing original.
This is a role that I’m not used to seeing Kevin Costner in, just as I’m not used to seeing him in horror films. I’m used to him always being a badass, such as Robin Hood or Elliot Ness in The Untouchables. His acting is not bad in the film. In fact, he is probably the best actor in the whole movie, but it just did not seem that he belonged in the role. The rest of the cast is adequate, but nothing special. Ivana Baquero of Pan’s Labyrinth is alright in the role of Louisa, but there are times where it is obvious that she is slipping in and out of character. The rest of the cast includes Samantha Mathis, Gattlin Griffith, Erik Palladino, Noah Taylor and James Gammon.
The Blu-ray and DVD include special features such as audio commentary by director Luis Berdejo, The New Daughter Behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted scenes and the film’s theatrical trailer.
The New Daughter could have been a much better film if the first hour of the film did not drag with its lackluster suspense and story that seems to be going nowhere. The real action and horror of the film seem to all take place at the end, but by then, it’s all too late and the film’s final scene is capped off with a typical cliché horror film ending. However, I will go on record as saying that while the story does drag, you do become kind of a detective for the first hour of the film in trying to figure out just what the hell is going on, so it does not make it all that bad, but when it comes to a conclusion, although it’s fast paced and action packed, it’s really something that horror fans have all seen done before. If you want to check it out, go ahead. It’s one of those films where I can see people’s opinions being split on whether or not it was worth their time viewing or not.
– Horror Bob
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- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
