Meet Mr. Karma

Once or twice each NASCAR season, a car near the lead, maybe even in first place, will run out of gas on the last lap. Instead of racing to triumph, the driver does his or her best just to nurse the car across the finish line. The NASCAR metaphor is an apt description of what happens in the horror film, At the Devil’s Door. After roaring ahead of its genre competition for the better part of its 93-minute runtime, the movie runs out of gas and ideas in its final ten minutes and resorts to clichés to limp to the end credits. The absence of a strong finish is particularly notable for a film that successfully avoids the obvious, while delivering some real jolts and two terrific twists along the way. (more…)