The Quiet Ones

Here we go with another low cost, poorly lit, flimsily shot horror movie that substitutes loud, jarring noises and cheap parlor tricks for genuine scares. Jared Harris plays Professor Joseph Coupland, a snobby chain smoker who is conducting an inexplicable experiment on mental patient Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke). I say inexplicable because I never did really figure out what the hell was going on in this movie. I can tell you that the experiment is being filmed by an amateur filmmaker (Sam Claflin), which at least allows for some of that “found footage” horror movie feel we're all getting sick of. As far as I could gather, Jane is possessed, but the professor is trying to prove that she is just sick, although he seems to believe there are dark forces at hand, or something like that. It's all very confusing and, ultimately, very stupid. Director John Pogue provides what he would like to think are shock moments, but they are basically just irritating. He favors sudden, loud noises, and there's something about their timing that renders his scare attempts impotent. It was a true task watching this thing.