I think the low reviews are based largely on the expectation levels not being met from having JK Simmons as the lead and the film not being that great. There are things badly wrong with it, but I've seen far worse that this.
The premise of a psychopath/sociopath losing it and going on a killing spree, when a troubled teenaged gets away from him, so he pursues her into the forest, is fair enough, but the movie lacks thrills. There was a lack of close calls and incidental music to play-up the thriller aspect. It lacks tension therefore, but more from the view that there could have been more of it than there was.
Simmons' character is explained late in the movie, when the mother of the teen identifies him online, but it still feels that it was done at an odd time and could have been the start to the movie, instead. Or his background could have been left unexplained (as with Spielberg's unseen driver in Duel). Of all the options, the one chosen doesn't feel right and seems forced or ill-considered.
Simmons is the best thing in the movie, with the time he spends with some of his victims being particularly creepy, but also incongruous with the explanation behind his character, that comes after. You are left to wonder whether this was inserted later because they felt that his motivation needed clarity for the audience, but ended up stepping on what had been established already.
There wasn't what I would call "horror". That's a poorly chosen description here.
The step-sister is played by Olivia Simmons, who seems to have more scenes than her character should. The fact that she organises a search in the dark with her friends, knowing that a crazed gunman is on the loose, seems far fetched, even with a local police department that for some reason is missing its Sheriff and is being run by young deputies.
This film could have been significantly better than it was and seems to have also suffered significantly due to nepotism.
It wasn't good but not so bad that I didn't see it through to its satisfactory conclusion. It's a shame that the rest of the movie was a mess, as this could have been a far better watch than it was.
مزید دکھائیں 
