They [DVD]

I'll never forget when I first watched "They"; I was alone in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere, it was 3 a.m. and I was just flipping through channels then I saw "Wes Craven" pop up, and that's all that was needed to get my attention, but "They" earned my interest in the first ten minutes. I'm not going to try and sell anybody on this movie, its not going to change anyone's mind on the art of the horror genre, but as a life long horror addict, this movie got me to question dark places and shadows for a long time after watching. Saying all that, I had to add a physical copy to my collection. It's a DVD, it comes in a DVD case, but its the movie on that disc that makes it special to me.

"They" is a movie that I think is highly underrated. In a time when so many horror movies, particularly psychological thrillers, teased the audience by letting you guess what is real and what is not, "They" goes away from that tiring plot element (unless you watch the alternative ending; don't watch the alternative ending). The main protagonist, Julia, is a grad student in psychology. She also had a terrifying past as a child, where she was plagued by night terrors. This did not come back up until she met with with her childhood friend, Billy, who is now experiencing the terrors again, only this time invading his everyday life. He believes that "they" marked him as a child only to come back for him as an adult. After Billy killed himself in front of her, Julia is now having the exact same experience, except no one in her life believes her. A sense of horror, isolation, desperation, and abandonment pervades the whole movie. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, which I cannot say about a lot movies. It is highly recommended if you like psychological thrillers.

A lot of people don't like this film because it doesn't answer every question. It never answers why some people were chosen, and it never gives an answer how they can truly beat the creatures from the night. This is a dark movie in atmosphere and overall story. It is about not being able to beat your demons real or otherwise. Sometimes there isn't an easy answer to beat the monster(s) like in Jason or Freddy films. I would say to give it a chance.

Classic movie that I’d been looking for and it was a great price.

It goes after the otherside the dark side sorta the same as silent hill which is excellent to

This film is well acted, has a decent story, good effects and an awesome ending. On top of that there is an alternate ending that just might be as good as the theatrical ending. This alone makes the movie worth at least a rent as alternate endings usually are synonomous with bad ideas that we swept off the cutting room floor and used as filler for the special features section of the dvd release. Maybe people are expecting nudity gratuitous violence and terribly bad language? Who knows, one thing I do know is that I adore horror films and this is one of the biggest surprises I have ever had while watching a rented movie. The impact is similar to Event Horizon, in that it is so not what you expect.

As per some of the reviews on here, no, you don't get to find out "why" they mark you, want you, take you. You don't get to find out what "They" are, either.However, this was one of the most positively scary movies I've ever seen in my 50 years of being an ardent sci fi/horror fan. Even scenes where nothing is happening, are tense, unnerving.Like something out of the pages of HP Lovecraft - Wes Craven has presented us with what one might call another realm or dimension, a Dreamlands where some people go, perhaps where something comes back after these people who have gone there dreaming. And the dreamland is as real as our waking world and impinges upon it.Excellent movie - horrifying.

Kids who suffer from "night terrors" at age five grow up to learn that their fears were caused by real ... extra-dimensional demons? And now that they're attractive twentysomthing adults, these demons return to kidnap them to their dimension.The main downside of THEY is that it feels small. A sparse cast with few locations or extras. Not much happens until the end, which packs a powerful punch. But for that brief and ominous ending, I'd give this film two stars.Many scenes are derivative, though I suppose that's hard to avoid after a while. The country road where the woman's car breaks down reminded me of THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES. The freight elevator reminded me of THE RING. The wake after the guy died reminded me of THE SIXTH SENSE. The swimming pool scene reminded me of CAT PEOPLE and GOTHICA (the latter was released after THEY, but ironically had a better swimming pool scene). The mirror-like extra-dimensional passage reminded me of PRINCE OF DARKNESS.Adding to THEY's smallness are the Canadian locations. The story is set in Manhattan, but you only see a few barren streets that don't look anything like New York, partly because they're trying to hide the fact that THEY is shot in Canada.If you're going to shoot in Canada, set the story in Canada, like David Cronenberg did in the 1970s. That way, you can take advantage of Canadian locales, and not have to "dummy down" the film by hiding locales. Films shot "on the sly" in Canada invariably come off poorer for it (e.g., FEARDOT.COM and ISLAND OF THE DEAD -- the latter tried to hide the fact that Toronto looks nothing like Wall Street by filming Taliso Soto from an extreme low angle, so we only saw the tops of skyscrapers and no streets).Not that THEY even manages to hide its Canadian locales effectively. The subway station plainly says "Victory Square" and the trains say UTA whereas in NY it's MTA (for Metropolitan Transportation Authority). As one familiar with New York, these bloopers take me out of the film.I said this was a TV movie. Maybe not, but it looks like a made-for-cable movie, so I'm guessing that's what it was.And it's short. About an hour and 23 minutes (not including end credits).And you don't get a clear view of the demons, even at the end. What you do see looks kinda slimy. They're okay monsters, but nothing special. I wish we'd seen more of their dimension, but it's cheaper to only show a bit.