lord-of-the-lez This is a pretty bad movie. Bad acting, bad CG effects and plot holes so big you can stick your head in them. However, the effects on the Crooked Man itself were pretty creepy and there were a few gory death scenes here and there. And I could've looked past the subpar acting if the movie had a creepy atmosphere or brought something new to the monster genre. I still can't rate it lower than a 5 because I can tell the people involved in this film were trying very hard to whip up something genuinely scary. And I have a soft spot for horror flicks that make me laugh more than gasp. So, if you don't mind a laughably bad movie with a decently creepy-looking monster, I'd say give this a watch. And as a horror buff, I'm glad I saw this.

TheLittleSongbird Saw 'The Crooked Man', being fond of horror regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre) and being intrigued somewhat by the idea. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing it.Giving 'The Crooked Man' a fair chance with being interest and apprehension, it turned out to be far better than expected. Won't say that 'The Crooked Man' is a great film (mediocre actually) because it isn't and the potential, while not wasted, is not fully lived up to. Considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre and less and wasting potential, was expecting worse and was relieved that while wanting in a fair few areas it was actually one of my better recent low-budget viewings.'The Crooked Man' started off quite well, the first twenty minutes or so starting the film off on a promising, unsettling and atmospheric note that really does intrigue. Production values did have some eeriness and nowhere near as cheap as expected.The setting is effectively spooky. Initially, there are spooky and suspenseful moments, it isn't dull, and the storytelling in the first half does intrigue.However, the story was severely wanting in the second half after starting off promisingly. It is very disjointed and after the promising start the final third especially loses atmosphere, one loses interest and things start to not make sense. Too much of the film is vague and doesn't explore some elements and story strands enough, some dropped soon after being introduced, go nowhere or serve much point.Ending is unsatisfying, on top of feeling hasty there are too many loose ends hanging in the air. Got the sense that the writers didn't know how to end the film. Would have liked much more tension and suspense (where there is barely any of either), scares could have been more consistent (again nowhere near enough) and some weren't surprising enough and had no atmosphere, the over-obvious sound not helping. Found too the script to lack natural flow and with a fair bit of cheese and blandness going on, and the characters bland with some adopting some annoying and not always logical decision making. There is very little menace to the villain, the direction is phoned and generally the acting is subpar with Michael Jai White being little more than a barely used commercial device seemingly.Overall, mediocre. 4/10 Bethany Cox

banglainey I always am looking for a new horror villain in the likeness of Kreuger himself, and thought this might be it- however, it was just bad. Bad writing, bad directing.It's a very predictable plot, so there's no surprise or suspense; as the description says, friends at a sleepover summon "The Crooked Man" as kids, years later he returns, they regroup and come up with a way to stop him and everyone is happy ever after. I just saved you from wasting 2 hours of your life.

GL84 After getting released from an asylum, a troubled woman attempting to get her life back in order becomes convinced the entity that framed her for murdering her friend is back finishing the job and races to find a way of stopping it to save her friends.For the most part this one was quite the enjoyable effort. What really works well here is the fact that there's quite an enjoyable and engaging atmosphere present here that makes for quite a fun and engaging time here. That comes along mostly from the titular creature itself, which is quite the impressive and chilling entity that works really well in delivering a solid concept for a horror villain as the static-y look and disjointed appearance go hand-in- hand with the spectacular nursery rhyme that accompanies him as there's an incredibly strong mystery about him and his appearance here which makes for a rather imposing villain. As well as the strong visuals and the great villain, there's a lot to really like here in regards to how much action plays a part of this one as the encounters here are truly top-notch. The opening sleepover backstory that sets up the whole film is highly atmospheric and works with some fine nightmarish images in the blackout and the poem setting everything in motion before showing the actual killer getting in a nice shock, the scene with the creature appearing in the hospital is rather chilling and the rather frenzied and chilling attack in the singer's dressing room is a nice showstopper that spreads itself quite nicely with it's rather stylish setting and brutal actions. That carries along into the other attacks on the friends throughout here, with the friends all getting creepy attacks by the creature as well with their all being done in the darkness forcing along some really atmospheric times here, and that sets up the big scene at the end where he's confronted in the dilapidated house where the brawling makes for quite a fun time while the tactics employed against him is quite an enjoyable and impressive outing overall. Alongside the great kills which are quite brutal and intense throughout here, these manage to make this one fast-paced and enjoyable enough to really enjoy it over the few minor flaws. The main issue with the film here is the fact that it really doesn't make sense why the film's rampage is halted when she leaves the group, as it's given a minor gloss-over yet it doesn't have a definitive answer that really makes any sense. This is a rather big problem and isn't really explained at all which is a rather big issue to have here since that pretty much carries along throughout the movie as a whole. Likewise, the fact that her friends are so hostile following the revelation of the deaths to each other and her stories are given some semblance of reality, yet they still carry on without much change in attitude which really isn't that enjoyable coming off as yet another incarnation of the cliché. Other than these minor issues, this one was quite a bit of fun.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.