There have been many films in which the puppet controls the master, I guess the Chucky series is the most famous series in this style. Brahms the name of the boy like doll who is dug up early in the film leaving us to wonder why he was securely buried on a large estate which the family featured in the film moves to.
The motivation for the family to move to a lonely out of the way home that looks rather frightening rather than historic as the family believes, occurs when the mother Liza (Katie Holmes) is attacked in their city home one evening when her husband has worked late. She remains on edge from the episode and her son Jude (Christopher Convery) has lost his voice and communicates only through written notes.
So why move to a scary big old house in the woods? The boy like doll is dug up by the son a short time after the family arrives in their new home. From there on the son and the doll create numerous odd, unusual and slightly frightening situations.
But rather than keeping us on the edge of our seat as a horror/thriller is expected to do, the story moves slowly and blandly throughout. The only scare comes from the dog, and the atmosphere which is designed to keep the audience interested and concerned just doesn’t exist. It is just enough to keep someone awake, but not far from falling asleep.
A horror film that is bland enough to make an audience drowsy just doesn’t work.