The New Daughter (2009)

Directed by Luiso Berdejo

Starring Kevin Costner (Rated PG-13)

1.5 stars (out of 4)

Early on in the film, there is a glimpse of a creature crawling over a roof. Its a scene that entices us to keep watching. Over an hour later we get to see what the creature actually is. Everything in between is pure boredom. The middle hour is Kevin Costner trying to figure out why his daughter is changing. Could it be the stress of moving, abandonment issues, or puberty? Or perhaps some kind of pagan curse from an ancient burial mound? It takes Costner a while to figure this out, it takes the viewer much less time.
It was great seeing Kevin Costner hot on the trail of a mystery in Dragonfly, and great seeing him go all psycho in Mr. Brooks. He does neither here. His quest for the truth is the most passive investigation imaginable. The payoff is pretty good and the creature effects are efficient, but they can't save the film. If the 107 minute run-time could be cut down to 80 minutes, this could have been a tense, intelligent thriller. Instead what we get is an interesting story, told in an uninteresting way.