Movie Review: ODD THOMAS (2013) - Nightmarish Conjurings

What do you say about movie like this? The cast list looks promising at first glance (with Anton Yelchin, Willem DaFoe, and Patton Oswalt), but the film itself is dull and uninspired – boring even.

The first thing noticed is the overbearing narration by the title character, as if it was required to explain what was going on. He is an “odd” character, with a number of supernatural abilities that lead him into situations where he can show off his amazing boxing skills, investigation skills… and fry cooking skills?Apparently being a paranormal “detective” has some interesting perks. Seriously.. Odd is a ninja with breakfast food.

The film’s tone is inconsistent and confused – bizarre and tedious at the same time. For fans of the horror genre, it’s not particularly scary or interesting. Most of the ideas here have been presented years ago in much better (and more entertaining) films. If you’re a fan of DaFoe or any of the other actors, watch something else. I haven’t read the Dead Koontz novels that this movie is based on, but this film certainly hasn’t peaked my interest.

This IS a very nice looking movie, and a certain amount of praise must be given to how it looks and sounds. Some of the effects are proper creepy and the film sounds great in surround sound. The acting is solid with Yelchin and DaFoe, but I wish they had a more interesting story to play in.

The biggest problem is after all is said and done, the film is not very much fun to watch.

I would, however, pay premium dollar to watch the “Odd Thomas Makes Breakfast Show” on the Food Network. That would be awesome.

Concept/Story: 1
Direction/Style: 2
Scares: 0
Atmosphere: 1
Rewatchability: 0

Total: 4 / 10