smart and stylish, with fun detours into lurid excess; There's just enough plot logic stirred in with the heady ambiguity to make "Amulet" satisfying as it plunges deeper into madness, warped sexuality and evil enslavement
Romola Garai's chilling directorial debut announces smart new horror voice; The actress-turned-filmmaker confronts the corrosive power of evil in a well-crafted dramatic horror entry with some big twists
Imelda Staunton turns in a delightful and ranged performance that indicates she was having a ball in her role. But this is a severe slow-burn where the payoff doesn't quite make the preceding two-thirds of the film feel worth the wait
Garai has plenty of ideas and a willingness to embrace both more intellectual horror ideas and gore. She deserves credit for putting the pedal to the metal in the film's final third and she knows how to create an element of surprise
a delicious performance by Imelda Staunton, who utilizes her stature and voice to shrill, boorish effect towards the end. Horror movies usually aim to scare, entertain, and teach us. "Amulet" mostly does all three. Very nicely done