"Barricade" is a well produced, atmospheric chiller with excellent acting, human characters, good cinematography, some creepy Kubrickian moments, a great location and an engaging premise. The only thing I didn't like was the plot reveal which felt like a major letdown after all the above.But who knows, you might like it. Or at least, you might have a good time waiting to see if it's really as bad as everyone says. Note: that's the last I'll say about the ending because I don't want to ruin it (unlike the current top 2 reviews which spoil it in the first sentence. Seriously? How is spoiling a movie helpful?).This is the first time I've seen Eric McCormick who plays the father, and I thought he was fantastic. He bears a striking resemblance, as well as a similar likable quality, to Sam Rockwell, and in fact I kept thinking maybe it was his twin brother or something. If you like Sam Rockwell flicks (like "Moon") you'll enjoy McCormick's delivery. He plays a good lead here: a father of 2 young kids forced to protect them from creepy happenings in a remote corner of the world. Despite losing his grip of reality as events unfold, he remains more or less smart and resourceful.The two kids were excellent as well, and their fear added to the mood without being melodramatic as young actors sometimes are (I'm thinking mainly of my own attempts at making "horror movies" when I was 12, you don't want to know).The atmosphere is very chilly, figuratively as well as literally. Filmed over the course of 4 days in the snowy wilderness near Vancouver, the filmmakers did an excellent job of conveying a claustrophobic feeling of terror despite being in the wide open north.Really, this is a very well made movie except for the actual story driving it. Oh, there's one other thing I didn't care for: all the false scares in the first half hour. Some were effective, and I actually jumped once, but after being tricked a few too many times I started disconnecting from the action."Barricade" is one of those creepy films where you don't know what the threat is until the end, and this puts it in line with some excellent films like "The Others", "The Changeling", "Moscow Zero", or the mack daddy of twist endings, "The Sixth Sense". But in this case the story didn't have a corkscrew twist so much as it had a itty bitty bend.

Spoiler alert and a big one......Re watch it and pay attention to detail. I'm thinking that the dad gravitates between delusional and sane all throughout the movie. But where everyone reviewing thinks he is sane and off meds at the end. He isn't. That's a delusion too and that's really him still in the house looking out the window.....with two deals children I might add. Brilliant actually! The movie is not what it seems.....I guess in the scary parts is what happens when you mix powerful drugs with alcohol.I thought it was a great movie and the beginning really does catch you of guard thinking where in the world is the mom and why is she not there after talking about how great it would be at this wonderful cabin.

The movie actually started pretty well. You have the dad who takes his two kids to a mountain cabin on Christmas, still wrecked by his beloved wife's death, trying to be a good dad and all. But immediately after they reach the cabin, the story dissolves into chaotic clichés. The problem weren't even the clichés, but that it seemed the film didn't know which one to pick, oscillating between them and making me crazy. Is it a ghost movie? Is it a house attack movie? Is it a "he is dreaming/already dead" idiocy? Is it an infection film? Aliens? Forest spirits? You just don't know.In the end you get some sort of explanation, but one that is so lame that it doesn't work on any level. It just seemed like a PG-13, politically correct, bad remake of The Shining - which I didn't like even in the original. Whatever possible satisfaction one might get from the story is annihilated by confused delirium scenes, flashes of the past and (to top it all off) taking anti anxiety pills with hard alcohol.Bottom line: a complete mess, a confused mix of clichés, a thing that just robs time from your life. Watch something else.

First off, let it be known that I was never a fan of this actor. The only exposure I've had was the one or two times I stumbled upon a Will & Grace episode.With that being said, I think he did a good job and it was nice to see him step into this genre. He did well, although, the children were not a good match. As one person said, "children just don't act that way". I thought there was some provocation of thought. I am the type of movie watcher that likes to figure things out (Usual Suspects.... Awesome!) I don't think it was a bad movie and felt that it showed he has talent that is versatile and should be utilized in a wider range of films.Overall, I can see how some watchers might be confused, but I enjoyed the movie, there were some good "jolts" in the movie. A parent, inexperienced, on medication, taking care of sick kids after losing his wife & mother of his children, in a cabin, in a snowstorm. Not the best setting for a Rockwell moment, huh?!Think it was a good movie. Had the potential to be better but they did good with the budget they had to work with.