Josh Ockmann is attacked in the library. His girlfriend Mattie Webber (Kristen Bell) finds him in a disturbing state at his apartment and then he hangs himself. After getting mysterious computer messages, her friend Stone (Rick Gonzalez) goes to shut down Joss's computer but it's already taken. Stone is attacked just like Josh. The landlady sold Dexter McCarthy (Ian Somerhalder) the computer. Josh had sent Mattie 3 rolls of red duct tape 2 days before he died. The rolls are split up between Mattie and her friends Izzie Fuentes (Christina Milian) and Tim (Samm Levine). There is an epidemic of suicides in the area.The movie is saturated with the color blue. Along with the Eastern European location, this drains the life out of the movie. It tries quite a few jump scares. Mostly, they don't work because the story is lifeless. The other problem is that the spirits come out of nowhere randomly. It actually gets a bit boring.

Josh (Jonathan Tucker), a computer hacker, breaks into a novelty IT facility, which by pure chance has created a computer virus that invokes the dead. By hacking into the joint Josh unwittingly releases the virus into the world and is soon to become one of the first victims, when an undead phantom steals his lifeforce. His university girlfriend Mattie (Kristen Bell) worried about the lack of contact from Josh decides to visit him at home. There however she only finds a lifeless shell of her boyfriend, who after a short chit chat decides to end his decrepit existence. Preferred suicide: hanging. This however is just the beginning, as the end is the end of the world as we know it...Probably said a bit too much in the intro, but truthfully it won't really matter, as the plot is essentially quite absurd. It either catches on to you or it doesn't. In my case I admire the intention, but must wallop the execution. The script doesn't hold up well to the Japanese original and basically takes on the form of the teenage horror flick with an end of the world twist. Also a lot of the scenes seem forced, especially those with computers turning themselves on or running without power.The biggest no-no is the big finale, where our hero (a random guy called Dexter, who comes to Mattie's aide) has a chance to destroy the contagion by installing a special code made by Josh that would destroy the original programming. This initially works, but soon the system starts rebooting. A logical conclusion would be to try to pull the plug before that happens. But Dexter decides to run...Additionally there is almost total lack of character building with stereotypes being given free reign in the pic. Basically we are rushing through the story until we reach a rather subpar conclusion. But well...Not all is bad. There are scenes that work and the special effects are really adequate to the scare in hand. Here and there you find very nice ideas behind the movie, but just not enough of them to push the film into the 'good zone'.

SHOJ!!!!!! Watch the special features and you'll get it. Man this movie is retarded. The ENTIRE FILM with only ONE exception (the scene where the girl talks to the dude outside next to his car) is filmed in some stupid colored lighting. Shows that the DP and director have no real vision for this film and that they just wanted things to look dramatic rather than trying to light it in a way that might highlight the point of the scenes or show any kind of progression for the characters during the film.And dude...all the hands???? Do we REALLY need a GIGANTIC FACE MADE OF HANDS AND ARMS!?!??!!? What is the freaking point? It's retarded. My friends and I watched this as a B-movie. It was hilarious. There's no way I can take this movie seriously. Sure Ms. Bell is a super hottie and all (:D), but a cute girl does not a good movie make! In fact this film has almost nothing to do with the original Japanese film. Yeah the plot is similar and all but the pacing is made super fast...as though an American audience can't sit still and watch the movie or something. The writing on this film is awful (thank you very much Wes Craven), as the characters freak out way more than they need to in order to get the point across. The ending is similar but the original is better in every single way. Let's look at the part where the person jumps from the tower as the main character turns around to see. In the Japanese version the person is climbing up the tower, everything's normal. It's also a STILL single shot. When they finally jump you look over and HOLY CRAP, they just leaped out. In the American version we have to FOCUS on the death rather than the main character. The camera is MUCH MUCH CLOSER to the person and PANS DOWN watching the person as they fall. This focuses more on the dead person rather than the horrifying circumstance of the death as witnessed by the main character. In the Japanese version we watch the person die as someone seeing it on the street by chance. In the American version they FORCE you to focus on the person dying.....which is pointless, and retarded.This is just a SINGLE SCENE where this kind of stupid "remaking attitude" comes into play. The entire film is filled with scenes that are similar to the original but much sillier after being redone. Plus, people seem to not only miss the POINT of these original films but also miss the pacing, the actual way that the drama is handled between the characters and the focus (like I mentioned in the last paragraph) is ALWAYS in the wrong place and always for the wrong reasons. There's even a part near the end of the film where the main guy and girl go into a room where this guy taped everything over with red. Well in the original Japanese version of the film they didn't have to cover the ENTIRE ROOM and light everything to look blood red...because they probably thought it'd be stupid...which it is. Anyway, so there's this guy in there who is freaking out. In the original film there's a similar scene (I think, it's been a while since I've seen it) but in that scene he's upset. He's not certifiable. The guy in this version is CRAZY. He goes on and on and EXPLAINS EVERYTHING having to do with anything...as though the audience didn't realize what was happening and for some reason ALSO lacked the mental capacity to put ANYTHING they've seen throughout the rest of the film together. The entire scene is pointless from a writing standpoint. There's no reason to explain every single thing in a horror film. In fact the mystery is often what keeps the film scary, not like this movie had either of those qualities in the first place. We once again turn to Wes Craven. HOW oh HOW can you fall so far Wes? The original Hills Have Eyes from the 70's is a GREAT movie, and now you're churning out this fecal surprise? Did you have some contractual obligation to work on this for some reason? Man, get some talent back dude, cuz you've lost it all.Sadly it's not just THIS remake that does "get it" either. Too many (pretty much ALL of them from the past few years) miss the point, drop the ball, and go left on Awful Avenue straight into Suck City. There's nothing good I can say about this film except that it's REALLY GOOD..........for a laugh...many laughs actually. And that Kristin Bell is a super hottie. Other than that, it's just too funny.I give this film ZERO stars out of FOUR. And on a B-Movie scale I give this film....oh THREE out of FOUR I guess. It's really quite funny with your buddies, just don't expect anything of quality from it. Why am I still typing anything about this terrible movie? What is wrong with me? Why are you still reading!? Either go watch it, and have a laugh or stay away and don't have a good laugh session.

Oops I clicked on the link. I was never a fan of the original Japanese film, and this updated American take on the story isn't any better or make me feel any different about it. It's forgettable (like how the victims fade away to ashes) when it comes to shove, but for the moment it agreeably past the time with little worries. Again its plain dreary with a terrifically patient concept (about technology development and obsession being society's eventful downfall when a virus is let loose) that's a little more to it than your normal ghost seeking revenge yarn. Ray Wright and Wes Craven offer up a reliable screenplay. I hand it to the remake that it does feel far less drawn out (brisk pacing) and more complete, but this does lessen the hopelessly apocalyptic downbeat sense that breaks out and goes on to smother the air. Although the ending here is ultimately non-effective. The thing I couldn't figure out though, doesn't anyone know how to turn lights on. Oh there are so many passages… where obviously a light-switch was about. Was it to create atmosphere or to simply save energy? Director Jim Sonzero ably paints some stylish and shady cuts, but the scares are predictable (the usual jump tactics) and suspense minimal. Playing tricks with shadows and sounds feature largely. Elia Cmiral's suffocating score chimes in some eerie numbers. The performances are all solid and very well projected with Kristen Bell and Ian Sommerhalder leading the way. Look out for a short cameo role from an amusingly raving Bard Dourif.