11-11-11

The Saw director Bousman helms this conspiracy-themed horror, which has Gibbs playing a man whose wife and son died at 11:11 on November 11. He begins to see this "11-11" pattern emerging throughout his life, along with disturbing visions. He concludes that a supernatural force will be coming to Earth on November 11, 2011, and decides to try to stop it. This unapologetic genre film never quite evokes the type of fear it is aiming for, taking an interesting idea (albeit concerning a date that has passed) but never asserting why we should be afraid of those six spooky numbers. Clearly clutching at straws, Bousman throws several mythologies together in an attempt to make sense of what's going on, while adding some poor special effects sequences and shock tactics that are surely the laziest of all horror storytelling devices. There is a questionable subplot on faith and Christianity which, combined with numerology and countless superstitions, tries to hammer home the point that something awful is coming – although the viewer is never quite sure what. Gibbs, along with Landes and Rafter, who play Joseph's religious brother and father, wade earnestly through the confusion, but the blame should squarely be laid at Bousman's feet for producing a horror that fails to scare or make you think.