The ending wraps. literally nothing up. it just ENDS. nothing is explained, and anything that makes sense is stupid predictable

The acting wasn't great, but the lead female was horrible. Maybe she was directed to be a ridiculous drama girl; in that case, she got the ridulous overacting part right. I thought this must be a first film for the high schoolers.

I'm not going to waste time telling you that the acting is bad (it is), because this movie has other problems aside from that.

Our "hero", Devin, is moved from Chicago by his mother to BFE, Somewhere in the Sticks, as his parents are divorcing. His mother enrolls Devin in the local high school, and it turns out that his mother is old friends with the principal. There are some mild Sparks between Mommy dearest and the principal, and Devin is not pleased by this.

Devin meets Mick, who helps him open the combination lock on his locker. They exchange friendly small talk, and while they are chatting, they witness the loud, angry break-up between Skylar, Mick's friend, and her boyfriend, Jude. Jude dumps Skylar because she became pregnant by him, and subsequently had an abortion without talking to him about it first.

Skylar wants Jude back, and so she talks Devin and Mick into going to a local feature, a supposedly cursed cave. Devin's grandmother warned him to stay away from the cave, and of course, he doesn't listen. Skylar somehow believes that if she pays homage in the cave, she will be granted a wish. Her wish is for Jude to forgive her and take her back.

While they're in the cave, Mick takes a sword, for Skylar, and a teddy bear. At that point, something growls at them, and they flee. Later that night, Mick talks to his sister, Lea, about his feelings for Devin. Mick is gay and has the hots for Devin. Lea warns Mick not to get his hopes up, as she doesn't think that Devin is gay, but Mick harbors hope that Devin will reciprocate his feelings, anyway. Later still that same night, the entity from the cave comes to Mick's house and kills Lea in front of him. Mick is paralyzed by some mysterious force, and can't do anything to help Lea. The entity then claws marks into Mick's forearm, and leaves.

Meanwhile, Skylar takes to purloined sword to Jude, who accepts it, but still won't take her back. They argue heatedly, and Skylar goes back to Devin, who is watching from a discreet distance. They talk for a bit, exchange some personal information and history, and then go to Skylar's house, where they end up having sex.

Mick goes to Skylar's house and finds she and Devin basking in the afterglow, and he becomes upset and accuses Skylar of stealing Devin away before he had a chance to tell Devin about his feelings for him. And, oh yeah, his sister was murdered by a demonic entity before his eyes.

Devin tells Mick that he isn't gay, but still wants to be his friend, which let's Skylar off the hook. Our intrepid trio end up at Devin's grandmother's house, where they relate their visit to the cave, the theft of the items from the cave, and Lea's murder to Devin's granny and mom, who receive this report less than enthusiastically. After granny has a hissy fit, Devin's mom send our trip to see an old friend of hers who happens to be a psychic.

Long story short, the psychic tells them, particularly Devin, that they're doomed. The Cauchmar is coming for them because they stole things from him. She then tells them that the Cauchmar was once a mortal man, a local blacksmith who was thought to be a pillar of the community, but he wasn't. He was a serial killer who murdered young local women at his smithy. The psychic then gives the blacksmith's real name, John Paul Freeman, and tells our heroes that his nefarious deeds were discovered by the local citizenry. They Chase him into this cave, where he is forbidden to leave by the spell of a powerful witch. Freeman died in the cave, but in doing so, he found "the dead magic", whatever that is, and bound his soul to it. After this bonding, he gained the ability to leave the cave again, and has haunted it ever since. She then tells Devin that there is one slim hope. If he can find the Cauchmar's original blacksmithing tools, he can bind Freeman's spirit to them, and cast the Cauchmar into Hell. She then tells them to leave, as she fears that she has told them too much.

Devin, Skylar, and Mick go to to the local library to see what they can find out about Freeman, and any possible descendants. Mick finds a Robert Freeman, and our trip goes to visit with him. Unfortunately, Robert is a belligerent jerk, and drives them off of his property at the point of a shotgun. They leave empty-handed.

While our merry band is away, granny calls on a friend for help, a local priest, Father Dupuis. Dupuis shows up. The Cauchmar shows up, and Dupuis is powerless against him. Mom dies. Granny dies. Skylar dies. Mick dies. Father Dupuis dies. The Cauchmar is unstoppable, you see. Finally, Devin dies, taken by the Cauchmar.

Throughout the movie, a medium sized dog pops up sporadically. It shows up in the middle of the road when Devin and his mother arrive in town. It shows up again when Skylar, Mick, and Devin first visit the cave. It shows up again at the end of the movie, after everyone has been killed by the Cauchmar. The dog trots off behind some trees, and then a slender, dark-haired woman appears in the dog's place. Is this the witch who had originally bound the Cauchmar to the cave? Was she trying to keep Devin away from the cave while appearing as the dog throughout the movie? Hhmmm, could be. We are left to surmise this on our own. We are also left with the supposition that Lea's body was left in Mick's house for several days after her death, as he doesn't report her demise to the authorities, and we don't see him burying her, himself.

Yes, this is a stupid, stupid movie, chocked full of the same stupid decisions and inane, ill-advised actions of the doomed characters in every stupid horror movie. Good is helpless before evil, the demonic villain is more powerful than God Almighty Himself, and everyone dies. It isn't even mildly original, or entertaining.

Do yourself a favor and pass on this one. I wish that I had.