Blu-ray Review – The Prodigy

"The Prodigy" is yet another attempt to master the Killer Kid subgenre of horror, trying to generate a fright film with a basic push to depict the corruption of innocence, making nastiness emerging from a wee one all the more disturbing. Typically, these endeavors swan dive into bad taste, aiming more for shock value than genuine scares, getting off on the concept of a child committing murder, with very little effort put into the rest of the production. Thankfully, "The Prodigy" isn't ugly, going the supernatural route when detailing the rampage of an 8-year-old monster, whose body is being commanded by a fortysomething serial killer. Screenwriter Jeff Buhler (the "Pet Sematary" remake, the "Jacob's Ladder" remake, and the upcoming "Grudge" remake) deserves some credit for keeping the movie less icky than its competition, but that doesn't mean there's a story to tell here. While it manages some faint level of restraint, the feature remains a fairly brain-dead viewing experience, while director Nicholas McCarthy ("The Pact," "At the Devil's Door") doesn't sharpen the potential for terror, keeping matters largely routine when it comes to jumps and jolts, which eventually take command of the snoozy picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com