If this is some hackneyed tribute to H. P. Lovecraft, it falls short. Really short. Those of you out there who have actually read Lovecraft will hear mention of Azathoth, the Old Ones, and seemingly blatant references to the Necronomicon. But does it make ANY sense, or add value to the plot? None. In fact the whole movie is a big tease.<br /><br />Those reviewers who believe this film is for the "thinking man" and not for stupid people who can't understand its convoluted plot are being unfairly condescending. They probably didn't even catch the mumbling Lovecraft references because they were too busy not reading books and mistakenly thinking they understood the plot and everything in it. Good luck. A word for the MTV generation-- a good story is not a downfall in a film. Confusion and mindf*cking are not the signs of genius. It is a trick to make you think you are smarter than you are.<br /><br />This film is not hard to understand, it is just disappointing once you figure out you wasted nearly 2 hours of your time thinking about it at all. It is purposefully confusing. If you want to spend your money on that, have at it.<br /><br />The whole thing seems painfully staged. The dialogue is uncomfortably stinted like an adapted stageplay, or a bad attempt to gain atmosphere by copying the cadence in David Mamet's works on film. (Hint: It works for Mamet.) Normally Seth Green is great, but I get the feeling the director asked him to play the character as two dimensional as possible. (And very much a pasty rip-off of Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys, as mentioned before.)<br /><br />Jeffrey Combs is the best part of this movie in his white suit and cool redneck sideburns. Too bad he has so little screen time. Raimi is not bad, either. But really folks, if you are looking for good content and strong story, don't be fooled. Don't be intrigued by the comments about how deep it is, that only the special few who use their brain can understand it. Don't think of it as a challenge. The story is simply uninteresting and indulgent.<br /><br />It can be compared to Mulholland Dr., but only in the structural sense. Kasten ain't David Lynch.