The Templetons were a happy family. Janice and William lived in a posh New York apartment with their daughter Ivy. Things were fine until an English stranger, Elliot Hoover, starts to stalk the family. When finally confronted, he claims that their daughter is actually the daughter that he lost in a tragic car accident, reincarnated. Now as their daughter's nightmares get worse, the Templetons must decide whether or not to believe Hoover's story.

This movie, in large part, deals with the subject of reincarnation. I personally do not believe in reincarnation but there are over one billion people in India and around the world who do believe. There are a lot of references to India and even real footage of an Indian funeral procession. It is vital to the story, which is both a weakness and a strength of this film.

The strengths of this film are that it is very well acted and the story is interesting. Sir Anthony Hopkins plays Elliot Hoover and is very convincing as the grieving and determined father. The rest of the cast is excellent also with the exception of the little girl. I have seen much better child actors who have been much creepier than this girl.

Despite the fine acting and story, there were more weaknesses than strengths. I found this movie in the horror section at my local Blockbuster and it can also be found in the horror category on Netflix.com, but it had trouble deciding whether to be a suspense film or a drama. There were no scares, no blood, and no gore to speak of at all. One scene gave me a slightly creepy feeling but it was not nearly enough to satisfy me. I praised the story earlier because I believe it has a promising premise. Unfortunately, it falls flat about half way through and turns into a tedious and confusing court drama.

Add to it an anticlimactic ending and you have a film that I cannot recommend.

4 out of 10 bizarre snowman burning ceremonies

I didn't really enjoy this movie much at all. There was a scene, the one on the boxcover, that was kind of unnerving. And for the first half of the flick, my interest was held. Unfortunately, the courtroom drama that the movie turned into was so tedious it was actually physically painful.

Also it bugged me how unaware of reality Hopkin's character was. First of all, if you think your daughter's been reborn as the child of another, maybe acting like an obsessed stalker/pedophile isn't the best approach. A little common sense would have completely changed this storyline. Then when things go from bad to worse, this guy completely breaks from reality.

I did kinda like the ending, though. It was odd, but I thought it was unexpected enough to leave an impression.

This is by no means an exciting movie, though. This is something your mother might like, or grandma. Horror chickflick.

2 out of 10 creepy kids that just aren't enough