If you go to this movie expecting a schlocky thrill ride with a demon child on board, you’ll be happy. But if you expect some brilliant new twist on the well worn horror genre or something a little deeper, you’ll be disappointed. Ratings for this movie have been all over the map, but I’m placing it in the middle. The film may cover familiar territory, but it does so effectively and its cheap thrills by and large deliver.

Kate and John Coleman (Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard) have two children, Max (Aryana Engineer) and Daniel (Jimmy Coleman). Their would-be third child was stillborn, and to ease their disappointment -- or perhaps to quell their guilty feelings -- the Colemans decide to adopt Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), who they’re told is from a Russian orphanage.

At first Esther is charming and precocious, but it’s obvious that she doesn’t fit in. One of the movie’s faults is that it plays the "psycho kid" card too early. Esther is dressed like a Victorian rag doll and always has ribbons around her neck and wrists. And if anyone tries to touch them, she goes berserk. As if her looks weren’t enough, there’s that sinister Russian accent, which director Jaume Collet-Serra milks for all it’s worth.

Before long, Esther coolly and cruelly dispatches a bird and a nun, in that order, and she makes life hell for Kate, who seems to be the only one who recognizes Esther’s evil nature. Kate is a recovering alcoholic, so everyone tends to dismiss what she says as exaggeration, if not outright fiction. But because we share Kate’s realization, the plot becomes a nerve-racking contest between Kate and Esther while everyone else seems oblivious. Will Kate be able to save her family? I can’t tell you without spoiling the plot. But I will say that the operative word for this movie might well be harrowing.

The cast is quite good throughout. Fuhrman’s role is particularly challenging (though not for the reasons you might think -- just take my word for it), and Farmiga expertly captures the swinging moods of a recovering alcoholic. The scene in which she stares at a wine bottle before finally pouring its contents, instead of her life, down the drain adds a real-life horror to the rest of the film’s schlock terror.

A final caution: children should not see this movie. Parents (and theater owners!) should take the "R" rating seriously. That said, adults shouldn’t take the film itself too seriously -- just go and have a good scary time.

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