The first hour or so was spent developing the characters so that one particular event would blow your mind. Which it did, and made the previous hour worth the effort.

But the ending ... jeez. I understand what the filmmakers were going for here, and I can see where the pregnant wife would get that point across. I just think that an eight-year-old son would have been more effective and wouldn't have left me thinking, "That was a stupid ending."

This film is a PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER ... not the SCARY HORROR MOVIE that everyone has been making it out to be. I've got nothing against psy-thrillers, I just like to either know what to expect or know nothing at all.

Matthew McConaughey walks into an FBI agent's office (Powers Booth) and says he knows the identity of the "God's Hand" serial killer. He then tells a story of how he and his younger brother were raised by their father, Bill Paxton. One day Paxton has some kind of religious vision where god tells him that his life's mission is to root out the demons amongst us. Paxton proceeds to go on a murder spree with his 2 young sons as accomplices, one of them willing and the other not so willing. This is all told in flashback style. As McConaughey's story wraps up, more stuff is revealed regarding why he walked into this FBI agent's office in the first place, and things take another major twist. ("Otis" plays a very important role too. Heh heh.)

I thought it was a very effective psychological thriller and it kept me guessing what was going to happen. Bill Paxton also directed this movie and based on this he probably has a bright future as a director (unless this was a fluke). The audience never really sees any bloodshed, but the intensity of the action still makes us squirm.

The sound mix is great - very effective, especially the use of the surrounds to create an ambient soundfield in certain scenes. I also liked the musical score.