1912 — It was the year that the Titanic sank into the ocean, the year that an abstract expressionist named Jackson Pollock was born into the small town of Cody, Wyoming, and the year that eight people were butchered in their home by an axe murderer in Villisca, Iowa. That’s right, an innocent family by the name of the Moores were struck down in their beds while they slept in the night, including the father Josiah, the mother Sarah, their four children, Arthur Boyd, Mary Katherine, Herman, Paul Vernon, and their guests, little eight-year-old Ina Mae, and Lena Gertrude Stillinger. They may have started out June the 9th as ordinary citizens with god given names, by the end of the night, they’ll only be known as the casualties of the ‘Villisca Axe Murders’. The killer was never discovered, and the case was forever unsolved.

Flash forward about a hundred years to the Los Angeles Film Festival, where director Tony E. Valenzuela has brought the real life story to the big screen, with his first feature length film, simply titled Villisca. The movie starts out by showing the grisly murders of the early 1900s, then jumps ahead to present day, where it follows three foolish teenage kids as they break into the infamous house after dark and begin experiencing bouts of strange and unusual activity. Lifelong friends Caleb and Denny are paranormal investigators who routinely go on guided tours of haunted locations, so they’re used to hanging in creepy places, but when Caleb’s new love interest Jessica suggests that they sneak into the building after dark, she has no idea that she’s doomed them all.

Out of all of the movies screened so far at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival, Villisca is perhaps the most disappointing. It’s not that it a completely unwatchable film, or that its premise feels unworthy as the basis of a full length feature film, it’s actually quite the opposite. The reason why Villisca feels like such a letdown is because it starts out so promising.

The biggest issue is that there is so much dialogue and so little action. Although the movie begins with an explosive bang, going as far as to display the madman himself entering the Moore household with an axe in hand and possessed black eyes, wandering from room to room and murdering each member of the household one by one, the truth is not much else happens. It’s a shame, because the kids actually start out as somewhat relatable and interesting. Caleb has recently attained high school equivalency degree and can finally get a job working at a motel for his uncle, Jessica is still nursing her bruised ego after a recent traumatic youtube event, and Denny is not only still mourning the loss of both of his parents, but also might be in love with his best friend Caleb. When the three kids join forces to unlock the secrets of the Villisca haunting, it creates a premise that seems to be worth following. However, once they’re in the house and spooky spirits begin to make themselves known, the whole movie radically shifts into a confusing mess.

Somehow, everyone in the house becomes possessed, all at once, so it’s unclear who these demonic entities are supposed to be hunting, or what they hope to achieve. Random flashbacks are inserted lazily into the storyline, making it feel needlessly convoluted and less impactful. It’s weird, because the movie starts out on such a high note, but once the trio enters the house and the high school bullies who love to harass them show up to dish out their usual insults, all of the action comes to a screeching halt. Not only are the bullies rendered useless before they even ascend the basement stairs and make their way into the house, but the rest of the film just seems to feature possessed people talking about taking lives and committing atrocities, instead of actually doing any of the things they’re talking about. It’s bad enough that the movie doesn’t make much sense, but the fact that so little happens in the second half of the movie makes the plot just as sluggish as it is puzzling.

Overall, Villisca is a movie that pulsates with potential, but completely squanders it halfway through the feature. The Amityville Horror, The Evil Dead, and The Shining have all obviously greatly influenced this film, but the one thing that the filmmakers failed to understand about the movies that Villisca pulls from is that no matter how long their runtime, or how slow their build up, these classics are remembered fondly not only for their characters, but for their payoffs, which rewarded their audiences with a big finale. Hopefully Villisca director Valenzuela can grow from this experience, and turn around and deliver a film that’s just as thrilling in the end as it is promising in the beginning.