History Film / HomeMovie

* ForTheEvulz: The film toyed a little bit with supernatural and psychoanalytical explanations of the kids' behavior, and neither was definitely ruled out But in the end it is implied that the kids' motivation actually boils down to this.

* ForTheEvulz: The film toyed
a little bit with supernatural and psychoanalytical explanations of the kids' behavior, and neither was definitely ruled out But in the end it is implied that the kids' motivation actually boils down to this.

* ForTheEvulz: Nothing's definitely confirmed either way, but it is implied that the kids' motivation boils down to this.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Are the kids just sociopathic, or is there something to Dave's rants about an evil presence in the house and surrounding area?

* HollywoodExorcism: Dave performs an amateur one on the kids and their room, and actually does mention how archaic the practice is.

* JustForEvulz: Nothing's definitely confirmed either way, but in the end it is implied that the kids' motivation boils down to this.

* RiddleForTheAges: What exactly did Emily mean (if anything) when she confirmed that there were "bad things in the house"?

** The moral of the same story suggested by David - "Don't trust strangers" - is echoed by Clare's later despaired statement: "I don't really know these people... They're strangers in my house."

* RedHerring: After it was revealed that the children had been bitten, Dave's troubled childhood hinted to Clare that there might have been some ParentalAbuse involved, and there's also the fact that Dave had playfully bitten Clare early in the movie. [[spoiler: It's pretty quickly established though that the children did it to themselves, possibly aiming at WoundedGazelleGambit.]] There are also some references to fire early on in the film... but nothing remotely resembling that is ever forthcoming.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: The kids possibly bite themselves in order to make Dave out as an abuser. [[spoiler: It could have worked, had they not bitten ''another kid'' at school the very next day.]]

* KidsAreCruel: One of the nicer things Jack and Emily do is crush a frog in a vice.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: The parents are drugged and strapped to the table, with heavy implications that the kids intend to kill and eat them. Well, at least they're unlikely to become KarmaHoudini since the authorities have already been alerted.]]

* SoleSurvivor: Apart from the twins themselves, it's, amazingly enough,[[spoiler: Christian. And we're not only counting humans here...]]

* BeliefMakesYouStupid: Clare is an atheist child psychiatrist and Dave is a Christian pastor frowning on psychiatry, but they both acknowledge that more unites them than divides - namely, faith that either science or religion is able to help them overcome everything. [[spoiler: They're wrong.]]

* RedHerring: After it was revealed that the children had been bitten, Dave's troubled childhood hinted to Clare that there might have been some ParentalAbuse involved, and there's also the fact that Dave had playfully bitten Clare early in the movie. [[spoiler: It's pretty quickly established though that the children did it to themselves, possibly aiming at WoundedGazelleGambit.]] There are also some repeated references to fire early on in the film... but nothing remotely resembling that is ever forthcoming.

* RedHerring: After it was revealed that the children had been bitten, Dave's troubled childhood hinted to Clare that there might have been some ParentalAbuse involved, and there's also the fact that Dave had playfully bitten Clare early in the movie. [[spoiler: It's pretty quickly established though that the children did it to themselves, possibly aiming at WoundedGazelleGambit.]]

* OffscreenTeleportation: Fuck, those kids are fast! Could be a hint that, just possibly, something supernatural ''was'' at play - though given the seeming lack of surprise on part of Dave, it might be that it just looks weird onscreen.

* TheVoiceless: Part of the overall creepiness. We don't see any of the kids talking ''at all'' until almost half an hour into the film, and even then it's in some unknown (demonic?) language. It's only in the end that they really begin talking, and then it's arguably even more creepy...

* GrossUpCloseUp: The film opens with a zoom in on road kill, complete with swarming flies.

* MeaningfulEcho: David's story about the two-headed cannibalistic dragon wearing the paper bag over his head, and the scene where the children throw their dinnerware to the ground, is echoed in [[spoiler: the final shot of the film: their struggling parents are restrained on the dining table while the children sit clutching silverware and wearing paper bags over their heads, seemingly preparing to eat their parents.]]

* TheUnreveal: The film skips Jack's responses to the [[InkblotTest Rorschach ink blot test]], though it's possible he didn't give any actual answers, hence the fast forwarding. Also, what exactly Emily meant (if anything) when she confirmed that there were "bad things in the house".

* CreepyBasement

* ChekhovsGunman: Subverted. [[spoiler: At the HopeSpot at dawn, the ice cream truck mentioned earlier to come by very early in the morning reappears and looks like a probable DeusExMachina, but no.]]

* ApocalypticLog: Dave loves to frame his harmless home videos as such in jest. [[spoiler: Turned out he was just TemptingFate.]]

* ChekhovsGunman: Subverted. [[spoiler: At the HopeSpot, the ice cream truck mentioned earlier to come by very early in the morning reappears and looks like a probable DeusExMachina, but no.]]

* ChekhovsGunman: Subverted. [[spoiler: At the HopeSpot, the ice cream truck mentioned earlier in the film looks like a possible DeusExMachina, but no.]]

* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: A birthday, Halloween, an anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day, and finally Easter.

* NothingIsScarier: [[spoiler:We don't actually get to see any murders on camera.]]

* WoundedGazelleGambit: The kids possibly bite themselves in order to make Dave out as an abuser. [[spoiler: It would have worked, if they hadn't bitten ''another kid'' at school the very next day.]]