The film belongs to a long tradition of horror films that offensively suggest that all atheists might as well hang a Welcome sign up for the devil.

Is it a psychological thriller or a giddy horror of the evil-in-them-there-hills persuasion? This split-personality number can't quite decide.

Ultimately, the silly material overwhelms the style, particularly in a final act involving magical hillbillies living in them thar hills — during which the movie attempts to make a serious point about the importance of faith in the midst of a lot of bad teeth, worse wigs and cheap jolts. Right.

An appealing cast and well-executed mood of foreboding would seem to hold some promise commercially, but the script grows silly in the third act, letting the picture down.

Along with Moore, all of them deserve some kind of credit for committing to a movie barely six souls will ever even see.