Bryan Becket is a perfectionist, a control freak, and unless something can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt he does not believe in it. This makes him a great lawyer but has his family life in decline. When his aunt passes away suddenly Bryan is left with her house. He decides that this is the opportunity to spend some time separated from his wife which is something they had been discussing. However spending time alone in such a big house that many in his family believed was haunted starts to take its toll. At first Bryan is able to ignore or explain the things he hears, the doors that shut, and the quick glimpse of people that he sees in the corner of his eye. But as time goes on memories slowly start to creep into his mind and he remembers a dark past which is the driving force behind the strange occurrences. He will have to face his past if he has any hopes of being left alone.

This movie’s “scares” and “thrills” are based solely on building up tension through small events. This type of direction has worked for movies in the past; but unfortunately “The Skeptic” doesn’t quite master it. As everything builds they break the tension by taking Bryan out of the situation at hand time and time again. Without a steady increase the scares lose something.

The background story of Bryan comes out slowly and while not very original it does offer a dark look at what Bryan went through. Unfortunately you are given just a few flashes of images of what had taken place and as soon as it is uncovered the movie rapidly draws to a close. The final face-off that happens in all movies of this nature is a let-down. Not only can you see it coming a mile away it last perhaps 5 minutes giving you a closure that is not only a rushed disappointment but isn’t completely clear on just what happened. Sad when movies have a decent idea but fail at the execution.