I really liked Riley's family. They did a great job of portraying them as a typical normal family, which then makes you ask the question, what would your family do in their situation? The scene where they're arguing in the kitchen about what they should do is one of my favorites. The mom, Kate (Illeana Douglas), has already made up her mind. She's just testing out normal kitchen items to see what kind of damage they could like it's an everyday activity, while throwing in enough horrible things to make her husband Will (Daniel Stern) go along with it. Of course, her son Reed (Jared Kusnitz) wants to go after Otis too. He's a teenage boy who thinks that he wants to see violence in the real world like he sees in his videogames.
Then, there's the FBI agent in charge of the investigation, Agent Hotchkiss (Jere Burns). He is just about the most unlikeable character I think I have ever seen. When in an interview about catching pedophiles, he is asked what separates him from the people he chases. He replies "I wear a condom". That right there sums him up better than I ever could.
Also included on the DVD are some very good special features. There's an alternate ending, which I must say I liked the original ending better. The alternate gives the movie quite a different feel. There's also a full showing of Otis' home movie. Funny is not quite the right word for it. Rather it makes him look pathetic in his attempts to make himself feel popular.
All of the acting is very well done. This is the first major role for Bostin Christopher. I predict that we'll see a lot more from him. He does a wonderful job as Otis. The background music was perfectly timed. It would silence at just the right moment to make what the actors were saying more dramatic and then start right back.
Now I'm not sure I would recommend Otis to everyone. It is a horror movie, so if you can't handle good horror, you'll want to avoid it. But if you're looking for one of the best, most original horror movies that I've seen in a while, go pick up Otis. You'll be glad you did.
