'Imaginary' review: Semi-effective horror flick with a twist or two

In Hollywood, the hive mind is on overdrive! Coming later this month is “Immaculate,” about an American nun who travels to Italy and enters an evil convent. Coming in April is “The First Omen,” about an American woman who travels to Italy and discovers an evil conspiracy. On a different note, May will see the release of “IF,” a comedy about a little girl who can see another person’s imaginary friend — but this week we’ve already got “Imaginary,” a horror movie about a little girl who can see another person’s imaginary friend.

It's almost as uncanny as that spring in 1990 when “Lambada,” a teen film about a forbidden dance, came out the same day as “The Forbidden Dance Is Lambada.”

Give some credit to “Imaginary” for exercising a little creativity within its narrow scope. The story strikes some familiar notes: After moving back to her childhood home, children’s author Jessica (DeWanda Wise), is charmed to see that her young stepdaughter Alice (Pyper Braun) has unearthed her old stuffed bear, Chauncey. But as Alice’s behavior turns dark — sudden aggression, speaking in weird voices, attempts at self-harm — Jessica wonders if Chauncey is the culprit. Could this bear be the reason Jessica has almost no memories of her own troubled childhood?

Despite that case of highly convenient amnesia, “Imaginary” holds together fairly well as a mystery-driven horror chiller. A visit from Dr. Soto (Veronica Falcón), a child therapist, lays the groundwork for a couple of plot twists that you probably won’t see coming, and director Jeff Wadlow (who wrote the screenplay with two others) manages to squeeze fresh shivers out of some very old tropes.

What works less well is Jessica’s adventure through a spirit realm called The Never-Ever, where little Alice has been lured. This realm is another cliché, one that dates back to the “Insidious” movies (where it was called The Further) and, before that, to 1982’s “Poltergeist.” In the Never-Ever, where hallway doors and cotton ball clouds combine in a sort of slapdash Surrealism, the budgetary limitations of “Imaginary” reveal themselves.

Still, “Imaginary” has an appealing cast of characters, including Jessica’s indie-musician husband, Max (Tom Payne, in a Walkmen T-shirt); her sullen older stepdaughter, Taylor (Taegen Burns); and the neighborhood kook, Gloria (veteran actress Betty Buckley). If you can withstand some of the goofier moments — such as Dr. Soto asking, with a straight face, whether little Alice has taken up ventriloquism — “Imaginary” might serve as a reasonably effective fright flick during a slow week. Stay for the closing credits to hear “Chauncey’s Theme,” a cutesy-creepy ditty from composer Bear McCreary and his daughter Sonatine.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com@raferguzman