Belgian Congo: two sisters say goodbye as one takes a train trip. On the train, a woman chaperone who possesses an unusual idol, kisses the young girl and then becomes a corpse; her life and soul passed on to the girl.

Flash forward to many years later. The sister of this young girl is in America with a good husband, Jack Halloran, and teen daughter named Amy. Shortly after receiving a call from her mysterious sister, Mrs. Halloran is killed in a fluke accident. Aunt Felice comes to stay after the funeral.

Amy is spooked by her aunt and tells her friend Heather that she wants to temporarily move in with her. It’s not long before Heather is severely injured after her necklace gets caught in an escalator. Amy finds voodoo stuff, including the weird idol, in her aunt’s suitcase. Her aunt catches her and explains she collects African items and that the idol is said to carry the soul of a family from generation to generation. Amy continues to have a very bad feeling about her aunt so Felice moves into a hotel. While Amy is at school, Felice seduces Jack. Amy feels dizzy while they copulate, having extremely heavy menstrual-like bleeding. Felice gets Jack an architectural job which takes him out of town. Amy’s boyfriend goes to Felice’s place and finds her in a voodoo ritual. He is able to call and tell Amy what he saw before he is killed in a voodoo-instigated accident.

Felice goes after Amy, who seeks refuge in her church. In the church, Felice takes care of a pesky priest. Amy stabs Felice who immediately heals. Amy faints.

Meanwhile, Brenda, the Halloran’s nurse neighbor, is doing blood tests on Felice’s blood because she also has suspicions. It comes back as the blood of a corpse. She phones Jack at the airport to come home immediately.

Back home, Amy is on a bed, which is surrounded by candles and the idol; the ritual of the kiss is about to begin. Jack arrives and Felice again seduces him while Brenda comes and helps Amy out the window. Felice goes after them. Brenda futilely shoots at Felice. A struggle erupts which finds Felice and Amy in the pool. Felice grabs Amy and pulls her close. Just before the kiss, the idol is destroyed and Felice disintegrates. Amy swims to get out of the pool as a demon snake, which jettisoned from Felice’s mouth, chases after her. A propane tank is thrown into the pool and explodes, just as Brenda pulls Amy out. The scary snake-thing is dead and Amy is safe.

This film is well written with several good surprises to make you jump in your seat or to completely fool you. A personal favorite surprise was the use of a cross necklace which is set up from the beginning to seem as if it may protect Amy. But Felice destroys a priest who clutches it as he bursts into flames; apparently the necklace is just a red herring. It is a film which is intelligent, a bit complex in plot, and definitely keeps you guessing. The acting is great. Joanna Pacula as Felice is eerie. Nicolas Kilbertus as Jack is great and Mimi Kuzyk as Brenda is superb, having a wonderful rapport with Meredith.

Meredith gives an excellent performance as Amy Bridget Halloran. We first see her at her confirmation, her beautiful eyes sparkling. She really delivers believable emotions of grief at her mother’s funeral, anger when her aunt and father throw out her mother’s clothes, and even greater anger when she confronts her father about his liaison with her aunt ("You f***ed her!!!"). Some of her best acting is done with Mimi Kuzyk as Brenda, her neighbor and adult friend. They have an excellent rapport and Meredith is very natural in their "sisterly" talks. One of Meredith’s best scenes is with Brenda over in Brenda’s kitchen at the beginning of the film. Amy talks to her about Terry, a boy she has met. She is feeling kind of boycrazy and wants to know if she is old enough to have sex; she’s the only virgin left among her friends. Their talk is a very nice, believable scene which develops their characters.

Meredith also has a delightful scene with Brenda later in the film when she goes to have Brenda – a nurse – check her after her incident of bleeding. She is weary and very upset….and tired of her aunt’s healthy eating habits. She furiously screams at Brenda, "I want some Fritos! I want a f***ing diet Coke!!!" On one level it is humorous and on another level this is her frustrated cry for wanting things back the way they were – back to normal – without her aunt.

For viewers who appreciate Meredith’s beauty, she has several scenes in the swimming pool. More than a chance to see her in a swimsuit, these scenes set her up as an excellent swimmer to help "sell" the final scene in the pool in which the virginal Amy must outswim the demon snake (A Freudian moment, perhaps?).

Finally I must make note of a line Aunt Felice says to Amy soon after supermodel Felice has moved in. As Amy is getting out of the pool, Felice eyes her and asserts, "You could be a model." Tell us fans something we don’t know!