Given its title, should anyone expect Cobweb to offer anything other than a horror movie? Nope, as that’s exactly what the 2023 film delivers.

Eight-year-old Peter (Woody Norman) lives with his parents Carol (Lizzy Caplan) and Mark (Antony Starr). The child finds himself spooked because he hears a constant tapping from inside the wall of his bedroom.

Carol and Mark discount Peter’s claims as figments of his imagination. However, Peter begins to believe his parents hide a major secret, a thought that sends him into an even deeper spiral.

Any story like this needs to keep the viewer uncertain of the reality depicted. If the film intends to maintain our active attention, it should ensure we stay off-guard and question whether or not the lead encounters actual supernatural issues or he imagines all of it.

Cobweb botches this side of the tale. While it delivers twists along the way, it nonetheless makes it patently obvious from early in the tale that the action won’t just be a figment of Peter’s imagination.

Not that Cobweb doesn’t attempt to make viewers believe we can’t find a rational explanation for his situation. In particular, the film sets up the notion that the bullied Peter creates his own imaginary friend as a respite from his unhappiness.

However, Cobweb simply fails to offer this reality-based circumstance as a viable possibility. Granted, some of this stems from our awareness of the genre.

We know it becomes unlikely that Cobweb will end up as a tale in which Peter simply imagined non-existent weirdness. A more daring movie might go that way, but few take that kind of risk.

Cobweb lets us know that creepy shenanigans exist via the depiction of his parents. They act so unnatural and borderline villainous for us to think the issues remain in Peter’s mind.

Of course, we could think that Cobweb portrays some of its warped elements through Peter’s damaged lens. However, if the filmmakers intend that, they fail to convey it well, so we sense the spookiness as objective reality, not subjective perception.

Really, the biggest issue I find with Cobweb stems from its plodding inevitability. We know the movie will come with a Big Scary Reveal at the end.

No, we can’t easily predict what the specific revelation will turn out to be. Nonetheless, we remain wholly aware it will occur.

The path to get there simply feels slow and tedious. As Cobweb pushes toward the Unsettling Climax, it takes too long to get there and packs too little punch when the finale arrives.

Throw in some clumsy dialogue that telegraphs too much and Cobweb falters as a horror movie. Honestly, it feels like a tale that would work better as a short, for it just can’t fill out even its mere 88 minutes with sufficient content.

Footnote: in one scene, Peter gets expelled for one acting-out incident. It doesn’t work that way in the real educational system.

Also, Peter’s teacher finds a creepy drawing he creates. In the real world, this would act as a massive red flag that the school staff wouldn’t ignore the way they do in the movie.

Cobweb appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a positive presentation.

Sharpness looked solid. A few shots were slightly soft, but not to a substantial degree, so most of the movie seemed accurate and concise.

No jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws were a non-factor, as the movie stayed clean.

We found a palette that favored amber/orange, with some of the usual teal along for the ride. Within their dingy parameters, the colors appeared solid.

Blacks seemed deep and tight, while shadows were smooth and well-delineated. In the end, the transfer proved to be appealing.

I also felt positive about the pretty good DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Cobweb. Given the nature of the story, moody environmental information dominated the mix.

These elements filled out the speakers in a fairly involving manner. The movie didn’t become a constant whiz-bang soundfield, but it created a decent sense of place.

The more active “scare moments” used the spectrum in the most dynamic manner, but they failed to appear on a frequent basis. Instead, music and moody ambience became the most prominent components.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise. Effects depicted the elements with acceptable accuracy and boasted pleasing low-end when necessary.

Music showed positive clarity and range, and they also packed solid bass response at times. This was a perfectly positive mix for the material.

Three featurettes appear, and Becoming “The Girl” runs three minutes, 32 seconds. It offers info from director Samuel Bodin, makeup/hair/prosthetic designer Yana Stoyanova, and actors Woody Norman, Cleopatra Coleman and Aleksandra Dragova.

The program looks at various effects, makeup and stunts. Though brief, the reel gives us a few good notes.

Through the Eyes of a Child goes for two minutes, 28 seconds. It involves Bodin, Norman, and actors Antony Starr and Jay Rincon.

“Eyes” looks at characters and the film’s POV as well as performances. A couple minor insights emerge, but not much of interest.

Finally, A Primal Fear lasts two minutes, 21 seconds. Here we get notes from Bodin, Norman, and production designer Alan Gilmore.

With “Fear”, we look at the movie’s tone and attempts at fright. Again, we get a few worthwhile tidbits but the reel seems too short to relate a lot.

At times, Cobweb threatens to deliver a fairly engaging spooky story. However, it relies on too many tired tropes and it lacks the substance to flesh out a feature film. The Blu-ray comes with generally solid picture and audio but it skimps on bonus materials. Though not a bad movie Cobweb doesn’t quite connect.