Up late talking games & writing? You're...

I read the book a while ago and thought it was just alright. It got a lot of praise at the time, but honestly, I thought it was about twice as long as it needed to be and it was really, really slow in some spots. For a horror book, there was entirely too much inner dialogue going on for characters I cared nothing about. After finishing the volume, my first thought was that it'd make a better film -- and that was proved mostly right.

The movie itself is no instant classic, but it got the job done and eliminated the bulk of what made the book drag. The effects were fine, and there were a few scenes that were genuinely horrific and painful to watch. The ending differs slightly from the book (a minor cop-out, in my opinion) but it basically worked.

Overall, we both enjoyed our time with it on the big screen, but it'll be just as good on DVD.