Review:  Eerie ‘Come Back to Me’ borrows the best shocker bits

“Come Back to Me” is a sufficiently tense and eerie shocker that borrows bits from “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Psycho,” “Paranormal Activity” and others while forging its own path. Writer-director Paul Leyden does a decent job holding our interest as well as providing a few intriguing twists and reveals. But make no mistake, this is exceedingly far-fetched stuff.

The film, based on the novel “The Resurrectionist” by Wrath James White, finds Sarah McLaren (Katie Walder), a young Las Vegas woman married to conflicted croupier Josh (Matt Passmore), suddenly experiencing a series of nerve-wracking night terrors. The McLarens have a new neighbor, a perhaps-too-obviously weird supermarket employee named Dale (Nathan Keyes, quite good), who takes an unhealthy interest in Sarah. To avoid any spoilers, suffice to say plenty of supernaturally inspired havoc ensues.

A bloody prologue sets up Dale’s haunted childhood, one that involved the murder of his mother (Maura West) at the hands of his abusive father. No good, of course, will come from this scenario and of Dale’s so-called gift, which ends up driving much of the story’s mayhem.

Events effectively snowball, giving this low-budget effort more heft than its standard-issue dialogue and occasionally bird-brained moments might imply. (Really, shouldn’t Sarah have changed the locks as soon as she realized Dale copied her house key?) Still, horror-thriller fans could do a lot worse.

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“Come Back to Me”

MPAA rating: R for bloody violence and strong language.

Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes.

Playing: At AMC’s Burbank Town Center 8.