Tuesday, January 29, 2019

The Open House (2018)

So we decided to have a double feature horror film viewing this weekend. We had two flicks in our Netflix cue. One was this movie that sounded like a fun thriller by the description. But in the back of my mind, I remembered seeing that Chris Stuckmann had worked on a riff track for the film. I figured that just means this could be a “so bad its funny” movie, right?

Summary:

After Logan’s (Dylan Minnette) father is killed right in front of him in a freak accident, he finds himself struggling with grief. His mother Naomi (Piercey Dalton) decides to move the two of them to her sister’s massive house in the mountains. She hopes that it will help them work through their sadness.

Unfortunately the house is up for sale, and the pair has to keep leaving the building because of the numerous open house events. Soon enough, strange things start happening around the place. The water heater is tampered with. Logan’s phone vanishes. Other lost items end up in different rooms. Could it be the odd neighbor Martha (Patricia Bethune) messing with them… or did someone stay inside the giant home after The Open House?

Good Points:
  • Lovely location shooting in and around Big Bear in California
  • Solid acting for most of the film
  • Martha was an entertaining character 

Bad Points:
  • Confusing editing drains all tension from the film
  • The score overplays its hand over and over again
  • The ending was very unsatisfying

Overall:

This movie is a bit of a mess. There are elements of an entertaining and thrilling film at the heart of this, but the senseless editing, horribly overloud and obvious score and an ending that just leaves you exasperated add up to a bad film. But if you are in the mood for a movie for riffing, there are plenty of laughs to be mined. Want a good thriller from Netflix, check out Hush instead.

Scores(out of 5)
Visuals:  2
Sound: 3
Acting:  3
Script:  1
Music: 1
Direction: 2
Entertainment: 2
Total:  2

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

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4 comments:

  1. As a former real estate broker I have experienced many horrors involving open houses. I’m not sure any of them would make a particularly good movie. That fact itself is a horror. Also, whatever is lurking in the house, it will horrify less than the first offer.

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    1. You know, with the right cast and crew, even true to life open house horrors could make a more engaging movie than this turned out to be. And yeah, that first offer is usually terrifying. ;)

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  2. I had seen Hush, and thought it was pretty good. Too bad this one didn't work. I saw Baby Driver over the weekend, which I'd avoided for several reasons, but actually turned out pretty good.

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    1. Yeah I was curious about "Baby Driver". I like the director's work a lot, and heard from fans of his work that it was a good one. I'll need to check it out.

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