SPOILERS:
I originally posted this in Reddit and wanted to share my thoughts here as well.
Randomly watched the new horror film on Netflix, The Open House, and I have to say that it's one of the few horror movies in recent years that had me glued to the screen and biting my nails. The other two were The Invitation (I guess more of a thriller) and The Devil's Candy. IMDB link to The Open House page
I can't figure out what the universal dislike for the film is. It's getting a lot of - I think - unearned, negative reviews. I was surprised that I had enjoyed this film and thought I'd write what I liked, loved and didn't like about it.
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT:
The story explores a mother and son's process of grief and reconciliation.
Death and grief are used to create an emotional and logical fog that blinds and confuses our protagonists as to what's going on and how to behave. I like how this is thematically reinforced by the film's focus on our main character's poor eyesight and macro shots of his eyeballs when removing and inserting his contacts - while using POV shots to show just how blind he is - when his glasses go missing and with the use of silhouettes and his revolving door of nightmares that can't be distinguished from reality.
During periods of intense grief, people suffering inside this emotional and mental fog often make a series of bad decisions that can quickly spiral out of control. You can experience a sort of dream like state where life passes you by and people move in and out of your life like ghosts. Everything seems inconsequential so it's hard to distinguish between good, bad and evil. This explains one critique of the film where we are warned that the main characters aren't really paying attention to who is coming in and out of their home or to what's going on. People kind of pop in and out of existence. This is not out of character for people who are lost inside the abyss of grief.
This is thematically reinforced by the neighbor who recently lost her husband and is now suffering from alzheimers. She's lost in a fog of grief and a disease that will eventually kill her.
An innocent open house can turn into a nightmare. It helped cement the film in a version of reality that felt real. I liked how the film explored the danger of allowing strangers into your home without much consideration.
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT IT:
The killer is incredibly intelligent, methodical and committed to his murderous goals. He's quiet, imposing, cunning, confident and in control. I loved how our protagonists were outmatched. His motives remain a complete mystery, which makes sense. I'm tired of stories having to explain why an insane killer does what he does. It was his bad parents, ghosts, drugs, the Devil, the government... whatever. Sometimes people are just evil and that's that. No explanation necessary. We're just along for the very tragic and inexplicable ride.
It's not gory or full of needless swearing.
The film is well cast and their performances serve the story well.
The film uses shadows and silhouettes to hide the villain instead of a mask or computer. We never see his face and he only says two words the entire film.
Pacing throughout the film is well controlled. The tone is consistent, even if a little too heavy sometimes.
It made me very uncomfortable. The camera is always framed in such a way to leave enough of the negative space to see the background and heighten your paranoia as a viewer. Gore Verbinski and his DP used this to great effect in The Ring and Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote use the same technique in The Open House with good effect.
It was a simple, simple story.
The ending is unconventional and open ended.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT IT:
The killer is too smart and the story structure telegraphs - at least - one moment so well that I knew it was coming.
The direction seemed a little off here or there for some of the supporting characters. For instance, I couldn't figure out why the real estate agent was acting so nervous, as though he had done or seen something bad. It feels like we're missing a scene that explains why or it was simply heavy handed misdirection. Did he see or hear something that made him so nervous? We'll never know.
The color correction and palette didn't work for me. It was too blue at times and the colors felt... muddy. That could be video compression, but I don't think so.
Some scenes felt rushed.
I wanted the main character to have at least one or two decent victories before the end. The villain is such a badass that this never happens and leaves something to be desired.
Production design was lacking, but I think that's more of a budget thing. However, it would have been nice to see the production design play more of a role in the character's development.
The music telegraphed too much too early, felt a little overdone and a little cliched.
There were things that were set up that were never used - like a stair that breaks at the beginning of the film. I guess that isn't necessary, but it does beg the question as to why so much focus was placed on that broken stair. Maybe I missed something.
The supporting characters weren't developed enough. I wanted to know more about Chris and see him have his own moment that fleshed him out. Same thing goes with pretty much everyone outside of the mother and son. I would have been fine with ten extra minutes that let each character shine a bit so we miss them when they're gone.
Despite these flaws, I really enjoyed this flick and recommend it for some casual, horror movie watching.
Thanks, always looking for watchable horror movies. On my list now :) I recently saw REC after hearing many praises about it but we were rather let down by it. I waited for something extraordinary to happen the whole time but in the end it was only a normal zombie movie for me.
Cooooool :) Thanks for this post.
I find it worth watching I will see it soon Thank you
looks like a must watch thanks for sharing your review on this one :)
I hope you enjoy it like I did. I found it to be scary and effective, despite the negative reviews.