There's not much to say about "The Open House" beyond the fact that, while it isn't outright terrible, it's just incredibly mediocre. The plot feels like something that would have made for an average episode of a horror anthology series, ruined by making it an hour too long.
I will admit that, at first, I was intrigued by certain events. Was the threat going to be supernatural, or human? Why did the realtor's assistant act so strangely? How did the kooky neighbor fit into all of this, and what was the deal with the flirty store owner? The goings-on in the house were appropriately creepy and served to ratchet up the tension factor while my brain tried to figure out what was going on. Unfortunately, my interest soon began to wane as the film drug on and on with no sign of livening up the proceedings to give us something new to think about until the final twenty minutes when, mercifully, some things finally begin to happen. And, as it turns out, most of those plot devices mentioned earlier end up being either red herrings or a whole lot of nothing.
There really isn't a whole lot of imagination going on in "The Open House", despite first appearances. The execution is quite misleading in making us think there's something far more elaborate going on than what the movie actually reveals it is. One can't help but feel duped at the end. Tricked, if you will, into thinking the film had more to offer. Oh, suspense scenes are carried out with a certain aplomb, but when it all amounts to mediocrity in the end, was the journey there really worth it?
None of this is helped by the fact that the film seems to struggle with its tone--something that can probably be attributed to the fact it had more than one director. The tone of the ending, in particular, feels out-of-character and as if it belongs to another, darker film entirely, given that until then the proceedings felt so very much like an expensive episode of a TV series.
I'm tempted to give the film another star it doesn't deserve simply due to the fact that Dylan Minnette is nice to look at, but I'll refrain.
I will admit that, at first, I was intrigued by certain events. Was the threat going to be supernatural, or human? Why did the realtor's assistant act so strangely? How did the kooky neighbor fit into all of this, and what was the deal with the flirty store owner? The goings-on in the house were appropriately creepy and served to ratchet up the tension factor while my brain tried to figure out what was going on. Unfortunately, my interest soon began to wane as the film drug on and on with no sign of livening up the proceedings to give us something new to think about until the final twenty minutes when, mercifully, some things finally begin to happen. And, as it turns out, most of those plot devices mentioned earlier end up being either red herrings or a whole lot of nothing.
There really isn't a whole lot of imagination going on in "The Open House", despite first appearances. The execution is quite misleading in making us think there's something far more elaborate going on than what the movie actually reveals it is. One can't help but feel duped at the end. Tricked, if you will, into thinking the film had more to offer. Oh, suspense scenes are carried out with a certain aplomb, but when it all amounts to mediocrity in the end, was the journey there really worth it?
None of this is helped by the fact that the film seems to struggle with its tone--something that can probably be attributed to the fact it had more than one director. The tone of the ending, in particular, feels out-of-character and as if it belongs to another, darker film entirely, given that until then the proceedings felt so very much like an expensive episode of a TV series.
I'm tempted to give the film another star it doesn't deserve simply due to the fact that Dylan Minnette is nice to look at, but I'll refrain.
