Dead Residence

This short little film (68 min) is more interesting than most "found footage" movies. It rolls happily along for quite a long time, and then kicks into high gear at the end. It bothered me. A lot. Maybe because a friend of mine had a similar experience and this felt all too real. It's a bit over an hour. Give it a shot.

I am only 32 minutes into this and there are so many things wrong with this movie. I'm not even talking about the plot, the acting, etc. I'm referring to the actual purchase and renovating of this house.

First, when you're looking at a house to purchase or anything else for that matter and you find something wrong like horribly stained carpet or moldy walls, you don't get all excited and talk about how that will be no problem to fix. You gotta play hardball. The realtor saying that there are already a lot of offers is just BS.

Next, when the agent says that $50,000 is the lowest the owner would take, but he would suggest going a little higher like $55,000 or $60,000, you don't jump in at $60,000. In fact you don't even need to start at $50,000. If the owner has any sense, they wouldn't have asked for the least that they would take. They would have asked for more that way they could negotiate down and still get what they feel is acceptable.

Lastly, these people are painting directly over the old dirt, moldy walls without cleaning or even priming them. I know that they didn't clean them first not just because they look disgusting, but the girl talks about how she just painted over a hair. Since they plan on flipping this house, hopefully, they'll find a couple of idiots that are as naïve about purchasing a home as they are to sell it to.

I am aware that this is a work of fiction, but come on! The thing that sets great found footage films apart from the complete wastes of time is the attention to detail. This one wants to do the scary and totally gloss over what would actually make it feel real (or at least more real).

Oh yeah, so far, the script and the acting are pretty bad too.

DEAD RESIDENCE tells the story of a young couple who move into a fixer-upper. As they renovate it, it becomes increasingly evident that they are actually in mortal danger.

The concept behind this found-footage movie could have yielded a decent horror thriller, but alas, it is implemented so thoughtlessly that the film becomes a total dud. The entire house-hunting and renovation parts of the movie are characterized by a deadly (to the audience's goodwill) trifecta:

1. They are unrealistic: The way the couple goes about renovating the house is not how it would be done in real life. My knowledge of home renovation is extremely limited, but even I know that you don't just paint over mold-infested surfaces. There are several such actions , including the negotiation for the price, for which the only justification would be if the film wanted to tell us that this couple is exceptionally stupid. I don't think that is what the movie wanted to convey, but based on the unrealistic reaction of the guy when they first see the hidden snuff footage, I am not so sure.

2. They are inconsistent: The couple seems extremely enthusiastic about buying the house while the girl repeatedly keeps calling it "nasty". Unless the film wanted to convey to us that she has some kind of dirt fetish, this is inconsistent. It took me right out of the story.

3. They are boring: I mean, seriously, how did the film-makers manage to turn something that for most people is one of the biggest decisions in their life into such a snooze-fest? I think partly it is because the entire sequence was way too long. It positively felt like filler to me. This is reinforced by the fact that we learn little about the character or aspects of the story as the mundane events proceed.

I blame all this on thoughtlessness in execution.

It is quite evident that the dialogue is improvised, plot lines like the potentially racist neighbors go nowhere; and the actual horror starts very late (about 55 minutes into this 68 minute film) and when it starts, it is immediately obvious who the villain is.

To me, the entire lack of thought in making this movie is encapsulated in a scene where the neighbors bring the couple "homemade cookies" in a commercial cookie wrapper, as opposed to, say, on a plate.

This film is just a quick attempt at making a buck, nothing more.

If You Need Any More Encouragement to Watch Sean Donohue's " DEAD RESIDENCE " , It's to See Dynamic Dawn Soleri ! She's a Woman ; & What a WOMAN ! She's Insanely Beautiful , with a Magnificent Natural Body , that You Can't Keep Your Eyes Off of in Her Brief , But Memorable Scene as a 'Victim' ! Another 'Victim' is the Lovely & Voluptuous Ruby Palestine , who is also a Pleasure to the Peepers ! The Stars Arius West as 'Patrick' & Comely Kylie Remlinger as his Wife 'Debbie' , who have just bought a new House & are in for Much More than the usual Pitfalls that befall a first time HomeOwner ! The Whole Cast Does a Creditable Job & the Suspense Intensifies throughout this Horror/Slasher/ Flik ! I'm Hoping to See More of Lovely Kylie in Future Films ; & Infinitely More of Red-Hot Dawn Soleri !

Combine Paranormal Activity, Hangman, and an episode of House Hunters and you get this movie. It's pretty typical for a found footage, not much happens of interest happens for a quite a while. When it does, it's fairly intense. Too little too late honestly but still a decent watch for fans of microbudget horror who can tolerate amateur acting and screenwriting.