Granny's House

I really loved the concept behind this indie thriller/horror, but it did have its problems. Firstly the acting is a little stiff and off, and the editing makes that worse. The editing is actually really bad, and the flaws are there to see. Some details they thought about in the film, others it's like they skipped over a few things.

There's also a few pacing issues. The story could be a good one, but it ended up being a mediocre film overall. It also really didn't make sense that the older woman that was being cared for took zero convincing to join in on the murder.

It wasn't truly terrible, but there's a lot of room for improvement.

What is up with the 7.5 out of 10 ratings? I watched this because of that.

"Granny" is played by an actress who is about 55-65. She has lived in the house 63 years. Granny was no granny at all. The acting was absolutely horrible. The actors read their dialogue as if they had just read the line before they said it. No emotions whatsoever.

This was a horror movie? This was more of a very bad acting, poorly produced movie. I rated it a 1 out of 10. Don't waste your time watching this. You can always find something better to do.

Laundry Watch Paint dry Move the stove and clean under it.

Seriously, this was an absolute calamity and shouldn't even be considered a "movie". 1 out of 10 is pretty bad and won't even make Walmarts 99 cent dust bin.

The reason I am confused is that I can't see how this film got finance or distribution.

First off, the production is full of technical gaffs - not least in editing. In several places the film has been edited so that the dialogue does not match (or flow in any way) from one shot to another.

There are a few shots where it is obvious 'action' has been called as the actors suddenly go from their start positions into whatever interaction the shot calls for.

In some shots the actor(s) is left in one position and in the next shot the actor is in a different position or pose, even though it is supposed to flow as one.

The acting is strained at the beginning of the film - especially the actor who plays the son - although it does get slightly better as the film progresses - or perhaps I just didn't notice it anymore with so many technical issues and trying to figure out how the edits could possibly have been considered passable.

The whole film is like one big slapped together rush.

The only saving grace is Rachel Alig - who does quite a reasonable job of acting (against the odds I suspect) - and has several half naked scenes (although this seems to be something of a trademark of hers) - which in the end do nothing to alleviate the strain of watching this hacked together set of images.

At first I thought this was some king of home made video, or an experiment by first year film students, but apparently I was wrong. This was supposed to be a proper film.

Never mind. Whatever went wrong in this may be addressed by all those involved when they work on other productions. Hopefully they will see it as a learning curve - never to be repeated.

As for the story - well - it's just not worth going into.

Before those defending 'Granny's House' flame me for adding another negative review, this review is coming from somebody who did give 'Granny's House' a fair chance, saw the whole thing and with no prejudice towards the concept (which was actually pretty neat) and genre (actually have a high appreciation for it). Not somebody with a bias against indie/low-budget and watched the film wanting to hate it.

'Granny's House' just didn't do it (close to "do anything") for me, sad because it could have been decent and actually wanted it to be. By all means there are far worse films than 'Granny's House', of the genre, of similar budgets and in general, and don't think that it is a 1-star film. It just wasn't a good film either, liked the concept but it was not executed well on the most part at all.

There are positives. The music has some creepiness and fits reasonably well. There are some nice unsettling shots.

Most of the acting is poor, but Glenda Morgan Brown and Rachel Alig give one hundred percent and do provide moments of tension and scares.

Sadly that can't be said for everybody else, with the rest of the acting being emotionless. Bill Oberst Jr doesn't look like his heart was in it and goes through the motions. The worst case was indeed the actor for the son, an abominably wooden performance.

Creepiness only comes in spurts and tension and suspense are next to nil, thanks to a lot of ridiculousness, dull pacing and excessive predictability that there is just no freshness to the material. The story, taken far too seriously, seldom gets off the ground, momentum takes forever, and the dialogue is stilted throughout. The direction is confused and most of the photography is slapdash and will induce nausea.

In summation, weak but could have been much worse. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Rebecca is hired to keep Marion company by her son. Marion resists the idea that she needs help. Rebecca is charming & breaks through her resolve.

She convinces Marion to post on a site that offers free rooms to traveling strangers. Meeting people is fun. Rebecca loves 'collecting' new friends.

Don't be fooled by the acting. The compelling plot & slow onset of dread overcomes all. A twisted dark story. These sweet ladies can't be trusted.

I am not a friend or family member. I gain nothing by this review. I just hate seeing worthy independent cinema slammed.