The House Next Door

From all the great comments I've read about the book (and now I want to buy the book), you'd think they would have made the movie creepier and more suspenseful. It was too tame in the shock department. I'm not saying it needed to be gory -just more suspenseful, creepy and sinister like a Stephen King movie! The architect character was really the only thing that creeped me out(just a little). Also the house should have been creepier looking. I enjoyed some of the actors' performances, especially the little girl. Some of the characters weren't too fazed about what was going on in the house and just blew it off. I'd be freaked if my neighbors were dying off one by one in the same house. All in all, it was an enjoyable two hours viewing time; I might even get the DVD if it comes out.

Not that I was really surprised....movies are never as good as the books that they originated from. I was looking forward to seeing this movie because this is one of my favorite books, even though I knew it would probably suck. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised. However, they strayed from the book's storyline too much, and the movie version did not convey how horrible this house really was. Ending was different too. Lara Flynn Boyle looked terrible due to some really bad cosmetic surgery. The acting was unremarkable at best. Perhaps if a theatrical version was made so that they wouldn't have to stay so much in Lifetime's "made for TV movie" box, it would be a better flick. If you saw this movie I highly encourage you to track down the book and read it. I doubt you'll be disappointed and hope you enjoy it as much as I do every time I read it.

The cast is OK. The script is awkward at times, and it takes a while to figure out what the point of the movie is. I found myself looking forward to doing the dishes. The Shehan bit is a cheesy statement on the war. I guess we were supposed to not notice it...we did. Its a house, you did nothing more than kill forty five minutes. The shower part...huh? What was that about? Literally, it is I have a client, "Ok you can use our shower." Yawn. The angles are trying way to hard. There was a set of woods, suddenly its gone cause you can see right through, then next it is deep and animals are dying. In the end this is a horrendous movie of boring proportions.

Happily married Lara Flynn Boyle and Colin Ferguson (as Colquitt "Col" and Walker Kennedy) live in a beautiful country home. They are okay being childless – although Ms. Boyle pouts, in the opening, some awareness about her "eggs" getting old at age thirty-four. There is a faint subplot about children which could have been more haunting. Boyle (as narrator) tells us a haunted house was built next door. Due to some unexplained incidents, Boyle and Mr. Ferguson have decided to have a showdown in "The House Next Door" – even though it may end their lives… Eighteen months earlier, we watch the events which slowly lead up to the opening scenes. The house is built by attractive architect Mark-Paul Gosselaar (as Kim). One day, he works up a sweat and has to shower at Boyle's place. You expect something to happen, but it doesn't – all the weird stuff happens in the house next door...

It is an unusual and difficult building to manage– but, it's a beautifully-designed building. Watching different people move in and try to live there is entertaining. The first one to leave is Mr. Gosselaar, who notices something strange has happened to him while building the place. Gosselaar helps sell the house and tries to get away, but not for long. This is an average TV movie production, with a couple of problems. Most obvious, the ending is a big disappointment. Of course, it's better not to say much – you'll see for yourself. Part of this has to do with some confusion about the characters – including the House as a real or inanimate character. This was based on a successful novel by Anne Rivers Siddons, which was undoubtedly clearer. Director Jeff Woolnough gets his best results in the house, especially building tension in effective scenes with Iraq War mom Julie Stewart (as Anita Sheehan).

***** The House Next Door (10/30/06) Jeff Woolnough ~ Lara Flynn Boyle, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Colin Ferguson, Julie Stewart

The House Next Door: A Possessed as distinct from a Haunted House. A new house is built in an exclusive area, a lovely young couple own it, a nice young architect designed it. But the architect is troubled, this was his first independent commission, now he seems to have lost his inspiration. Trouble soon befalls the new couple and other residents who follow them in occupying the house. Mostly psychological horror, people seem pushed to do things they normally wouldn't but also scenes of genuine horror. A TV set taken over to show films of past deaths, ghostly apparitions; gruesome suicides and murders occur. Directed by Jeff Woolhaugh. On SyFy Channel. 6/10.