The Manor

I cannot get over the ridiculous fact that a perfectly healthy, vibrant woman, only 70 years old, WANTS to go into a nursing home. That is absurd. Those are horrible places where people go to lose their freedom and die. Who would WANT to do that? It does not fit her character. That alone pissed me off enough to lower my rating.

This is a very good horror film. It's not that scary but it has a beautiful gothic atmosphere with a few scare jumps. The story is a bit stupid but it's also interesting and beautiful. Lead performance is superb. All in all, it's a decent well made horror.

It's a flawed premise from the get-go. Barbara Hershey as a 70 year old willingly moving into this nursing home with a roommate who can't really even converse with her because she is much more elderly/disabled doesn't make any sense. The main character moves with ease and is sharp intellectually and cracks jokes, and sorry, there's just no way she'd move into this nursing home. I mean, perhaps the nursing home could HIRE her to work for them?

If you get past the silly premise and just go with it, it's a decent horror film. Standard locked-in style story with a supernatural twist. Cool setting of the manor (even though all those stairs would be unrealistic for elderly people).

... Feeble, Unoriginal, Night-scares! An ageing dancer unintentionally entombs herself in a home for the elderly only to discover some residents are not what they present. Everything you've seen before although the performances are notable and the special effects far from wooden.

I wasn't sure what I was in for here, as I sat down to watch the 2021 Amazon Original horror movie "The Manor", but it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen was actually sufficient enough to make me sit down and watch it. And I have to admit that the movie's cover/poster was definitely helping to convince me to watch it as well.

And as it turned out then writer and director Axelle Carolyn actually managed to churn out a pretty wholesome story here with "The Manor". The writing is pretty good and the pacing of the movie was equally good. I enjoyed the slow build-up of suspense and not really knowing what was going on until well into the movie. So thumbs up to Axelle Carolyn for that.

Visually then "The Manor" is pretty good. This is not a horror movie that relies heavily on special effects or ghoulish creatures, but there is a great atmosphere permeating the movie. And the environment of the house is really spot on, which adds a level of believability to the movie.

Aside from an interesting storyline, then "The Manor" does have some great acting performances, and especially Barbara Hershey (playing Judith) carried the movie phenomenally well with her performance. And the movie also have the likes of Bruce Davidson on the cast list.

If you enjoy a good old fashioned horror movie, then give "The Manor" a chance. I did, and I was genuinely entertained by what the movie delivered.

My rating of "The Manor" lands on a six out of ten stars.