The Beach House

'The Beach House' is the perfect type of film to know as little about as possible before going in. I knew basically nothing about it and it made it an absolute treat. Some could call the first half of the film slow, and they'd probably be right, but I loved it. It did what so few horror movies do and took the time to let us care about the characters and their fate. For a cast of relative unknowns I thought the cast were terrific. The main couple were nothing flashy, but they were likeable and realistic enough to get onboard with.

The film features some very clever foreshadowing. It was hard to fully appreciate all of it at the time, whilst knowing so little about what the future of the film had in store, but in retrospect it was very clever. I really didn't know what direction the film was going to go in. It holds its cards close to its chest for quite a while. The path that it does ultimately go down has not always been my favourite genre of film in the past, but I really liked the way 'The Beach House' went about it.

The film has a very strange ending, that I think makes sense, but I also suspect is not going to be to everyone's liking. It was a bold way to end the film though, and like it or not you should at least give it respect for that much. I had a good time with 'The Beach House' and would recommend it as one to check out.

This is a genuinely creepy low budget horror but the horror is held back by a confusing series of plot points and ideas that are never really tied together. A young couple heads to a family beach house to get away from things only to find an older couple also staying there. They get along okay until a series of strange events seems to lead to an unexplained infection that slowly progresses through the group. Things get a little trippy and the viewer faces the same struggles as the characters finding it difficult to know what is real. There are various possible sources for the infection and its unclear whether they are interconnected or unrelated. One characters explanation of her study goals seems like some Obvious exposition to educate the viewer on a possible source of the infection. The cast were fairly good and they helped to build the creepiness but the direction left things a little too confusing for real horror to build. Worth a watch but could have been better.

The Beach House is a great little horror film that borrows from many other films and books of renown authors like Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft, there are some elements of Cronenberg's trademark body horror and more.

I don't want to spoil too much, so I'll just go ahead and recommend this film to horror fans, it is well-made and all the ideas that they have borrowed really work in this story.

This film was a pleasant surprise for me since I didn't expect much, and they delivered more than I hoped for.

The Beach House's relatively short runtime is filled with a sense of impending doom. It's slow to get started, but once the infection begins the film manages to offer up enough dread to keep you locked in. Well-acted and plenty of eerie atmosphere. Overall, this turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It's far from perfect and suffers from a few cliches and dumb character moments. There is one particular reveal in the last block that disturbed me. I always find the scariest films revolve around body horror and what Mother Nature could have in store for us. I highly recommend watching something a little more upbeat after you finish it. The film has managed to stay on my mind the last few days.

The reviews for this movie are incredibly inconsistent. However it seems like people are agreeing about certain aspects. Everyone seems to agree with the sentiment that the movie is a slow burn. I personally found the first half of the film to be interesting and it increasingly built tension. Others will say it was boring.

The film is also being hammered on for being mysterious and accused of offering no real explanation as to why certain things are happening. Not true, there are several scenes/conversations that offer theories and possible answers to what is happening. However, the theories are presented indirectly. I personally found the explanations interesting enough.

The climax of the film is ultimately why I recommend this movie. Around the 50 minute mark is when this film separates itself from the pack. There are 2 horrific set pieces in particular that are extremely well shot and present genuine creepy imagery.