Glass House: The Good Mother

High class intense melodrama which had my attention.

Mother loses child and adopts two as replacement; yet the mother and her husband have dark secrets in a house full of them. And on one level this film goes further than child endangerment but into child cruelty and worse.

Excellent photography, generally very good direction with a few blimps near the end.

Super performances from the two female leads which makes the film.

The actress playing the mother is sensationally "bad".

Worthy of a sound: 7/10.

An orphaned teen girl (Jordan Hinson) & her little brother start a new life in remote Simi Valley, Ca, with their adoptive parents (Angie Harmon & Joel Gretsch), a seemingly-ideal couple who tragically lost their son a year earlier. Jason London is on hand as the kid's acting-godfather.

"Glass House: The Good Mother" (2006) naturally has a similar plot to the first film, but the kids are a little younger here and, as the title implies, the mother is now the key adversary. Being a direct-to-video release it lacks the budget of the first film with Leelee Sobieski and Stellan Skarsgård (2001) and therefore lacks the theatrical pizazz thereof, having a Lifetime movie vibe.

As with that first movie, the awesome mansion itself is a highlight, located just a dozen miles north of the Glass manor used in the previous flick (in real-life). Unlike the first film, however, the actors are all no-names. Yet they rise to the challenge, especially Harmon as the increasingly not-good mother and Hinson as the formidable girl, who essentially becomes the "final girl" à la slasher flicks.

Not that this is a horror movie, but there is that element. It's more realistic than the conventional slasher, which typically involve some eye-rolling psycho wearing a mask and brandishing a machete, etc. Here, the diabolic individual is more every-day and perfectly harmless on the surface, which somehow makes it more chilling.

The flick effectively addresses the mental illness factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA), aka Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP). These types of psychos actually exist, unfortunately.

The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot in Simi Valley, Ca, with some stuff done in Hollywood.

GRADE: C

One year after losing their son David, Eve Goode (Angie Harmon) and her husband Raymond Goode (Joel Gretsch) adopt the orphan Ethan Snow (Bobby Coleman) and his teenager sister Abby Snow (Jordan Hinson) and bring them to their mansion nearby a lake. Abby faces difficulties of adaptation in her new home, and she confronts Eve, who proves to be deranged and unstable. When Ethan gets sick, Abby tries to contact their friend, detective Ben Koch (Jason London), and she realizes that her brother and she are trapped in the house.

"The Good Mother" is predictable, full of clichés, but still a reasonable B-movie. The story has a tense beginning, but there is no previous development of the characters Abby and Ethan Snow or Ben Koch. The viewer does not know who they are or their relationship. The attitude of Abby when she moves to her foster house is totally ungrateful and unfair with her stepparents that gives a magnificent room in a wonderful house, triggering the insanity of Eve. It is difficult to understand teenagers most of the times, but there is no explanation for the feelings of Abby when she moves to the Goode's house without a previous development of her character. In the end, the forgettable "The Good Mother" is an enjoyable entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Casa de Vidro 2" ("The House of Glass 2")

In this sequel to the mediocre original, another teenage girl and young boy get adopted by a creepy couple after their parents pass away. At first, their new life seems idyllic, but as in the first film, things aren't always as they seem, and there are a few skeletons busting to come out of the closet.

Okay, for a start the main problem here is there is not a sympathetic character in the film. Mom is a psycho, Dad is a doormat, Abby (the girl) is a total biatch and the young lad has so few scenes we barely know what to think of him. Also, from the beginning it's pretty obvious that everything about this place spells *CREEPY* and yet, it takes Abby more than an hour of the movie to bother doing anything about it. That's after her foster mother purposely leaves broken glass in the sink for her to cut herself with, drugs her with tranquilisers so she spends days at a time in her room and forbids her to leave the house or speak to anyone on the phone. Even when her brother falls MYSTERIOUSLY ILL with 'food poisoning' and crazy mom won't take him to the hospital, she still doesn't twig. Fortunately, there's a convenient bedroom full of evidence of her past crimes and... Oh, wait, I'm getting ahead of myself here. If you're going to watch it, I suppose you want to discover the 'surprises' all by yourself. Lucky you.

The acting all round ranges from average to deplorable (especially in the later sections when things get REALLY over the top), there isn't an unpredictable plot twist in the script and most of the occurrences happened in the original, anyway. So why not do yourself a favour, see The Glass House again instead? Save yourself a rental fee. Or better yet, why not just dump both movies and go watch something classic from that Master Of Suspense himself, Sir Alfred Hitchcock? I recommend North By Northwest or The Birds. No, they weren't made this century, but I tell you what.. they beat ten shades of poo out of today's so-called thrillers. Exhibit A: this film. Life is short, after all.. 3/10

I must admit i did think this might be just another of those dreary drag along movies. But I can honestly say its not. Angie Harmon plays a very convincing role as a troubled mother & keeps you squirming in your seat. Shes backed up well by Joel Gretsch as her doting husband, with a very fine performance from unknown Jordon Hinson. The plot it self is a very simple one & its been seen before in a number of good movies, but this doesn't take anything away from the excitement or suspense. The characters all develop well as the story unfolds, & still gives you a ending with a surprise twist. Its a very entertaining effort, its no blockbuster but I,m sure it will be well received in video stores.