House by the Lake

Where it takes some ideas and presents them in an interesting way, nothing is done with them. The framing and shot composition was perhaps the most disappointing as they felt very disconnected from the story and scene overall; it was as if someone said "hey what if we shot it from that angle? That would be cRaZy and that would mean it's artistic." The acting was at times strong and at others fairly forced and unnatural. It did not really pass my test of "could I actually picture real people talking like this?" more often than not.

The finale was also so very underwhelming, all that build up for almost nothing. Granted it's a short movie, but barely anything happens and there's little to no real scares throughout.

Amateur Film. The little girl seems like the only one who took acting lessens. Very long drawn out movie that has no Horror in it. Most of the Film shows the Mother rolling her eyes at the young and pretty nanny and the husband trying to some from somebody. The rest of the movie is about running around the house looking for the little girl. The end is supposed to be the cherry on top. Ends up being poop on the bottom of your shoe. Bad, bad, bad

This horror thriller tells the story of a couple who move to a beautiful house beside a lake with their 10yr old autistic daughter.

They hire a nanny to assist them with the struggles of having such a high maintenance child but when the kid starts taking stories of her imaginary friend The Fishman too seriously it becomes questioned whether there is more to the story.

Sadly this is one of those films where nothing really takes place until literally the last 5 minutes and it leaves the film feeling somewhat incomplete.

The concept isn't terrible, it just feels like it needed padding out more and in its current form simply isn't that entertaining.

The Good:

Finale

The Bad:

Feels incomplete

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If your child is missing a logical place to check is the dryer

What is really horrifying about this movie is that it has been produced such as it is! What's up with Gwen? Is she flirting with Scott or just being naive? What is her agenda with the Morgans? Who/What is the fish man? Is it real (well water marks around the house are real..) or is it just the pedophile next door in disguise? And I could go on and on... There are so many loose ends, so many chances to make it a good horror/thriller movie wasted.

I second the previous review, good acting for James Callis and good music score.

The feel of this movie is contradictory right from the beginning for me. Some aspects are decidedly 2nd rate...some camera work and editing, and acting, at times. But There are some top notch aspects that made this film worth a chance. It isn't a horror, more of a thriller and it wasn't half bad.

The script has the flavor of a life time movie. (Maybe a 13+ rating)Which isn't a terrible thing if you are OK with that type of movie. The acting of the father/husband "Scott" was VERY impressive. I haven't seen him in anything else before but his work stood head and tales above the rest of the cast.

The score/music is well done if not a bit overly dramatic. The story is realistic in that there is a struggle within the marriage over the stress of having an autistic child. A mother who is overly fearful and controlling. A nanny is hired to help them with the child when they visit the lake house.

The plot was nice, in that it didn't strictly follow the norm. What you would expect to happen in this type of movie is not what you get. There is by no means any type of WOW, heart attack moments, as the viewer, but there is connection to the characters and an interest in wanting to see what happens to them.

For an independent lower budget movie, this happen to be one of the better ones. Id give it a chance.