House on Willow Street

You know if you are into jump scares and just love any horror movie, I guess you'll enjoy yourself. Still I'm surprised by the overall high rating. And that is not only because one of the cast members distances him- or herself from the movie, but just the pure fact that the movie is filled with clichés. So many that it kind of started hurting physically.

So while I couldn't fault the movie for any technical aspect (and I guess that's plus that I like the actors in it, despite their horrible characters made me be kind in my rating), I don't feel that way when it comes to the script. It starts off kind of good and it does sort of maintain a certain mood. But it's so crazy what the characters do ... I mean yes I realize we wouldn't have certain movies, if characters behaved as if they actually had a brain, but still this stretches anything you'll be able to stomach. I'd even say I like the ending in a weird way, even though it hurt too ...

From a House on Willow Street is a supernatural horror movie that oozes with atmosphere but comes around with a very exchangeable plot that has been used over and over again in similar ways in the horror movie genre. The film revolves around four young friends who decide to kidnap the heiress of a diamond distributor to demand a hefty ransom. The quartet takes six weeks to plan everything and manages to kidnap the young woman without any problems. However, things start to get a sinister turn when the criminals realize that their victim is in terrible shape and looks as if she had been rescued from her family mansion rather than kidnapped. After a while, strange incidents start to occur in the abandoned factory where the group is hiding as static hinders communications, electricty malfunctions and the kidnappers start to see dead people who were once dear to them. Things definitely spiral out of control when the kidnappers are unable to reach the daughter's parents and realize that neither media nor cops seem to be informed about the case. The four friends must find out the grisly secret that the kidnapped daughter is hiding in order to survive a night when the hunters have become the hunted.

This movie convinces on several levels. It has a gloomy, grisly and mysterious atmosphere from start to finish. The locations such as a sinister mansion and an abandoned factory have been perfectly chosen. There are a few scary scenes that work quite efficiently thanks to decent light techniques and a moody soundtrack.

On the negative side, the plot is predictable from start to finish which takes away much of the potential tension. The acting performances are only average at best. It doesn't help that the different characters are lacking depth and development.

Despite its flaws, From a House on Willow Street should appeal to fans of atmospheric horror movies. It's not a particularly creative film but still entertaining from start to finish. Since it's providing a few scary scenes without being overtly complicated, this movie might be a good choice for a Halloween party with some friends.

Like many other reviewers, I saw the high early rating (7.9) and dove right in. I quickly regretted it. The premise was okay. To its credit, I thought there was some depth to the subtext. The director plays a lot with the "Primacy Effect" of our first meeting with the characters. The viewer is definitely expected to evolve their perception of who is good and who is evil.

Had they dwelt more on the psychological tension and made the kidnappers sit face to face with their victim, the movie may have made more of an impact. As it is, the role reversal created more plot holes than tension.

There are decent moments of body horror in the second half of the film, but I was too fatigued from all the unnecessary jump scares to care. There were several moments were the dialog / delivery took me completely out of the scene to wonder where is this set, do people speak like that in whatever setting this is? It's not the worst thing to stream, but you'd need to be pretty deep into your queue before this ever seemed like a good choice.

If you put this film on with high expectations you will not enjoy it. If you're a horror fan and don't mind a bit of poor acting and some weak writing but enjoy a solid idea and decent cgi gore, enjoy. The effects are good the plot works for a horror film and the pace is pretty steady. If this film was released in the 90s it would've been a big deal. As it stands, I'd recommend it to horror fans only. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

It wasn't completely awful. The worst scene of all was the flashback with the priest and family around the table. Some of the worst acting and dialogue I've ever heard. It had some good moments so I don't feel like I wasted the whole time.