VideoVista covers rental and retail titles in all genres and movie or TV categories, with filmmaker interviews, auteur profiles, top 10 lists,
plus regular prize draws.
HOME PAGE
INDEX OF ALL REVIEWS
SEARCH THIS SITE
COMPETITIONS
FORTHCOMING REVIEWS
TOP 10 LISTS
INTERVIEWS & PROFILES
RETRO REVIEWS SECTION
ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS
READERS' COMMENTS
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER
SITE MAP
LINKS
SUPPORT THIS SITE -
SHOP USING THESE LINKS
visit other Pigasus Press sites...
The ZONE - genre nonfiction
Soundchecks - music reviews
Rotary Action - helicopter movies
|
March 2011
cast: Rachel Blanchard, Brian Geraghty, Tricia Helfer, Anna Paquin, and Stephen Moyer
director: Andrew Paquin
88 minutes (18) 2010
widescreen ratio 2.35:1
Optimum DVD Region 2
RATING: 3/10
review by Matthew S. Dent
|
Open House
Does anyone else remember when an actor or actress had to star in a film in order for their face to appear on the box? It seems those days are
past us. Open House proudly bears the faces and names of True Blood's royal pair Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin. Imagine my surprise,
then, when between them they only get about five minutes screen time.
So, Open House is not about Moyer and Paquin. It is however, about some other characters. The story sees Alice (Rachel Blanchard), in
the midst of divorcing Josh (Moyer), hold an 'open house' event to try and sell her home. Except, afterwards, stony-faced psychopath David
(Brian Geraghty) hides away in the house, butchers Alice's friend (Paquin) and keeps Alice hostage.
A simple murderous nut-job..? Not quite. David then moves in, along with sister-cum-lover Lila (Tricia Helfer - of
Battlestar Galactica fame), and they have a happy time murdering
anyone who drops by - with David all the while keeping Alice tied up in the basement, and a secret from Lila.
It's honestly not that hard to see where this is going to go. I had it pegged early on, and anyone watching it with a drop of intelligence
will be able to see the plot direction a mile off. Which isn't, necessarily, a game breaker, as I get the distinct impression that the director
(Paquin's brother, explaining her involvement, if not her prominence on the box art) was trying for a more character-central piece.
Except, none of the characters struck me as deep enough to stand up to any examination. Alice is a woman coming to terms with her impending
divorce. Josh is a chauvinistic playboy. David is an emotionally-stunted psychopath. And Lila is an equally damaged, equally psychotic
seductress. None of them provide anything more than a cardboard cut-out.
The relationship between David and Lila does provide a little interest. It comes across as a twist on the Norman Bates and his mother
relationship from Psycho, with a romantic/ incestuous edge. But the
film drip-feeds information and characterisation at such a slow rate that it hinders the story, rather than advances it. Intrigue becomes
frustration, and whilst Geraghty plays an excellent emotionless psycho, his character seems inconsistent and hard to understand - let alone
sympathise with - his changes of heart.
Overall, it's a fair effort. As Andrew Paquin's first film, it has production values that speak to the capital his name has doubtless put
behind it, but it falls a bit flat. There's no impetus to the story, no curiosity in the characters. It tries, but in the end misses its
target, and leaves the audience feeling rather flat.
|
|
|
