The Open House (2018)

Can't trust anyone these days

By: JWBM

A mother and son befell by a sudden tragedy, end up staying at a family member's house till they can get back on their feet. The catch is they will be alone in a remote area of the woods, and the house is on the market with a series of strangers coming and going. As any fan of horror knows, this spells trouble from the get-go.

A majority of the film plays out as a drama/suspense with some tension between the characters over their recent event and new situation at hand, along with some mischievous happenings in between that start to go from mildly annoying and uncomfortable, to seriously strange and creepy. One of those, we're stuck, police can't do much, and a Joe and Jane are up against something over their head.

We get to know the inner workings of the characters—which have ordinary habits and patterns just like you or I. This is a more traditional take on horror, with tried and true mechanics to put you in their place, and then to get under your skin and create some tension. It has a basic formula to it, though to its credit, it also creates interest by building from scratch and involving more ingredients to the mix as time presses on. Both main stars have a certain chemistry together, and a natural way of fleshing out the individual scenes. 

A majority of the film is essentially one grand culmination till a climactic showdown. I say showdown instead of revelation, because it uses the playbook from "The Strangers" with little explained except what you see before your eyes. This draws a line in the sand: The idea is to keep the nervous insomniacs in check, or to infuriate all-too-comfortable viewers looking for a generous reward—take your pick. This isn't going to be as well-rounded like, say, "Rear Window" with an inventive story, a good deal of tension and mystery, or where you know who's who, or what's what by the time things are wrapped up. It's still better than "Open House" from 2010, which felt aimless and pretentious.

There are some portions that fill space to throw your scent off, making the atmosphere more odd and curious at times than outright scary. This also makes what happens beforehand more for shocking emotional impact, rather than something that's going to peel back further layers after the fact. Having the mindset of it being more cinematic than logical might save yourself useful brain cells and energy. That, in turn, makes this a one-shot wonder that works up to a certain degree for a quick, late-night distraction on a weekday night, but doesn't have much power to return to it after the fact.

Rating: 5/10

Director: Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote
Actors: Dylan Minnette, Piercey Dalton
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube trailer