Westside Steve Posted October 15, 2011 Report Share Posted October 15, 2011 Dream House Universal PG 13 91 min So normally I’d have let this one slide, just because there are so very many psychological horror thrillers with the same payoff especially as October approaches. What happened? Well not a huge deal but Daniel Craig seems to be on the uptrack lately and what the hell, this may have a bit more to offer. Well, it really does, though I’m certainly not predicting DREAM HOUSE so set any standards for the genre. The story contains a lot of familiar yet shopworn elements. First there’s an old house in which a psycho killer has apparently murdered a family which leads some neighbors to think there’s an inherent supernatural evil. This macabre residence is now inhabited by novelist Will Atenton (Craig) and his loving wife and two young daughters. At least it looks that way. From there we roll into the usual raft of stock plot devices including the funny noises the faces appearing in the windows the odd behavior of the townspeople etc etc. All the while Will seems to go from clean cut modern dad to crazed wanderer and back setting up one of two answers. He’s nuts or there are spooks in the house. Make that three, since it may well be both. What sets this one a little above the usual is that it’s a class production stocked with solid actors. Director Jim Sheridan has taken the high road for the most part avoiding the fake blood overload and steering clear of “BOO!” horror. There’s less noise and gore than one might expect as the audience really does wonder just what’s going on. Also the climax, which I won’t blow for you, turned out to be both touching and surprising. That’s a plus anywhere but especially this close to Halloween. B WSS Email westsidesteve@aol.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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