By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I had never heard of this film before seeing it in Redbox. It seemed to have an interesting premise so I figured I’d give it a try.
The basic story follows two families. First, we have the Valentines: Emily (Marguerite Moreau) Brian(Richard Ruccolo) and their young daughter Olive (Natalie Alyn Lind). Their neighbors seem to be harboring a dark secret. Abby (Tamara Brammell) and her two sons teenage Titus (Julien Dean Lacroix) and young Billy (Aidan Potter) rub Emily the wrong way.
First, Emily notices bruises on Titus and Billy. Next, Olive begins to act differently every time she hangs out with Billy. When asked about what’s wrong, Olive is hesitant to say anything about her new friend. Making matters even odder, Abby’s ex-husband is arrested for breaking in yelling that he only wants to see his son.
Though, Emily knows right away that she wants to steer clear of the Moors’, Brian believes she’s over-reacting. This seems to be an overall theme of most of these movies. The Hand that Rocks the Cradle is another example where at first the husband thinks the wife is just being overly-emotional rather than listening to her before its too late. It feeds into the stereotype of the exaggerating wife and the reasonable husband, though the lesson seems to be “don’t always take fore granted that your wife is a basket case of emotions.”
Despite, the overdone theme, the first half of this film is really interesting. The viewer doesn’t know if the entire Moor family is crazy or if it is just one member. Abby certainly doesn’t seem normal, but her sons appear downright violent.
The issues start with the movie in the third act. There are so many scenes that build-up on the scenario that a big reveal is going to be explored, yet it falls flat. I won’t give up the conclusion, but in all honesty there isn’t anything to spoil.
It isn’t a complete waste of time, but I certainly wouldn’t go overboard to seek this one out.
Scared Stiff Rating: 5/10
