Open House (2010 film)

Last updated
Open House
Open House (2010 film) poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed byAndrew Paquin
Written byAndrew Paquin
Produced byAmir Cyrus Ahanchian (EP)
Barry Brooker
Sriram Das
Starring Brian Geraghty
Rachel Blanchard
Tricia Helfer
Stephen Moyer
Anna Paquin
CinematographyJoseph White
Edited byTim Mirkovich
Music by Nathan Barr
Production
company
StoneBrook Entertainment
Distributed byLionsgate Entertainment
Release date
  • April 24, 2010 (2010-04-24)(Tribeca)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Open House is a 2010 thriller film directed by Andrew Paquin. Was screened at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. [1] It was released on DVD in August 2010 in the United States by Lionsgate. [2]

Contents

The film features a cameo by the director's sister Anna Paquin and her husband Stephen Moyer.

Plot

The film begins as real estate agent Carl (Gabriel Olds) hosts an open house. As Carl finishes with the last couple viewing the house, a man arrives and watches Carl briefly before hiding in the basement. Carl checks the basement but does not see anyone. Alice (Rachel Blanchard) returns home after a run. Carl reveals that it has been tough to interest buyers in the house.

That night, Alice has some friends over for dinner, including Jennie (Anna Paquin). Alice confides in Jennie that her ex-husband Josh (Stephen Moyer) thinks she is being overemotional by selling their house. Alice falls asleep and wakes up in the middle of the night. She notices that Jennie's car is in the driveway. So, Alice looks for Jennie in the house, only to find her corpse in the garage with her throat slashed. As she screams, someone emerges from a crawlspace behind Alice and grabs her.

The next day, Lila (Tricia Helfer) arrives at the house and is greeted by David (Brian Geraghty), who has chained Alice into the crawlspace. Lila approves of their new house, and announces that it is now home. David sets up a video camera in an upstairs window as Lila relaxes in the hot tub. Josh arrives at the house to retrieve his golf clubs and is surprised to find Lila in the hot tub. She explains that she is housesitting and seduces Josh. David films their encounter, and when Lila is ready to climax, he retrieves a kitchen knife. David gives the knife to Lila, and she stabs Josh in the neck, leaving David to clean up the body.

During the day, Lila disappears, while David maintains the house. He lets Alice out of the crawlspace to eat and use the bathroom. Eventually, he warns Alice that Lila would kill her if she knew that Alice was still alive. David lets Alice sit with him while he works at his computer, but he is always careful to stash her back in the crawlspace before Lila gets home. One day, when a pair of housecleaners arrive unexpectedly, David kills them.

Lila and David host a dinner party with two couples. During the dinner party, Lila reveals that David is writing a children's story. As she describes the plot of the story, it becomes clear that she and David are twins. After one couple leaves, Lila seduces the woman in the second couple. As the man joins the two of them in a ménage à trois, David sets up the video camera. He gets a kitchen knife and goes into the bedroom, where the couple start screaming.

During their days together, Alice grows more and more convinced that David is an unwilling partner in his murderous relationship with Lila. She convinces David that they can run away together. Meanwhile, she secretly grabs a small kitchen knife and takes it with her to the crawlspace.

One day, Lila pretends to be a potential buyer of the house and lets Carl take her on a tour. In the bedroom, she tries to seduce Carl, but he hears David hiding in the bathroom. She quickly slashes his throat and orders David to clean up the body before the blood soaks through the floor to the ceiling in the living room.

David tells Lila that all the bodies they have accumulated are starting to rot and that they will have to leave the house soon. As they prepare to leave, David packs a suitcase filled with his belongings and some clothes for Alice. When Lila discovers the suitcase, she marches to the garage and checks all the coolers where David has stored the bodies, looking for Alice. Not seeing her corpse, Lila looks for Alice. When she puts her eye up to a hole in the crawlspace door, Alice stabs Lila with her knife. The two struggle, but Alice overpowers the severely wounded Lila.

When one of Alice's friends arrives at the house to check on her, he sees the blood from Lila's wounds and discovers the panicked Alice in chains. He tries to cut through her chains with a hacksaw. When he goes upstairs to call 911, David kills him, but not before the dispatcher indicates the police are on the way.

David rushes downstairs to find Alice holding her knife to Lila's neck. She threatens to kill Lila unless David releases her. Instead, David offers to assist Alice with slashing Lila's neck, believing it to be the only way that he will be able to leave with Alice alongside him. Lila, however, then manages to stab Alice in the chest as both she and David are forced to flee whilst Alice lies wounded, but still clinging to life, on the floor, with the sound of sirens approaching. The film finally closes as Lila tours yet another new house before declaring to the realtor that it already feels like home.

Reception

In his review for FEARnet, [3] Scott Weinberg gave it a 3/5 rating saying that "there's something about an ugly presence in a beautiful setting that's just sort of ... interesting." [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>High Tension</i> 2003 French slasher film

High Tension is a 2003 French slasher film directed by Alexandre Aja, co-written with Grégory Levasseur, and starring Cécile de France and Maïwenn. The plot focuses on two female students who drive to one of their family's secluded farmhouse to study for their exams, where a murderer shows up on the night of their arrival.

<i>He Knows Youre Alone</i> 1980 film by Armand Mastroianni

He Knows You're Alone is a 1980 American psychological slasher film directed by Armand Mastroianni, written by Scott Parker and starring Caitlin O'Heaney, Don Scardino, Elizabeth Kemp, Tom Rolfing, and Tom Hanks in his film debut. The plot follows a woman who is stalked by a killer targeting soon-to-be brides the weekend before her wedding.

<i>Psycho</i> (franchise) American horror franchise

Psycho is an American horror franchise consisting of six films loosely based on the Psycho novels by Robert Bloch: Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III, Bates Motel, Psycho IV: The Beginning, the 1998 remake of the original film, and additional merchandise spanning various media. The first film, Psycho, was directed by filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Subsequently, another film related to the series was made: an Alfred Hitchcock biopic, and two new novels, by Takekuni Kitayama and Chet Williamson, were released. Also, an independent documentary called The Psycho Legacy was released on October 19, 2010, mostly focusing on Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning, while covering the impact and legacy of the original film.

<i>Lemming</i> (film) 2005 French film

Lemming is a 2005 French psychological thriller film directed by Dominik Moll and starring André Dussollier, Charlotte Rampling, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Laurent Lucas. It was entered into the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Youre Next</i> 2011 American slasher film by Adam Wingard

You're Next is a 2011 American slasher film directed and edited by Adam Wingard, written by Simon Barrett and starring Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, A. J. Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Barbara Crampton and Rob Moran. The plot concerns an estranged family under attack by a group of masked assailants during a family reunion.

Margaret White (<i>Carrie</i>) Character in the 1974 novel Carrie by Stephen King (Carries mom)

Margaret White is a fictional character created by American author Stephen King in his first published horror novel, Carrie (1974), where she is the main antagonist.

<i>To All a Goodnight</i> 1980 horror film by David Hess

To All a Goodnight is a 1980 American slasher film directed by David Hess and starring Jennifer Runyon and Forrest Swanson. Its plot follows a group of female finishing school students and their boyfriends being murdered during a Christmas party by a psychopath dressed as Santa Claus.

The Factory is a 2012 American crime thriller film directed by Morgan O'Neill and starring John Cusack, Mae Whitman, Dallas Roberts, Mageina Tovah, Cindy Sampson, and Jennifer Carpenter. In the film, Cusack plays a Buffalo, New York cop who has been chasing a serial kidnapper who abducts young women.

<i>Macabre</i> (2009 film) 2009 Indonesian slasher film

Macabre is a 2009 Indonesian slasher film by The Mo Brothers. The film tells the story of a group of friends headed to the airport who meet a woman claiming to have been robbed and needs a ride home, which begins a dark turn of events. The film is based on 2007 short film Dara.

<i>Fertile Ground</i> (film) 2011 American film

Fertile Ground is a 2011 horror film directed by Adam Gierasch. The film was released as part of the After Dark Originals line on January 28, 2011 and stars Leisha Hailey as a pregnant woman who finds herself subjected to several strange supernatural occurrences.

<i>Nurse 3D</i> 2014 American horror film

Nurse 3D is a 2014 American horror thriller film directed by Doug Aarniokoski and written by Aarniokoski and David Loughery. The film stars Paz de la Huerta, Katrina Bowden, and Corbin Bleu. De la Huerta plays Abby Russell, a nurse and serial killer who targets men who cheat on their partners, and who develops an unhealthy relationship with fellow nurse Danni (Bowden).

<i>Demons Never Die</i> 2011 British film

Demons Never Die is a 2011 British slasher film starring Robert Sheehan, Jennie Jacques, Jacob Anderson, Jason Maza, Emma Rigby, Ashley Walters, Reggie Yates and Tulisa Contostavlos.

Madison County is a 2011 horror film directed and written by Eric England. The film was first released on October 17, 2011. It stars Colley Bailey, Matt Mercer, and Ace Marrero as a group of college kids out to interview an author of a true crime book, only to end up targeted by a killer.

<i>Crawlspace</i> (2012 film) 2012 Australian film

Crawlspace is a 2012 Australian science fiction-action-horror film directed by Justin Dix. The script was co-written by Dix, co-star Eddie Baroo, and Adam Patrick Foster. A team of elite commandos are sent to a secret military base to extract a scientific team under attack by escaped prisoners. It was released on October 18, 2012 to largely negative reviews from critics.

<i>Stalker</i> (2010 film) 2011 British film

Stalker, also known as Exposé, is a 2010 psychological horror film directed by Martin Kemp and starring Jane March, Anna Brecon and Jennifer Matter. It is a remake of the 1976 film Exposé, starring Linda Hayden, who makes a cameo appearance in this film.

<i>Crawlspace</i> (2013 film) 2013 American film

Crawlspace is a 2013 horror film directed by Josh Stolberg. It was released on January 4, 2013, and was optioned by Hulu for exclusive VOD distribution starting June 5, 2014. Crawlspace focuses on a family that is terrorized by the former occupant of their new home.

The Tate–LaBianca murders were a series of murders perpetrated by members of the Manson Family during August 9–10, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, United States, under the direction of Tex Watson and Charles Manson. The perpetrators killed five people on the night of August 8–9: pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her companions Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, and Wojciech Frykowski, along with Steven Parent. The following evening, the Family also murdered supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, at their home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.

<i>The Babysitter</i> (2017 film) Teen horror-comedy film by McG

The Babysitter is a 2017 American teen black comedy slasher film directed by McG and written by Brian Duffield. It stars Samara Weaving, Judah Lewis, Hana Mae Lee, Robbie Amell and Bella Thorne. The film follows a lonely 12-year-old boy (Lewis) who discovers that his babysitter (Weaving) is part of a satanic cult that wants to kill him. The film was released by Netflix on October 13, 2017, and received mostly positive reviews from critics. A sequel, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, was released on September 10, 2020.

<i>Aaaaaaaah!</i> 2015 film

Aaaaaaaah! is a 2015 British horror comedy film written and directed by Steve Oram. The film contains no dialogue, with the cast communicating entirely in animalistic grunts. It premiered in August 2015 at London FrightFest Film Festival. In 2016 the film was released on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD on Icon Productions's Frightfest Presents label. The film has received a positive critical reception.

<i>Traffik</i> (film) 2018 American horror-thriller film

Traffik is a 2018 American horror-thriller film directed and written by Deon Taylor and starring Paula Patton, Omar Epps, Laz Alonso, Roselyn Sanchez, Luke Goss, William Fichtner, and Missi Pyle. It follows a group of friends who are terrorized by a gang of bikers in a remote countryside home. It was released on April 20, 2018, by Summit Entertainment, received generally unfavorable reviews from critics and grossed $9 million worldwide.

References

  1. ↑ "Open House". TribecaFilm. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Lionsgate Hosts Open House in August". DreadCentral. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "Open House". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  4. ↑ "Open House". Fearnet. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.