I enjoy comedy horrors, but 'There's something in the Barn' is a miss for me. Maybe its because the film can't really decide what it wants to be. As a comedy it simply wasn't funny enough. As a horror it was holding back on gore and effective kill scenes as if it was scared to loose its young audience. And I say young audience because part of it felt like it wanted to be a cute little kids movie with a message. I just don't really know what that message is. A message of hope for the Festive Season, maybe?
The film revolves around the Nordheim family from America who inherited a farm in Norway, so they packed up everything in the States and moves to Norway. Here, they plan to turn the farm into a bed and breakfast. However, young Lucas soon discovers there's an Elf living in the barn. And there are rules to abide by not to piss him off. He hates bright light. He hates noise. He hates change.
So, when Lucas befriends the Elf he decides to follow the rules, no matter how much it inconveniences his family. And this is where I started losing interest. It would have made more sense for them to try and get rid of the Elf, angering him that way. Now we have a kid telling grown-ups what to do, and they obey!!
The teenage daughter Nora was cliched and annoying. Ok, her character development wasn't bad, but I still found her unconvincing - both the character AND the actress. And the same goes for the mother, Carol - or the stepmother, for that matter. The Dad, Bill, was a hopeless, spineless character who always quietly agreed with everything and everyone.
Oh, this was stupid. For a 'horror' it offered very little in terms of suspense. I found the film so silly within the first few minutes that I almost stopped watching, but I guess I was still hoping it would surprise me. Unfortunately, it didn't. The film so badly wanted a feel-good festive ending that they have the dad saying "People died, but we bonded." I think this was supposed to make me go "Auwww, the family sorted out their issues and they're happy." Instead it made me dislike the film even more. Ugh, seriously!!
The film revolves around the Nordheim family from America who inherited a farm in Norway, so they packed up everything in the States and moves to Norway. Here, they plan to turn the farm into a bed and breakfast. However, young Lucas soon discovers there's an Elf living in the barn. And there are rules to abide by not to piss him off. He hates bright light. He hates noise. He hates change.
So, when Lucas befriends the Elf he decides to follow the rules, no matter how much it inconveniences his family. And this is where I started losing interest. It would have made more sense for them to try and get rid of the Elf, angering him that way. Now we have a kid telling grown-ups what to do, and they obey!!
The teenage daughter Nora was cliched and annoying. Ok, her character development wasn't bad, but I still found her unconvincing - both the character AND the actress. And the same goes for the mother, Carol - or the stepmother, for that matter. The Dad, Bill, was a hopeless, spineless character who always quietly agreed with everything and everyone.
Oh, this was stupid. For a 'horror' it offered very little in terms of suspense. I found the film so silly within the first few minutes that I almost stopped watching, but I guess I was still hoping it would surprise me. Unfortunately, it didn't. The film so badly wanted a feel-good festive ending that they have the dad saying "People died, but we bonded." I think this was supposed to make me go "Auwww, the family sorted out their issues and they're happy." Instead it made me dislike the film even more. Ugh, seriously!!