Reviews

This show is reallh great for what it is! Yes, the overall premise of the main plot line is a bit farfetched, but the acting and character development is really what I love about this show. I have been a fan of Mark Paul Gossalear since Saved By the Bell, and I think this is his best role so far. I'm eight episodes in and he just keeps getting more rounded with his character. As much as he plays a bad person in this, there's a depth to his character I want to know more about. Why did he kidnap Gabi in the first place? Clearly something triggered him in his past. I can't wait to learn more. I also love the supporting cast and want to learn more about their backstories. Give the show a chance, suspend your disbelief, and you'll hopefully enjoy it for what it is.

I normally don't leave reviews on IMDB unless I find that the reviews of a movie I have seen are based on reviewers who leave one or two sentences about why they didn't like the movie without giving any real basis as to their opinions. The majority of the good reviews on this movie were thought provoking and along the same lines as what I am going to write here. First off, I started watching The Open House for a few minutes, and then decided to see what the reviewers on IMDB thought. That being said, I was hesitant to continue watching until a friend of mine said they liked it, so I resumed watching. I have to say, this movie was not at all what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be more of a supernatural haunted house ghost story, but clearly the Netflix description lists it as a "Thriller/psychological thriller", which off the bat, lets you know that you will be in for some twists and turns. SPOILERS AHEAD: The beginning starts off in typical horror movie fashion: A mother, father and teenage son are all happily living together. Then tragedy strikes and the mother and son need to leave their home and venture to a relative's house in the woods. From there, weird and strange people show up, leaving you wondering who is out to get the family, and who is not. I found myself questioning each supporting character's motives as they stopped to say HI to the mother and son, or interacted with them in other ways. Who should they trust? Who should they be wary of? It's very much like real life. When you are in a new environment and you don't know anyone, you're on guard and making sure that you are cautious of who you reveal too much information to. We see this when the son cuts off his mother's conversation with the strangers she meets. Clues within the movie are subtle but if you pay attention, you will pick up on the "why" right away. The son points this out when he discusses the actual process of an "open house". He states that you give realtors the run of the house, and strangers come in when you're not home, and have access to the house. And who is to say whether or not the realtors check the entire house before leaving? It's random. And that is the point of the whole movie. Randomness. Some crazy person sees an open house, decides that the house is big enough to hide out in and observes the family members while they are sleeping and stalks them while living in the basement. He finally seizes his opportunity to torture and kill them, and then moves on to the next open house. Do we know who the killer is? No, but my assumption was that it was the boiler man, given the fact that we see a shadow similar to his stature in one scene when Logan gets up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and we see his shoes, which are clearly workman's boots. However, I was kept guessing until the very end, even so far as to think perhaps it was the police officers or even the neighbor's supposedly dead husband. . My guess as to why many people did not like this movie was because of the unsettled feeling they were left with, because it hits too close to a thought of "wow, this could happen to me." And indeed, it happens more often than we are led to believe. Was I left unsatisfied? In a way, yes. But that is the beauty of a well-written psychological thriller (NOT A HORROR MOVIE), it leaves you with questions, leaves your mind to be riddled with feelings of uneasiness and unsettled thoughts. After all, how well do we really know the people we deal with everyday? The people we let into our houses without a second thought about what their backgrounds may be...this movie makes us think, and maybe, cautions us to be more aware of who we allow into our lives and into our homes.

The soundtrack at the end credits. I fell in love with the music, so if nothing else, I'm glad I didn't give up and shut the movie off before it was over. Stacy Earl's "Devil Inside You" was beautifully haunting and was very hard to find online. I found it on the apple store. Anyway, back to the movie itself. I love horror movies and am always looking for new and intriguing ones to watch (but I stay away from realistic gore and serial killer movies on most occasions). That being said, I was mini binging movies today and after finishing "The Haunting" again, and watching "Amityville: The Awakening (which I'd give about 5-6 stars)" for the first time, I decided to check out this one because I enjoy watching Dominic in "Shadowhunters" on Freeform (Very upset it's been cancelled after season 3..sigh Freeform people are idiots). I had some trouble following along with the story as the plot seemed very thin and there were quite a few holes (why did he go after Alex Rocco's character? How did Vince end up in that dungeony thing? Why did Timmy have to die?). Of course, I was busy making jewelry items so I may have missed some details but overall, I just couldn't wrap my mind around what was happening. Some of the dialogue was thin, and the concepts just weren't super feasible, even for a horror movie. I will say, the ending was surprising, but again, I just didn't understand the whole concept. Who were Zach and Shawn in another life? They showed them in a different time, but how did they become evil? So much could have been explored in more backstory, but with a runtime of 141 minutes, there really wasn't a whole lot to expand upon. My favorite part of the movie besides the music at the end was seeing Carey Elwes, which had been a surprise to me when I turned it on. Watch it on demand if you're interested, so you don't pay money for it, and hell, even fast forward to check out the hauntingly beautiful end credit music.

It started with Madonna. I idolized her growing up. And when this movie came out and I was able to watch it for the first time, I became obsessed. It was an 80s cult classic and I loved it! I loved the music, the comedy, the style, the plot....And I would watch it over and over again when I could catch it on TV. Ffwd to college (Back in 2004- 2005), and I'm in a Gender and Power in Film Class. I picked this movie to do my final paper on, and I learned that it's a much deeper film than people give it credit for, which is why I gave it a 10 out of 10.

This movie is a prime example of a woman finding her own identity and being reborn. If you look closely enough at the plot, listen to the music, and watch the cinematography, you will notice how the director uses these elements to bring Roberta and Susan's worlds together. The "Shoop Shoop" song at the beginning of the movie, is perfect for the opening scenes at the beauty parlor where we begin--which is a place of transforming one's appearance in order to become beautiful for our man, who will (according to the song playing in the scene) "kiss me". This scene defines the theme of the entire movie: being remade or transformed. The question we should ask as we watch the movie, is "If you are transforming yourself on the outside, does it make you any different on the inside?" In Roberta's case, she has to lose herself on the inside in order to become someone different. No matter how she changes her outward appearance, she still feels bored and unloved.

When we meet Roberta, a meek and mild-mannered housewife who is bored and looking vicariously for excitement by reading the personal ads, she is at the beauty salon getting her hair done for her husband's party. She gets wrapped up in Susan's ads and wants to find out more about her. In the scenes with Roberta, we see that Seidelman chooses light and bright coloring to show what her world looks like (Pastel pinks are a big thing in her world). By the time Roberta enters Susan's world, "the Rabbit hole" (As Seidelman describes in the director commentary), she is surrounded by Susan's colors, which are darker hued greens, golds and blacks.

Roberta enters a "fantasy" world of sorts, as she develops amnesia from a fall, soon after following Susan to Battery Park. She "becomes" Susan, thanks to Dez's prompting, and therefore loses her housewife identity and takes on a different one. Because of this, Roberta is able to explore her inner being, challenge who she is on the outside, and be able to express a part of her personality she had never been able to express before.

By the time the movie ends, Roberta has regained her memory and finds her confidence completely. Screenwriter Barish explained that the confidence Roberta found is not one she is aware of, it just happens by following her intuition, or imagination. Roberta is led towards her confidence without having a conscious drive or aggression.

I could post my entire paper on here but it was over 1000 words! :) My goal for this review is to give you a brief overview of what I was able to interpret from this film to give you a better understanding of it for when you watch it. It's not just a fun romp through NYC, but a story about one woman's journey to find her true self and be happy with her own life.