Havenhurst

The only reason you may want to watch the incessantly sullen horror flick "Havenhurst" is if you happen to be a fan of Julie Benz from the long-running Showtime series "Dexter". That is the only reason.

And even then...

I would describe Havenhurst as a horror movie of TV-format, which means you won't get any real gore (besides a few glimpses here and there and rather uninspired and pretty standard ones) and the dose of real horror is not a strong one. Acting and production (settings!) is rock solid, and it is nice to watch Julie Benz once again. The ending is of course a little bit obscure and weak (police not searching the house thoroughly etc.) Recommended if you want to kill some time and/or you like to watch Julie.

The ending was so botched, I can't help thinking the crew itself got "evicted" half way through the filming (read, ran out of money or fell apart). Despite the weird behavior of several characters, the story had a good potential till it suddenly, stupidly, untimely took a twist that is so used and abused, it doesn't even elicit a chuckle anymore. It just made an impression that the crew abruptly pulled the plug in the middle of all the action. Movies like this make me wonder how someone gets so much money, convinces a bunch of talented people to participate (most of the actors, the operator was pretty good), and is not held accountable for making bad script decisions that inevitably cut any hope for a good payout. Anyway. If you are reading this review, be smarter than me and trust the low rating: it is not an underrated gem. You would waste your time.

What could potentially have been a very interesting and unique horror movie, ended up being a generic storyline suffering at the hands of the writers.

The story did have potential, but writers Andrew C. Erin and Daniel Farrands might have had ideas that were great, but they just failed to transcribe those idea over into something that would translate into something great and interesting on the screen. No, the story just permeated mediocrity and half-heartedness all the way through. Furthermore, it didn't help one bit that the storyline was completely devoid of anything even remotely scary.

What did work out quite well in favor of the movie was the house and the design idea behind it. There were some very interesting ideas and concepts here that were quite nicely brought to life on the screen. But again, it just lacked that element of horror.

"Havenhurst" also had some adequate acting performances to boast it, although they were struggling with a very inadequate script, and it was weighing the actors and actresses down visibly on the screen.

For a horror movie, I will say that "Havenhurst" belongs more in the mystery genre with just a hint of thriller to it. Which are the tags of the genre here on IMDb. I just sat down to watch it because I thought it was going to be a horror movie. So I was naturally very disappointed with the end result.

"Havenhurst" is a mediocre movie that came and went without any fanfare and without leaving any impressions in the horror genre, because it just wasn't equipped with fangs or nails.

This could have been a Gothic horror but sadly it fails. It all starts promising with the dissapearance of a tenant. But once her best friend starts to investigate this flick has nothing really to offer.

It never becomes scary or bloody or at such a house even creepy. I admit, the beginning do shows some red stuff and in the basement there's a gory shot but overall something is missing to make it worth searching out. And the acting was okay but being low profile on the horror it makes it after a while hard to sit through. All characters and cliches are in this flick but it doesn't work out, it's all predictable.

Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2,5/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5