La resurrección del mal

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 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...

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

Havenhurst is a sprawling Gothic building that has been turned into a halfway house for recovering addicts. Its latest tenant is Jackie (Julie Benz), an ex-alcoholic who discovers that her new abode harbours a horrifying secret: it was once home to one of America's first serial killers, H.H. Holmes, and someone seems to be following in his bloody footsteps.

To be honest, there's not a whole lot of originality going on in Havenhurst, the plot taking the well worn 'creepy old house with a secret' format (complete with hidden passageways and trapdoors) and adding a little Saw-style punishment for good measure, as meted out by cold-hearted landlady Eleanor (Fionnula Flanagan) and her sons whenever their tenants fall off the wagon.

Despite a strong central performance and just a smidge of gruesome gore, the film never really delivers the chills, failing to get the pulse pounding with its hackneyed attempts at eerie atmospherics (the whole building could do with better lighting) and predictable jump scares (I lost count of how many times a creepy figure would suddenly rush past the camera in the foreground or behind a character).

In short, Havenhurst is by no means a terrible film, just not all that inspired.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for bumping off Danielle Harris, horror's most over-rated scream queen, as soon as possible.

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.