Treehouse

This is a remarkably effective low budget movie. A small Midwest, rural community has had several children disappearances and the authorities have no clue. That last two that went missing was a 12 year old girl and her 6 year old brother. Meanwhile two other brothers decide to shoot off illegal fireworks with 4 friends but far enough away from town that the local cops won't see. The brothers come across one of the missing and vie to help out. But that's easier said than done. The biggest weakness and cause for many of the lower reviews is the backstory/events that fuel rhe "kidnappers"." Leaving the motivation/causes out doesn't make the movie weaker- just makes the plot more horrific. The plot "holes" are well covered with inferential scenes, meaning that it keeps the audience more involved than typical horror movie. Few classic tropes, in fact, it's a pretty fresh film. The cinematic violence is mild compared to the horrendous violence inferred from scenes. Feels a bit like Deliverance but with more of a horror quality and innocence, except pretty much the whole cast are portrayed by minors. Character development is A quality. The acting:direction is variable, they keep in a few scenes where some of the supporting roles were way to stiff. But the two leads are good. It's got a bit of the coming of age feel to it. Definitely a 5 or better film most of the bad reviews can't review without spoilers- so, maybe the ending isn't expected and it has a sub quality feel to it.

The best thing about "Treehouse" is the horrifying poster that came out along with the movie. Whoever made the poster did a great job of getting the attention of any potential viewer and it's incredibly creepy. Otherwise, however, it's a movie I just cannot recommend. In so many ways, it looks a lot like a high school student project, but with quite a bit more money and quality behind it.

"Treehouse" has a very simple plot. Two brothers go into the woods and once there they discover a missing teen. She's been holed up inside a treehouse for several days...hiding from someone or something that has been stalking her and her brother. At times the film tries to introduce more plot through some flashbacks, but essentially this is the plot. Ultimately, there is a showdown--some of which I actually liked, as the most unlikely looking action hero of all time (J. Michael Trautmann) rises to the occasion.

So why am I cold about this film? Well, it looks and sounds like the movie just isn't ready to be seen by the public. The script could use a lot of work. When it comes to the dialog, much of it just sounded unreal and takes you out of the experience...especially with the missing girl continually and inexplicably calling the hero 'Baby Bear'. The characters also talk and scream A LOT for folks hiding out in a treehouse in order to avoid being killed!! Rule number one of avoiding death is that you should consider being quiet when you are hiding from psycho killers! The film is also overlong and would benefit from omitting the flashbacks, tightening up the first portion of the film and simply concentrating on the action-- and it was a bit better during some of the action sequences. Considering that the filmmakers really haven't a lot of experience, maybe this film is simply a way for them to hone their skills while making a few mistakes along the way. If so, there is a bit of promise and they might be bringing us something more polished and viewer-ready in the future. As for "Treehouse", however, I just can't see spending your hard-earned money to buy or rent the film when there are better films like it already.

I watched this movie before release and was anticipating some mystery and maybe even a bit of horror. There were no ratings or reviews so I watched it without knowing what to expect. All I got was a dragged out film that went nowhere... Judging by the poster you would think that this movie involved some seriously creepy and exciting plot.. But it was quite the opposite and frankly a waste of time. With a disappointing ending that didn't boost my thoughts of the movie. If you are looking for horror, certainly don't watch this movie. I suppose at most you could call it a Mystery. Overall highly disappointing and not a movie exciting or good enough to watch with a friend.

A teenage boy discovers the perpetrators of several brutal kidnappings in his home town.

This film was co-produced by Ed Sanchez (Blair Witch Project), which is just about the only name recognition it has. And even that is a bit of a stretch outside of serious horror fans.

Dave Alexander says the film has "some realistic, likable characters to root for, genuinely frightening and savage antagonists, some brutally effective kills and constant tension". Despite this glowing praise, Alexander goes on to call the movie "stupid" due in part to how it resolves its problems.

Without addressing the second part, one must concur with the first part. After twenty minutes or so of rather boring, pointless exposition, we get to the heart of the film. Very tense, very well shot, and a haunting score. This is not a great film, though it has so many great elements that it will be interesting to see what those involved do next -- and it is almost worth championing this film for that reason.

Treehouse starts well and the opening scene suggests this may be a small budget gem however any hope of this is quickly extinguished.

The premise is decent, young adults and children are being kidnapped and it all seems linked to a strange tree house. Unfortunately a very poor script never even gets close to tapping the films potential. There are plenty of superfluous scenes that add little or nothing to the story.

Treehouse changes direction at the drop of the hat as if the writer didn't quite know what he wanted the film to be, slasher, supernatural or gritty thriller. As a result we just get a jumbled mess of a film that is at times confusing and at times boring.

Although it's a pretty poor film, it's not a total write off as there are at least a couple of decent scenes and some of the filming is quite good.

I can't really recommend this film and am probably being a bit generous giving it a 5 but I have seen far worse films.