The House on Mansfield Street

The Idiot Plot Definition Originated by SF author James Blish and popularized by film critic Roger Ebert during his review of the remake of Narrow Margin, this trope is a term for a Plot that hangs together only because the main characters behave like idiots.

This perfectly fits this movie. It had some effective moments but the main character is such an idiot that you can't take it seriously.

The movie is about a Nick a man who moves from London to the outskirts to start a new life. He's a documentary filmmaker and is filming his move into a new cottage. And per usual things get creepy. The only other character in the film is his neighbor Emma who gives him a "good luck " charm as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. As the film progresses Nick finds strange things happening in the house and things intensifies throughout the film.

The main problem is Nick. He's a complete moron. He's constantly saying his mind is playing tricks on him but he has the activity on film. He never calls the police, or leaves the house. And the dumbest thing is no matter what insanity is happening it's like he has a bed time and has to go to bed every night no matter what is happening in his house.

The acting is not bad and as a found footage film it works well at times but he's just so stupid!!!

At only 77 minutes It's worth a watch but just remember if Nick wasn't a total idiot the film would be 17 minutes long.

A terrible "film"... not worth the time. The fact the "ghost" is wearing a hoody is beyond a joke. Awkward acting and pointless plot. Do not bother!!

With my having a lust for these types of films and rapidly running out of them on netflick or amazonprime, I am eager to watch what ever comes out. This one had the audacity to be British.

the one thing I love above all else in these types of films is subtlety. It's even better if it's so subtle as to leave it into question as to whether the events are even paranormal. my absolute favorite of this genre is "Leaving DC", also on amazonprime, in which the sole interactions at the start amount to little more than the sounds of someone chopping wood before escalating ever so slightly over time.

this film almost blows its load rather early, with a rather clear-cut revelation on film early on that threatens to remove all the subtlety of the "haunting". Thankfully the film moves on from it with more toned down occurrences, but it remains a glaring event that makes it pretty clear even in-universe what is happening despite the protagonist's attempts to just ignore it.

From there, it goes on with its usual game of footsteps and setting off motion-activated cameras, with only one major deviation from this. The mood was right and the protagonist was not thoroughly unlikeable and so this was becoming fun to watch.

when it came time to end, it lost all its subtlety and mystique, going for a hackneyed ending marked by a plot twist that they themselves spoiled like 3 scenes earlier.

There are a few bad reviews on here and they have prompted me to do my first review on IMDb as they bug me a little.

In the 'film budget' on IMDb it says this was made for £300 (just over $400). That's nothing and for the cost of the film I think this is worth 7 stars for the film work, effects and story.

Nice U.K. 'found footage' film with a good and different story and well worth a watch if you are in to this style.

I would be interested to see what the writer/main actor could do with a bigger budget.

The idea sounded very interesting and creative, so there was enough to make one want to see it. The cover looked quite eerie. So saw 'The House on Mansfield Street' with genuine interest and wanting to at least sort of like it even if it had many problems.

Seeing it, well 'The House on Mansfield Street' certainly did have many problems and it is pretty much exactly the same feelings had when watching a few other films recently. The bad news was that there was not an awful lot good, let alone great, about it, so it was difficult for me to sort of like it, the little that's good being far overshadowed by the bad. Having prepared myself to do that, that was disappointing. Not a terrible film or without redeeming qualities, and there is far worse out there of the genre and overall. Liked the concept for 'The House on Mansfield Street', despite it being found footage which always makes me feel nervous, the execution was just wanting.

'The House on Mansfield Street' at least didn't insult my intelligence. It at least didn't make me angry watching it. Despite giving it a relatively low score and negative review, it even didn't make me regret watching it altogether.

It started off quite promisingly in an unsettling sort of way.

Setting was quite spooky at times as was the lighting.

Unfortunately, 'The House on Mansfield Street' did lack tension and suspense and the infrequent creepiness was never that eerie and rather obvious. The script is stilted and very repetitive while the direction tends to be static and pedestrian. Even for the very minimal budget, 'The House on Mansfield Street' looked as though it was made in a rush and it shows in its cheap look. The acting reeks of inexperience.

Was let down by the story. Conceptually interesting and wasn't too bad starting, at least too there actually was one, but the dull pace, due to some very uneventful stretches in particularly the middle, and the muddled way it was structured, meaning things didn't make sense, cheapened things. The characters are flimsily developed and bland even though the actors do their best. It can feel vague and while nothing is intelligence insulting there is both ridiculousness and trying to take it too seriously.

Overall, well intentioned but weak. 3/10 Bethany Cox