The Cottage

So disappointed in this movie. Scripting is bad, story line doesn't match up. Acting is poor camera angles not interesting. They should made a documentary instead. Looks like amateur movie that went wrong. With the caliber of known actors involved, it's very disappointing . I recommend a remake. Write a proper script Use effects and create illusion . Even if your lighting is poor, still , use effects to patch up.

I think the movie has potential to become something good. Just rewrite the script .

Good things about the movie Good location Few good actors

This movie kept me interested but at the same time the acting wasn't great but most of all the story and events were all very unbelievable. Kind of seemed like a group of teenagers made the movie rather than adults. That said, I watched it all way through and despite most things about this movie being very bad, it somehow kept me interested, whether it was the astonishment of how bad it really was and wondering whether it could get any worse or wondering where the story was going, I'm not totally sure.

The movie started out OKAY, well half-watchable at least...

The main reason being David Arquette, for some reason I like the guy, he'll probably never win an Oscar but he has a likability about him that is undeniable...

Although I suppose in this movie he isn't suppose to be likable at all since he plays a psychopath, now David playing a psychopath doesn't work as bad as one might think BUT it doesn't matter cause no one could save this wreck of a script that I can't see how anyone would give the greenlight too...

I'm guessing David needed the money and good for him if he got some but yeah the script goes from halfdecent to fully horrible...

The psychopath is not only a psychopath but he also has a stable of young girls at his place hiding for the outsiders and just waiting for him to come home everyday to spend some time with him, and if he's brought someone home help killing them...

Cause girls like to have fun like Cyndie Lauper said, and these girls find nothing more fun than killing innocent people and cuddling in bed with their David Arquette all day long...

If this sounds sort of exciting to you, it isn't, not even a so bad it's good type of movie...

There's also subplots and stuff involving the family that rents out David Arquette's place, various family-issues etc that fail to commute any sort of interest with the viewer...

I gave it a 3 I'm not sure why maybe it should be less, but I wasn't annoyed to the point I hated it I just thought it was a movie that was really bad so I'm kind maybe...

The characters weren't particularly likable, and the plot was vague and left room for plenty of assumption. Honestly, it really just didn't pull me in. I spent half the movie wondering where the baby was and why she was left alone, and I couldn't help but feel like the characters reacted poorly to situations most people would handle with a bit of common sense. The suspense was notable but was overpowered by irritation with the character's stupidity. The movie should have definitely been longer and with a bit of explanation, perhaps a bit of back-story to each of the main characters. At the beginning of the film you're like "Why is this happening?!" and you're still asking yourself the same questions along with some new ones by the end. Definitely would have been unhappy if I'd have paid to rent this ... but since it was on Netflix ... eh. Worth watching I guess.

Actually, I know it's never easy to make a movie. But sometimes you see one and you think, how on earth did this actually get funded, get as far as production, with a script that might have been drafted on a few cocktail napkins? Really, you're going to pour so much money and effort into something that has barely been written? Was it so so easy to say "Sure, this script is ready! Let's roll!" when there are plenty of people involved whose professional instincts should have been screaming "Hit the brakes NOW!!!"

This slapdash assembly of genre elements has too many ideas for one thriller, though none of them are necessarily good, and none of them are developed at all. That includes the dysfunctional family dynamics (so poorly done I wasn't fully sure just how everyone was related to each other), the villain's backstory (there is none--how, and how long, has been getting away with this stuff?), the ridiculous cult-leader-of-sexy-young-women thing, and so forth.

This i one of those movies in which the entire plot falls apart anytime you ask a question like "Didn't they think to ask for references before letting him rent their home?," let alone "Why didn't they call the police?" (you'll ask that one about ten times). It's just sheer carelessness that perhaps could be excused/explained if the film went into production without a finished script (or into the editing room after a budget shortfall caused filming to stop before the whole script had been shot...these things happen). Either that, or the filmmakers simply had no idea their script was Swiss--as in cheese, with lots of holes.

Of course a lot of people are going to find the very idea of David Arquette as a scary bad guy inherently ridiculous. He's adequate here, actually, and could have been pretty good in a better movie. But the other performances are fair to middling, no surprise since they're given so little to work with in terms of scripted character definition.

What worst about this movie, though--even beyond all the above, not to mention the weak non- ending--is its vacuously glossy look, which is more appropriate for a Lifetime or Hallmark movie than a horror thriller. It's like a lifestyle ad for a new upscale suburban development in Utah, the homes are so boringly tasteful and new-looking. Needless to say, this tends to undercut any potential for suspenseful atmosphere--and unlike something like "The Stepfather," "The Cottage" doesn't even think of using that environment subversively, to give the horror elements a more perverse edge.