Home Sweet Home

Unique home invasion style flick that has two front and center female characters as the heroine and the psychopath. Shot in New Mexico with some gorgeous SW vistas, this movie almost moves like a stylish art film / dream like and not the typical by the numbers horror / thriller.

What got me on this, was the two female leads playing such polar opposites. As a writer who won a screenplay award for stronger roles for women in film, I was thrilled to see this in HOME SWEET HOME. It's always nice to see the hero being played as a "strong woman", but it was even cooler to see the "complete bonkers" role played by a woman as well, where that is usually dominated by men and the women are left as the stupid sidekick. Tables turned around here....the male role is the "stupid" sidekick. Nicely played out by the filmmakers Alexandra Boylan and John KD Graham.

Not overly brutal as some home invasion flicks can be, but there is a nice spat of brutality towards the end, LOL.

Cinematography is very "dreamlike" with great SW vistas, as I said earlier. Soundtrack moves from creepy ambiance (always a winner for me) to what I thought sounded like South Western rock....cool.

I cannot believe that anyone gave this film more than one star, unless they know someone associated with this "production". Maybe they like looking at pretty girls... how hard up you must be to see a pretty girl. Pretty girls, and nice scenery, that's all this movie has. Period. The script is so bad, no wonder the acting was so horrible. A monkey could have figured out a better plan for any of the characters' actions. In other words, there are so many opportunities for any of the characters to do something totally more sensible than what they chose to do. Actually, in my opinion, the insane woman made the most sense out of any of them! Just one of the weirdest experiences I've ever spent looking at a TV screen. Don't waste your time.

Home Sweet Home, directed by John K.D. Graham, is a cracking good psychological suspense and terror feature film adorned with cold-blooded and unexpected murders, filmed in remote New Mexico desert. Raquel Cantu plays Kristi, a ditzy but ruthless armed psychopath, accompanied by her criminal boyfriend. She gives us some comic moments early on. But in a change of mood, Graham skillfully uses Kristi's unpredictability to maintain a high level of tension that grips the audience throughout the movie. I found Krisi's weirdness one of the best aspects of the movie.

The two terrorize Gwen (Alexandra Boylan) to drive her out of her home. You must see the movie to discover how Boylan digs deep into her acting talent to transform the terrified Gwen into a woman determined to survive and regain what is hers.

Suffice to say I found the uneven conflict that ensues to be the spellbinding core of the movie with its twists and its variations of pace from creepy to violent, the outcome ever in doubt. Nothing dull here.

Among the 3 leading characters, Kristi appears early in the film and her character is rather more strongly developed than the others, but her craziness seems to make her not quite real as an adult human: well, she's a psychopath. Her boyfriend (Dempsey) puts on a persuasive performance, and Boylan is very strong and totally convincing in a difficult role.

I loved the south New Mexico desert and small-town scenes: few movies are made in that area, so Home Sweet Home did not have that stereotyped western look for a change. Instead, it has its own look and its unique story line. It's good to see emerging indie filmmakers with their own ideas succeed in what they set out to do! Evidently they did not try to make an arty film, but instead a breakout thriller in their own style, and in that they succeeded! Look for these names again.

The movie took awards at the Albuquerque film festival where I saw it, and FYI is now available for pre-order on Amazon (search Movies and TV for "Home Sweet Home DVD"). Release and delivery from Amazon will be on June 4th. 2013.

As a long time fan of horror and suspense movies, I had great expectations of Home Sweet Home. I was not disappointed. The plot was very creative and beautifully executed, with a slow build. To me, pacing is everything in suspense movies and the pace of this film was perfect. Picturesque scenes of a desert landscape and beautiful music created an eerie,ominous backdrop and sweet,vulnerable Gwen was the perfect victim. Then....Kristi. Manson family menacing, but unnervingly playful and sexy, this "villain" kept me on the edge of my seat, with my hands covering my eyes.....never certain of just what she could do next. Creepy, artistic and beautifully edited, I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

At first, I was warned that this movie should be skipped, but on further investigation, it turned out that the person warning me had viewed another "Home Sweet Home," that I suppose was released around the same time. I'm glad he was mistaken, because this movie delivered.

Let's get one thing straight: this is an independent movie, so don't rent or buy it thinking that there will be Johnny Depp battling Transformers on another planet inhabited by the Na'vi. But, unlike a lot of other "Independent Films," this movie had blockbuster-type rhythm and suspense, that lasts for almost two full acts.

The directing and cinematography were very raw-felling - something I think worked very well for the overall look. And the acting, although limited in the script to a lot of screaming, crying and intimidation, had a lot of subtleties to it that very few horror movies (even though I consider this more of a suspense-thriller) usually have. And guys - if your wife or girlfriend want to watch a scary movie, this movie still has plenty of great eye candy.

I think the ending was my favorite part. No spoilers here, but let's just say I had a good conversation with my friend about it afterwards. Really well done.

This was overall a solid rental. I'll probably even buy it. Glad to see that movies with potential are still finding a voice in today's distribution marketplace.