Cubbyhouse

I didn't expect much seeing as how even the rental box looked somewhat cheesy. Here it's called 'Hellion: The Devil's Playground' how spooky, too bad it didn't live up to it's title. I didn't like any of the characters, well, except Danny, he was the only one who didn't annoy me. I found myself laughing at situations instead of being scared. The deaths, special effects and even acting is incredibly lame. This plot has been done many times before, and more creatively at that. I didn't feel sorry for the characters dying at all, only thing I regret is paying 3 dollars too much for this video. I wouldn't recommend it unless you like low-budget, unoriginal horrors.

I actually used to live where this movie was filmed. The scenes with the titular cubbyhouse were filmed at Duranbah Primary School in NSW, basically in the middle of nowhere. The movie is pretty simple- an American family move to the Australian suburbs and there's something wrong with the cubbyhouse in their backyard and everyone in town seems to know something about it. It dabbles in black magic and satanic rituals, sadly though this still didn't make it horrifying or chilling in the least. The acting is poor, as are the special effects. For something released in 2001 it feels more like an 80's movie. It doesn't do a great job of sucking you in but it was an interesting enough concept.

Consider going to a tailor with the finest raw silk and asking him to make you a perfect suit. If you have a good tailor he'll do his utmost to please you... But it happens that when you pick up the suit, you'd be disappointed. Really disappointed, because you could have bought a better suit off-the-rack. This is what happened to the story behind this movie. Unfortunately. Wonder what would have happened if this director/team had produced Lord of the Rings? Probably the same - they would probably not have the ability to understand that they had gold in their hands - and reversed the process of the sorcerers stone - to make lead out of gold - not the other way around.

Suffice it to say that this substandard B has nothing to save it - not an interesting plot or even one tolerably decent actor. Josh Leonard of Blair Witch fame does little to help matters. Do yourself a favor and leave this one on the shelf at your local video store.

A question for you : A family go to a new house and get stalked by demonic forces . Which film am I talking about ? Every horror film you`ve seen ? Yes that`s true but that`s not the answer I`m looking for . I`ll narrow it down by saying there`s a lot of teen angst scenes . Doesn`t help ? Well there`s lots of bits where the characters are stalked by a creature and you see the characters through the creature`s POV . No futher forward ? Okay there`s a dream sequence involving lots of blood ? Could still be any horror film you say . Oh gawd this could take weeks so I`ll say the film I`m talking about features loads of Aussies many of whom have appeared in NEIGHBOURS and HOME AND AWAY . Yes that`s right the film is THE THIRD CIRCLE ( aka CUBBYHOUSE ) and do you understand what the above exercise is about ? It`s about me pointing out how THE THIRD CIRCLE is absolutely no different from any horror film that`s been made