Havenhurst

I would describe Havenhurst as a horror movie of TV-format, which means you won't get any real gore (besides a few glimpses here and there and rather uninspired and pretty standard ones) and the dose of real horror is not a strong one. Acting and production (settings!) is rock solid, and it is nice to watch Julie Benz once again. The ending is of course a little bit obscure and weak (police not searching the house thoroughly etc.) Recommended if you want to kill some time and/or you like to watch Julie.

The ending was so botched, I can't help thinking the crew itself got "evicted" half way through the filming (read, ran out of money or fell apart). Despite the weird behavior of several characters, the story had a good potential till it suddenly, stupidly, untimely took a twist that is so used and abused, it doesn't even elicit a chuckle anymore. It just made an impression that the crew abruptly pulled the plug in the middle of all the action. Movies like this make me wonder how someone gets so much money, convinces a bunch of talented people to participate (most of the actors, the operator was pretty good), and is not held accountable for making bad script decisions that inevitably cut any hope for a good payout. Anyway. If you are reading this review, be smarter than me and trust the low rating: it is not an underrated gem. You would waste your time.

Havenhurst is a sprawling Gothic building that has been turned into a halfway house for recovering addicts. Its latest tenant is Jackie (Julie Benz), an ex-alcoholic who discovers that her new abode harbours a horrifying secret: it was once home to one of America's first serial killers, H.H. Holmes, and someone seems to be following in his bloody footsteps.

To be honest, there's not a whole lot of originality going on in Havenhurst, the plot taking the well worn 'creepy old house with a secret' format (complete with hidden passageways and trapdoors) and adding a little Saw-style punishment for good measure, as meted out by cold-hearted landlady Eleanor (Fionnula Flanagan) and her sons whenever their tenants fall off the wagon.

Despite a strong central performance and just a smidge of gruesome gore, the film never really delivers the chills, failing to get the pulse pounding with its hackneyed attempts at eerie atmospherics (the whole building could do with better lighting) and predictable jump scares (I lost count of how many times a creepy figure would suddenly rush past the camera in the foreground or behind a character).

In short, Havenhurst is by no means a terrible film, just not all that inspired.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for bumping off Danielle Harris, horror's most over-rated scream queen, as soon as possible.

What could potentially have been a very interesting and unique horror movie, ended up being a generic storyline suffering at the hands of the writers.

The story did have potential, but writers Andrew C. Erin and Daniel Farrands might have had ideas that were great, but they just failed to transcribe those idea over into something that would translate into something great and interesting on the screen. No, the story just permeated mediocrity and half-heartedness all the way through. Furthermore, it didn't help one bit that the storyline was completely devoid of anything even remotely scary.

What did work out quite well in favor of the movie was the house and the design idea behind it. There were some very interesting ideas and concepts here that were quite nicely brought to life on the screen. But again, it just lacked that element of horror.

"Havenhurst" also had some adequate acting performances to boast it, although they were struggling with a very inadequate script, and it was weighing the actors and actresses down visibly on the screen.

For a horror movie, I will say that "Havenhurst" belongs more in the mystery genre with just a hint of thriller to it. Which are the tags of the genre here on IMDb. I just sat down to watch it because I thought it was going to be a horror movie. So I was naturally very disappointed with the end result.

"Havenhurst" is a mediocre movie that came and went without any fanfare and without leaving any impressions in the horror genre, because it just wasn't equipped with fangs or nails.

A woman is in a sobriety program after her drunk driving ended up killing her daughter. She moves into a huge Gothic style apartment where other addicts reside trying to better themselves. If anyone has a slip and falls off the wagon the house removes them fast. She tries to find out where the house takes these people who are never seen again.

This is loosely based on a late 1800's serial killer H.H. Holmes who built a murder house and claimed to kill over 200 people but was closer to 10 in reality. The house in the flick does have some cool trap doors and hidden rooms where some sick surgeries take place. There are some good gore effects but they are only utilized a couple of times. Not much time is spent giving any background to the story or even the characters really, which makes you kind of step back a bit, instead of immersing yourself into the story. I didn't like the ending but a sequel could fix everything.

5 twitching torsos out of 10.