An 11
year old boy named David Rockland (Joey
Lawrence) is looking forward to his
flight trip to visit his father Bill
(Cliff DeYoung) and stepmother Ellen
(Roxanne Hart) in Los Angeles, California
for the summer but a house next door was
violently destroyed as well as some
people electrocuted to death there which
was unexplained and the house was boarded
up which concerned young David as he
discovers that the living room TV acts
weird plus it won't shut off.
Also he encounters some strange static on
a telephone pole while skateboarding on
the sidewalk and a little neighbor named
Stevie (Matthew Lawrence) told him about
the awful incidents that happened at that
house.
David checks out the abandoned house and
spots many damaged areas around the house
as well as a crazy old man named Holger
(Charles Tyner) which frightens David
even more.
David is terrorised by the electrical
systems going on in the house as they are
turning evil by having a vengeful life of
their own.
Ellen even suspects this but Bill thinks
that they're too paranoid but even he is
going to encounter this deadly force.
In the beginning a house with
water all over and damaged stuff along
with a corpse and good shots on
policemen searching the place.
We also have some good interaction at a
dinner table with the main characters Bill, Ellen and David.
A good shot on David walking down the stairs and looking
mysterious about stuff especially looking
at the TV that looked strange.
There's a great shot on him staring at an inside of a dryer and
a spark lights up which looked a little
spooky.
Good shot on some creepy looking
sparks on a telephone pole.
Some good shots on David skateboarding and then
looking up at the telephone pole as it
looks suspenseful wondering if he will
crash into anything.
There's a good conversation between David and Stevie as neighbors
which looked nice.
Good shots with David going into the abandoned house looking
around and seeing the damaged material
inside along with a nice spooky shot on Old Man Holger jumping down from a roof and acting
strange towards him.
Good shots on the inside of
machines with things melting and sparks
showing.
Good shot on David talking on the phone with his Mom with
concerned expressions begging her to
listen to him which was nicely done.
There's a scene with Bill dragging David in the house with him
freaking out not wanting to come in which
lacked a little.
We have a good emotional conversations between Bill and Ellen about
what is happening in their house.
A great suspenseful moment with Ellen trying to struggle getting out of a
shower with hot water attacking her and Bill trying to rescue her and David freaking out.
There's also a nice moment with Bill
trying not to break into tears towards
David when he tells him about his wife
in the hospital.
A good dark shot on Bill going towards the garbage disposer that's
on and looking at some sharp glass which
makes you wonder if something terrifying
is going to happen.
We also have a good shot on him
walking down in the basement with some
furnace fire lighting up and a screw
hitting him and
falling down.
A good shot on David staring at the tv with lines crossing and
hitting his face along
with some ohter terrifying moments in
the scene.
A great slow motion with Bill about to fall on the floor where there's
water with an electrical wire and David trying to reach his for his hand which
makes you cringe big time.
Bottom line is that this film was
close to being original yet it borrowed a
bit from Poltergeist
like with the TV etc. Still it works very
well even if it's not a groundbreaking
film. Just imagine if your electricity and
other things in your house turn out to be
deadly and tries to kill you which is an
unpleasant thought. Sometimes the plot isn't scary enough but
of course this one is rated PG-13 so we
can't expect a heck of alot when it's
rated like that. A good movie if you're in the mood for
the odd suspense and not the total scares
but otherwise you may want to try
something else.
The acting is in
fair taste. Although I was never a fan of
Cliff DeYoung's (Bill Rockland) work he seems to
do fairly okay especially with his
aggressions and emotions too. He reacts well to a screw hitting him when going downstairs to a basement. There's a good reaction with him cutting down the telephone pole with a
chainsaw and laughing insanely.
Roxanne Hart (Ellen Rockland) really delivers with
her good sympathetic attitude in the film
really delivering her part inside out and
does a fine job with her crying and
scared emotions too. She does well acting emotional
towards an eccentric old man by asking him some
information at the house next door that
the terror happened.
Of course we get child superstar Joey
Lawrence (David Rockland) as I never found him a
great actor when he got into his teens
during his teen idol years in Blossom
but however he's good when he's
a child like in Gimme a Break as he knows his craft playing a typical
kid. He does well with his scared and
troubled actions. He reacted well
to a dryer spotting some sparks and then had good panicky reactions
towards his onscreen father and stepmother. A good reaction on him when someone turns on the garbage
disposer. Great reactions on him when he is hacking and coughing in a car
in a garage and him panicking trying to
start up the car and smashing into the
garage doorway. He reacts well staring at the tv with lines crossing and
hitting his face.
We have a special appearance by baby
brother Matthew Lawrence (Stevie) as he
acted with him in many shows and has a
great cute and charming attitude. I
always found him more talented. He does
well telling someone the story that
happened to the abandoned house next
door.
We have another small part by an elderly
actor named Charles Tyner (Old Man Holger) who
does well with his crazy expressions and
words whom he reminds me of the Crazy Ralph character from Friday the 13th and
one time thought it actually was that same actor. He
does well acting tense. Also in a scene while giving information he does well with his answers on the house acting
a little insane
There's also a bit part performance by Robert
Romanus (Paul) as a TV repairman and still
has that Damone style from his memorable
performance in Fast Times at
Ridgemont High.
There's some great
deep synthesizer music along with some
high tones as composer Jay Ferguson
truly made it sound spooky for each scene
in the film.
Old
man: It ain't a thing, it's a
signal...... a pulse, kinda like a voice.
So what you've got to do is to get rid of
anything in your house that might have
ears to hear it. |
