Coming down off the rush of just watching a great movie from Netflix, I got generous and decided to give this movie a chance. When this movie came out, people SLAMMED it and i saw several posts about how terrible it was, especially the ending. Even searching for a movie poster I could include with this review got me several suggested search topics such as "Open House 2018 movie what the hell is up with that ending," so I was cautious, but I've seen that Netflix is capable of making good horror movies, so I decided to give this a chance anyway.
This movie is about a mother and a son trying to move on after a tragedy by staying in a friend's house out in the country (because moving to a new house always works out so well in horror movies). The son is a typical moody teenager, with perhaps more reason to be moody than many other teens have. His mother is trying to hold everything together and struggling with finances. Typical family issues, but they can get overwhelming, especially after a loss in the family.
I liked the characters right away, so I cared about their situation, and the acting is pretty good as well. Of course, moving into the house doesn't go well for them, and soon they both start seeing/experiencing scary things. People appear and then disappear, doors open and close, you get the idea. Plus there's a neighbor who says some creepy and confusing things whenever she shows up. Before you know it, old resentments are bubbling to the surface, mom and son aren't getting along, and the events at the house get creepier.
The thing is, in movies like this, I understand sometimes that it's not as simple as moving, because moving involves money and other complications, but don't they have a house that they live in? I mean, they're staying in this house because the mother's sister is trying to sell it and she needs someone to help take care of it between showings, plus she sees that they need to get away, but if things got creepy as hell in a house I was staying at, and I had a place to go back to, I would probably just leave. Not for minor annoyances, but if someone is breaking into my house and redecorating and playing creepy music, I'm not going to stick around and wait for things to get worse.
And then they do some even dumber things that just defy any kind of logic. I get that when you're scared you don't always behave responsibly, but when a character says "I have to do this thing" and I'm screaming "why? That makes no sense!" at the screen, I get a little testy. There are some good scares here, though, and some disturbing imagery. I'll probably never be able to watch someone take out their contact lenses again. I do get why everyone was so pissed off by the ending, though, and I have to say that "Disturbia" did this idea better. There's some good stuff here, but nothing you can't see done better in other movies.
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