• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Movie Review – The Open House (2018)

January 20, 2018 by Shaun Munro

The Open House, 2018.

Directed by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote.
Starring Dylan Minnette, Piercey Dalton, Sharif Atkins, and Patricia Bethune.

SYNOPSIS:

A teenager and his mother find themselves besieged by threatening forces when they move into a new house.

Proving that January isn’t merely a dumping ground for Hollywood’s most rancid theatrical releases, Netflix’s generically-monikered The Open House – which wasn’t screened for press – delivers a thoroughly tedious, uninspired feature debut for filmmaking duo Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote, abjectly wasting the efforts of talented leads Dylan Minnette and Piercey Dalton in the process.

After her husband is killed in a freak car accident, Naomi Wallace (Dalton) and her teenage son Logan (Minnette) temporarily move into her sister’s remote home in the mountains, which is currently for sale. Inevitably enough, a series of spooky supernatural incidents start taking place, and the pair come to wonder whether they might have an unwanted house guest in their midst.

From the outset, this film doesn’t exactly boast a unique or especially intriguing concept, but with two game leads and a tantalising, scenic locale, there was sure potential for The Open House to translate into well-executed schlock. After all, Netflix has proven a snug home for unassuming, shrewdly-conceived genre fare in the past – McG’s The Babysitter being perhaps the best recent example – yet it’s abundantly clear from the clumsily-directed opening sequence, in which Logan’s father is killed, that this isn’t the case at all here.

Juxtaposing familial discord with supernatural malevolence has been a long-time go-to for the horror genre, and to the film’s mild credit, the unease between mother and son is unquestionably its strongest element. The angry heartbreak percolating between the pair doesn’t translate to anything especially unique or involving, but it’s basically fine, largely thanks to solid work from Dalton and Minette.

Their heated confrontations are among the film’s few palpable moments and ultimately far more interesting than any other way the movie tries to raise the pulse. Unfortunately, though, as the familial gassing isn’t propped up by anything remotely scary or intriguing, even the film’s more tolerable dramatic moments ultimately become patience-testing. At just 94 minutes in length, this is a fundamentally naff supernatural horror that’s also an utter slog to get through. Many movies can survive being bad, but being both bad and boring? Not a chance.

In terms of what qualifies for horror here, there are numerous “suspense” sequences peppered throughout the film, but most of these protracted set-pieces mistake airless quiet for actual tension. It’s a project clearly constrained by a small budget, but does little creative with its not-terrible resources; two impressive actors, a big house, and a creepy mountainous locale.

The scenes that are supposed to be creepy and intense largely fail to produce anything remotely unsettling; there’s zero tension because it all feels so generic, almost to the point of parody. What pass for jump scares here are typically more comical than scary, for one.

This is all trundling towards an ending that’s at once unintentionally hilarious and enormously unsatisfying, with one particular action beat aiming for tragically horrific but landing on accidentally silly instead. The final moments in particular, which grind things to a halt out of nowhere, feel like an angry, misplaced middle-finger to the audience, a disappointingly subdued and vague payoff to a movie that could’ve mildly redeemed itself by violently ramping things up in the home stretch.

Squandering most of its satirical potential about the angst of selling a house while also failing to fully exploit its eerie setting and skilled actors or deliver a remotely compelling antagonist, The Open House is an aggressively boring snooze-fest of a horror flick, and certainly no better than the genre tripe you’ll find dumped in cinemas this time every year.

Without question one of the weaker non-Adam Sandler Netflix Original offerings to date, this virtually tension-free, depressingly bland horror flick is tough to recommend to anyone but the most undemanding horror fans looking for something gentle to stream on a hungover Sunday afternoon.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★

Shaun Munro – Follow me on Twitter for more film rambling.

Filed Under: Movies, Reviews, Shaun Munro Tagged With: Dylan Minnette, Matt Angel, Patricia Bethune, Piercey Dalton, Sharif Atkins, Suzanne Coote, The Open House

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

7 Rotten Horror Movies That Deserve A Second Chance

Ranking Bad E.T. Rip-Offs From Worst to Watchable

13 Great Obscure Horror Movie Gems You Need to See

Cannon’s Avengers: What If… Cannon Films Did the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

10 Reasons Why Predator Is Awesome

Great Director’s Cuts That Are Better Than The Original Theatrical Versions

Essential Demonic Horror Movies To Send Shivers Down Your Spine

Every Friday the 13th Movie Ranked From Worst to Best

The Essential Horror Movie Threequels

Out for Vengeance: Ten Essential Revenge Movies

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

Top Stories:

Movie Review – Swiped (2025)

Movie Review – The Man in My Basement (2025)

Movie Review – Rental Family (2025)

Movie Review – Rabbit Trap (2025)

Movie Review – The Long Walk (2025)

Movie Review – Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)

Erotic horror-thriller Iconic hits the US and UK

Movie Review – John Candy: I Like Me (2025)

Movie Review – Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

Almost Famous at 25: The Story Behind the Coming-of-Age Cult Classic

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

10 Stunning Performances Outrageously Snubbed by the Oscars

The Essential Modern Conspiracy Thrillers

7 Kick-Ass Female-Led Action Movies

The Kings of Cool

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket