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The Open House (Netflix 2018)

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The Open House (Netflix 2018)

Old 01-22-18, 10:10 AM
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The Open House (Netflix 2018)

So, this new thriller/horror movie just hit Netflix on Friday. I was curious because it stars Dylan Minnette (Don't Breathe / 13 Reasons Why) and Netflix seemed to be heavily pushing it.

Mother and son move into mother's sister's mountain cabin after a death in the family, but they must vacate the house for several hours every weekend for Open House, since the cabin is on the market for sale. Strange, inexplicable occurrences begin to happen.

Short review: don't watch it. It is a total waste of 90 minutes, and if the final product is an accurate reflection of the original script, I have no clue why it was greenlit in the first place. You've been warned; it's really, really bad.

Spoilery notes:
Spoiler:

The movie sets up all kinds of threads that seem to be pointing to a big reveal at the end. But no. Most of these threads lead absolutely nowhere and are just big red herrings. For instance, a crazy neighbor lady keeps showing up and telling contradictory stories. In the end, it turns out she just has alzheimer's. An acquaintance asks to tour the house on his own, and then disappears. In the end, it turns out he just left the house without telling them. The son has a foreboding dream about his dead father in the house. In the end, it was just a random nightmare. The mother/son catch the realtor inside the house after he should've already left, and he's acting nervous and jittery as he leaves. This is never referenced again.

At the end of the movie, it is revealed that a serial killer let himself in during an open house and was living there (somehow doing so without the police finding him during a search), making the strange occurrences (noises, rearranging furniture, stealing cellphones, etc.) happen. He has multiple opportunities to kill the mother and son, even leaving both of them alive after attacking them, until the final moments of the movie, when he suddenly decides to off both of them and drive to another Open House. He even freaking REMOVES THE SON'S CONTACTS FROM HIS EYES during one attack, lets him go, and then kills him moments later. There is absolutely no reason (or payoff) for the contact removal.

I could go on.


The acting is mostly good, but that's about the only good thing I can say about this movie. Minnette deserves better. If you like movies that set up multiple threads with zero payoff, by all means, watch this one.
Old 01-22-18, 10:13 AM
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Re: The Open House (Netflix 2018)

Netflix has been pushing this? I thought they threw it on there and sort of hoped nobody noticed

I keep getting the trailer for Step Sisters when I login. "From the Choreographer of Pitch Perfect" is an odd credit.
Old 01-22-18, 10:26 AM
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Re: The Open House (Netflix 2018)

Originally Posted by RichC2
Netflix has been pushing this? I thought they threw it on there and sort of hoped nobody noticed
Well, maybe my evidence is anecdotal, but they were definitely promoting it to me (e-mails, recommendations on the site itself). Maybe it's because I do gravitate toward thrillers and so they thought this would be to my liking. Problem is, I like good thrillers.

I'll edit to add: I had a sinking feeling as soon as I saw the opening title. Even the font/layout of the movie's title looked woefully amateurish.
Old 01-22-18, 11:09 AM
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Re: The Open House (Netflix 2018)

Third act really sucked. I was disappointed.
Old 01-22-18, 12:33 PM
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Re: The Open House (Netflix 2018)

Originally Posted by RichC2
Netflix has been pushing this? I thought they threw it on there and sort of hoped nobody noticed

I keep getting the trailer for Step Sisters when I login. "From the Choreographer of Pitch Perfect" is an odd credit.
I am half way done with Step Sisters as I saw it spotlighted on Netflix as a film I would like last night and was all oh yeah that's the stuff. I love films like Step Sisters which is definitely not a great or even just a merely good film, but for me it does the job of providing approximately 2 hours of entertainment.

You know a film is not destined to be a classic when the biggest selling point is that it comes from the Choreographer of a beloved film (also not a great movie, but Pitch Perfect has its charms), but again...films like Step Sisters are catnip to me.

The film that is the subject of this thread is not the type of film I tend to watch on Netlix so the algorithm they use knows me well enough to throw up Step Sisters in the Spotlight section when I log in to Netflix vs The Open House.
Old 01-23-18, 08:13 AM
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Re: The Open House (Netflix 2018)

Damn...I was looking forward to checking this out.
Old 01-23-18, 11:15 AM
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Re: The Open House (Netflix 2018)

Originally Posted by d2cheer
Damn...I was looking forward to checking this out.
You can still check it out, but lower your expectations, especially for any resolution at the end.
Old 01-28-18, 02:22 PM
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Re: The Open House (Netflix 2018)

I believe the killer removes the contact lenses from the son's eyes so he is disoriented and slowed down when running away, so the killer can keep tracking him... considering that the son is an experienced runner.

I think the movie's ridiculous plotline shows the serial killer setting up the son for the murders so he is free to continue his murderous rampage of open houses.

The serial killer's absurd plan would go something like this (this movie's plot is so stupid): I will kill the clerk, put him in the car with the headlights on, I will make some noise in the house, the mom sleeps like a rock (must be all the hot showers she takes), so the son will come out and investigate... and go to the car. I will then bash is head on the car just to knock him out and then pour a gallon of water over him so he suffers from hypothermia. I will then knock out the mom and tie her to the rocking chair, leaving a knife on floor. The son will then come to, and hear her mom cry (I will break her fingers to make sure of that) and he will come to her rescue. He will then see the knife, cut the ropes to free his mom and then take the knife to try and kill me. I will take the mom in the meanwhile in the tunnel in the basement and when he comes close, I will let her go and he will accidentally stab his fleeing mom. I will then subdue him, take off his lenses to slow him down and let him run away in the woods where I will kill him the next day in such a way that the cops will believe that he died from hypothermia after running away from the crime scene where he killed both his mom and the clerk in a jealous grief-stricken rage.

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