Customer Reviews

Christina's House

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I rented this dvd hoping for a cheesefest and I was not dissappointed. Honestly I expected it to be terrible, as good cheese is hard to find, but really it wasn't too bad at all. The movie starts with a murder in the old house so I wasn't under the impression that it was haunted but that someone, or perhaps something, is living behind the walls. You don't know who it is or why they're doing what they're doing, but the list of supects is long and twisted: the horney/violently jealous boyfriend, the apparently incestuously minded/hothead father, the weird/weird handyman, the angry/weird sheriff, or just some Jason Voorhees type. The daughter just thinks she's going crazy. The movie deftly implicates all of these while at the same time deflecting it. The acting while not great is definately on the upper level of the B-eschelon. The story is well told and has some interesting, quirky elements. I recommend it.

"Christina's House" is an old fashioned killer on the loose movie. It's set in a small town and avoids trying to be a hip "Scream" style slasher film.
Christina, her dad, and younger brother live in a creepy old house. Apparently someone else is secretly living there as well, killing anyone it can and disposing of the bodies before they can be discovered. Pretty creepy stuff, as anyone who's ever lived in a spooky old house themselves can attest.
The film moves along rather slowly, taking it's time to build suspense. The cast is above average as well.
Aside from a few loose ends, this is a relatively solid chiller. It's a nice change of pace from the high tech, fast paced horror films that look great, but are devoid of any real scares. "Christina's House" reminds us why we liked horror films in the first place.

This movie is, without a doubt, the worst movie I have ever seen. The acting is wretched, the storyline is predictable, there are some things that happen that are so completely random that you have no idea where they came from, and I don't mean that in a good way. It feels like they started to go with something and then changed their minds and failed to keep up with the consistency. This movie is laughably bad. I am begging you to not waste your money. Also, if you choose to waste your money, don't let this movie color your opinion of other "teen" movies, as some of them are quite good. This one is just exceptionally awful.

There are some pretty stupid movies out there that still manage to entertain. B-movies can be fun, and everyone's seen a movie that at least hits a few high points, maybe even reaching camp status. This movie is none of the above. I don't think I've seen a worse film all year. There is absolutely nothing to recommend in this movie. I looked.

First off, the plot is horribly trite and predictable.

There's a scary haunted house that makes weird noises while the hesitant heroine is in the bath. It also makes weird noises at other times. The fact that it's an old house obviously never crosses anybody's mind. In case you missed the whole noises plotline, the heroine shrieks that the house is weird and makes noises about four times. That's for all us idiots who didn't get it the first three times she spazzed about it.

That's it for plot. Now onto characters. Anyone who's seen a few horror movies knows them all by heart.

There's the main character, the Hesitant Virgin Who's Afraid to Go the Whole Way (tm).

The boyfriend: He pressures, he's scary and slightly threatening, but of course he's one of the most popular boys in school.

Then there's the usual cast of secondary characters. The best friend who inevitably dies, the misunderstood father, the mentally unbalanced mother. A mysterious (but attractive) man that the virgin is unwittingly attracted to.

If this sounds like any one of a hundred horror movies (with Scream heading up the list), it's because it is.

But while Scream was innovative and entertaining in that it turned it's cliches around, this movie doesn't even bother. And while Scream was actually scary, this movie is anything but. There was literally no tension in this film. It's horribly unreal, and very predictable.

Maybe even this movie could have been saved with a decent cast. Unfortunately, they didn't have it. Brad Rowe is horribly miscast, and Brendan Fehr is wasted here (unlike in The Forsaken). Allison Lange isn't even worth mentioning. Her father (John Savage) growls menacingly at every turn, but only seems to get more cheesy as the movie (finally) rolls to a stop.

I strongly urge anyone thinking of renting or buying this to reconsider. I'm upset I wasted an hour and a half on it.

Not a movie horror buffs will want to run out and see anxiously, nor is it hard to realise why it's always in the cheapie bin marked down 100 times since it's original cheapie bin price.

The title would probably make you think that the house itself is alive, or haunted or something. I wont say what it is, but I will tell you it's nothing to do with what you might think.

The story is about a 16 year old girl named Christine who lives with her father and younger brother. It sets up the story so that you have to try an work out WHO is the evil one etc, etc... her mothers in a loony bin and people in the neighbourhood are going missing and last seen at in the vicinity of that house.

Overall I wouldnt recomend it to buy, I'd rent it so that you dont have it taking up space collecting dust in your house. You probably wont ever wanna see it again, least not anytime soon and you couldnt have seen too many horror films if you consider this one scary at all. Actualy, it's not even a horror, it's more of a ... errr.... sort of suspence ATTEMPT.

The end of the film is a weird turn that does explain itself, but overall, i'd rather have watched something else then this one. I only watched it 'cause there is a 10 movie pack out here (regoiun 4) and one of the 10 "cheapie" movies was this one.

The story was interesting, but it needed gore and a direction for more of an R rating then trying for a kids suspence film.

If nothing else, this movie definitely supports those people who say you shouldn't be sending out kids to sell cookies door to door! CHRISTINA'S HOUSE is a lot better than I anticipated, and had some really chilling scenes, and director Gavin Wilding did well with his young actors, especially Allison Lange and the young lad who played her brother (come on Amazon, let's get these cast lists out more often!!!).
STORY: It's confusing at times, and I'm not sure exactly what kind of "powers" the mother has, but it is definitely original, and has a lot of twists and turns. SCORE: 4
CAST: Brendan Fehr as Eddie has the right combination of rugged looks and teenage smarm to play a character we never fully trust; and where does his body go? Allison Lange in her screen debut does well at times, particularly in here lower key scenes; however when she has to be terrified or angry, she goes a little overboard. John Savage does well as the father and Brad Rowe as the hunky handyman is very good. SCORE: 4
DIRECTION: As stated above, Wilding handles the film and its actors well; uses lighting effectively and some good jump out of the dark scares. SCORE: 4

Back in 2001 my girl at the time rented this cuz I like horror movies....I dumped her soon afterwards. Stay away. Just stay away from this.

This movie wasn't scary. Okay, it was scary only on the premise that the scriptwriter either a) is a moron or b) believes that the viewer is a moron, and I'm leaning toward the latter. What girl is stupid enough to take her diary with her to high school and, worse yet, leave it laying around for her enemies to read? If this is the case, not only does Christina deserve what she and her family gets, but the viewer also deserves what they get for sitting all the way through this excruciatingly painful mess. I also knew who was behind all the mayhem surrounding the property from the first time the camera landed on their face--very transparent, like everything else in this badly scripted, horribly acted waste of time. Egg on my face, I guess, because I wanted a frittata and ended up with a cajun scramble. Worse yet, it's STILL superior to Natural Born Killers. Wow...

Christina Tarling (über-hottie Allison Lange) keeps hearing odd sounds from the attic above her room. Her terminally constipated dad (John Savage) tells her that the house is simply making "settling" noises. Meanwhile, someone is murdering young gals in the neighborhood, and dumping the remains on Christina's property! Could the killer be grumpy ol' dad? The crazy, hormonally explosive boyfriend, Eddy (Brendan Fehr)? Howie, the ultra-nice handyman (Brad Rowe)? Or is it the pushy, downright creepy sheriff (Jerry Wasserman)? Christina grows increasingly terrified by the prospect that she may be going insane like her mum (Chilton Crane). This all culminates in a wham-bang, violent finalé w/ an interesting little twist. As an added bonus, Christina takes a relaxing bubble bath! CHRISTINA'S HOUSE is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to die there...

"Christina's House" is creepy fun. Christina (Allison Lange of "Single White Female 2: The Psycho"), along with her father and brother, has moved into a new home in order to be close to her insane mother. Meanwhile, visitors who enter the large, old house are brutally murdered. The list of suspects include the possessive boyfriend, the overprotective father, the odd handyman, and Christina herself who may have inherited her mother's mental illness. The killer is hiding inside the house, watching and waiting for the right time to trap everyone . . . and kill them.

This slasher gem has a great opening that is positively shocking. The film has an intriguing mystery that keeps the plot moving at a good pace. The ending is wonderfully downbeat; it is very reminiscent of numerous slasher flicks made in the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties. When Christina's family is trapped within the house, I was reminded of Wes Craven's bizarre chiller, "The People Who Live Under the Stairs." However, I enjoyed "Christina's House" more because it was more realistic. I was also reminded of the "Saw" series because of the various traps and devices in which the victims find themselves.

Some of the murders were gruesome. However, a few more victims would've been nicer. I would've had the investigating police officer killed; he was strange and useless. A nosy neighbor could've been written into the script; he/she saw something odd, wandered over to investigate, and was murdered.

If you like large, old houses with dark secrets, you will enjoy watching "Christina's House." The mystery will intrigue you and the murders will shock and horrify you. This is a must see for fans of slasher fare and Italian gialli (murder mysteries made in Italy).

Unfortunately, as far as the DVD itself is considered, there are no extras - not even a trailer. Therefore, if you really enjoy this movie, you will have to search for more information on your own.