The Open House – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
The Open House follows a different route than most thriller/horrors. Which you may love at first, until what happens in the ending. Director(s) Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote Screenplay By Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote Date Released 1/19/2018 Genre(s) Thriller, Horror, Who Dun It Noted Actors Logan Dylan Minnette Brian Aaron Abrams Naomi Piercey Dalton Ally…
The Open House follows a different route than most thriller/horrors. Which you may love at first, until what happens in the ending.
| Director(s) | Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote |
| Screenplay By | Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote |
| Date Released | 1/19/2018 |
| Genre(s) | Thriller, Horror, Who Dun It |
| Noted Actors | |
| Logan | Dylan Minnette |
| Brian | Aaron Abrams |
| Naomi | Piercey Dalton |
| Ally | Katie Walder |
| Martha | Patricia Bethune |
| Plumber | Paul Rae |
| Chris | Sharif Atkins |
Summary
Circling their way toward poverty, Brian and Naomi are just trying to keep it together. Especially for Logan who seemingly, with how fast of a runner he is, could make something of himself. However, with Brian getting killed by someone who apparently had a heart attack behind the wheel, this forces Naomi to rely on the kindness of her sister Ally and her husband Bruce. Two people who are fairly well off and have a mansion in the mountains they are looking to sell. Which, with that in mind, since it is just sitting there, Ally offers it to her nephew and sister.
Leaving only a handful of problems. Not heat and electricity, since it seems Ally and Bruce are still paying for that, and not even the fact that Naomi is unemployed so who knows how she is affording groceries. More so it is the few, very few, people we meet in the town. There is Chris, a store owner, or clerk, who seemingly has a thing for Naomi, and then there is Martha, the neighbor who is a widow with Alzheimer’s. Technically there is also Joni, the realtor, and her show person Ed too, but Naomi and Logan only see them on Sundays.
So, this pretty much leaves them stuck, or perhaps trapped, together most of the time. Which, is fine in the beginning until random things start happening. Such as the pilot light going off, doors randomly closing, Logan losing his phone, and this leads to some accusations and hurtful things being said. Naomi thinks Logan is messing with her, due to being mad about having to move in the middle of the school year, and Logan makes it clear that he isn’t happy about that nor how his mom hasn’t been the most maternal as he has been dealing with his dad dying – right in front of him.
But, all their bickering gets put aside as they realize someone is definitely trying to freak them out, if not worse.
Other Noteworthy Facts & Moments
- Naomi was married to Brian for at least 16 years and he was a plumber before, seemingly, laid off.
- Though rated MA, it isn’t a hard MA. There is some nudity from Naomi, mostly side boob, and bare ass, and while there is violence in the form of seeing someone’s fingers get broken and a view of someone after their neck gets slit, it isn’t too graphic.
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- So you’re telling me, all that money Ally and Bruce have, which includes a burglary system, and yet there are no cameras on the property?
- Considering the area they lived in, how come Martha never wandered too far and ended up freezing to death?
- Also, considering how much water got thrown on Logan, how was he able to survive a whole night with wet clothes?
Highlights
The Mother and Son Issues
In a very strange way, the mother and son issues sort of reminded me of Lady Bird in a way. If only because you really wanted to see these two explore their issues with one another, as well as demystify who Logan thought his father was and what the truth is. Especially since Logan wants to treat his father like a saint while he demonizes his mother for doing her best.
You Never Learn Who The Killer Is
If you’re like me, you’ll spend most of the film being torn between the relationship between Logan and Naomi and trying to figure out who is harassing them. You see Martha wandering around so you think it might be her, but then with the way the basement is, including the broken step, you know it isn’t her. You think maybe Chris or the cops might be the villain, but then you see the guy’s size and a pale face. But in the end, you realize, this man isn’t supposed to be identified.
Whoever the killer is, he is supposed to represent the dozen or more people who, if you have an open house, can randomly enter your home and learn everything they need about you. As they wander, they can pick up your phone and learn your schedule, see around your house and learn how many people live there, and honestly, the only thing which would make this film more terrifying is a “Based on a True Story” tag in the beginning. For then, this would basically be some America’s Most Wanted scenario, in which dozens of people this could pertain to.
It Didn’t Need Gore To Be Creepy or Make You Feel For The Characters
A sort of combination of both of the highlights above, what I liked is that this movie really took the time and made an effort for you to care about the potential victims. The movie, in my mind, combined what could have been a drama about a mother and son’s relationship, with a random serial killer who’d be featured in some direct to obscurity movie.
Which I say because, most characters in films like this don’t have the sort of depth we get with Logan and Naomi. There isn’t this subplot dealing with complicated relationships and certainly not this sense of us dealing with real people on hard times. And then when it comes to the killer, more often than not, it is someone they know or who is trying to take advantage of their predicament. Hell, for a good period of the movie, I was wondering if Naomi and Brian tried to pull an insurance scam or something. Yet that isn’t the case at all. Instead, The Open House makes it so the killer could be anyone and it places this sort of paranoia in you that even if they aren’t some WWE sized white man, this type of person could be anywhere.
Hell, it doesn’t even have to be your house. Just imagine you work somewhere late or a similar routine where someone can learn your movements. What is to stop them from doing the same thing the killer does? Just thinking about it makes me glad I watched this movie while there was still lights out.
On The Fence
Full Disclosure: I Kind of Hate The Fact The Killer Is Unidentified
While I do have to praise the direction of making the killer potentially anyone, just some guy you never look twice at, the problem with the movie is we do get to see the guy’s face and skin color. Making it so, one could argue the guy who came to fix the plumbing, it could be him. Which, if that is the case, it sort of sucks that the villain may hint that maybe he could have taken out Martha’s husband, perhaps has been stalking the place for a while, but we learn not a single thing about him. There is no motive, no background, he is just a local plumber who stalks Open Houses, causes problems, and then takes out house sitters and makes it look, perhaps, like an accident.
And I say perhaps just because it really looked like he made sure Logan would stab Naomi and that it could look like Logan died of hypothermia. But I could be giving the plumber guy, played by Paul Rae, too much credit.
Overall: Mixed (Divisive)
On one hand, we got this intriguing relationship dynamic between a mother and son that hasn’t been beaten into the ground as of late. The type of storyline you hope inspires someone to pull a Lady Bird and craft their story. Yet, on the other hand, we have a killer who goes unidentified and while he plants this paranoia seed in your head, at the same time, even with him breaking Naomi’s fingers and setting her up for her own son to kill her, you wonder if that is enough? Does that make up for all the exposition we partake in being for naught? Especially considering there isn’t a real, “GOT YA!” twist to it but more so a, “I bet you didn’t see that coming?” vibe?
That is why this is being labeled mixed. While a part of me liked we got tricked into thinking the killer was someone introduced, at the same time, it sort of sucked that the killer was a nobody. For while it may make you look at people twice, in terms of the movie, it makes it so there isn’t any real payoff.
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The Open House | Netflix Official Site
The Open House | Netflix Official Site
Following a tragedy, a mother and her teen son move to a relative’s vacant vacation home, where eerie and unexplained forces conspire against them.
I’m not going to lie. I have incredibly mixed feelings about this movie. I love Dylan which is what got me wanting to watch in the first place. However, I was TORN with then ending. How could we possibilty not find out after being taunted by this man the ENTIRE movie?! It wasn’t fair. I needed an answer.
Watching it the third time right now with my husband – who is asking questions nonstop and coming up with theories (all of which I had myself) – and this article gave me some peace. I’m completely okay with it being some random person with the whole “how creepy it is for people to come to open houses and invade your living space.” I’m okay now. Thank you for that.
that right they weren’t black, it’s white it’s just dirty
Okay, I’ve been thinking about this movie for 4 days. Watched it 3 times, and I’m pretty sure I’ve figured it out…
Martha and the plumber were married. They were both living in the house before Naomi and Logan moved in which upset them because it forced them out of the house. Which is why on the first night they stayed there, someone knocks on the door waking up Logan, who then goes downstairs and sees a car in the driveway. The car honks the horn letting Martha know to come outside and (the plumber) drives down the road. Logan leaves the door open as he goes outside to check things out and when he turns around, Martha is there in her pajamas, having been asleep somewhere inside the house (probably the basement) She asks Logan “What are you doing on our property” and runs off in the direction the car just went. This would also explain why Martha is always wandering around aimlessly in the woods, or hanging out at convenient stores at crazy hours of the night, now that they can’t openly roam the house like they’ve been doing for who knows how long.
I don’t think the intention of the plumber was ever to kill anyone. More like he just wanted to terrorize them enough for them to leave on their own. Because, lets face it he had PLENTY of opportunities to kill them in their sleep, but he doesn’t. Instead he messes with them hoping they will leave on their own. He turns the pilot light out on the water heater while Naomi is in the shower, moves things around the house, makes weird phone calls, and sets up the dining room while Silent Night plays, possibly hinting that they just want peace and quiet in their house again along with their privacy. And yes, all of those things do freak them out, but not enough to leave because they can’t afford to go anywhere else.
So when Chris shows up that night to stay with them, that’s the last straw from the plumber. Three people are in the house now, and he wants them gone. Chris was probably trying to escape in their car (because really, did anyone else in the movie actually own a car besides Naomi?) when he was killed. Yes, the plumber ties up Naomi, beats her, and breaks her fingers, but he leaves the knife on the floor for Logan to find and set her free. Then he pushes Naomi into Logan holding the knife, ultimately killing her, but the plumber technically didn’t kill her himself. Then he lets Logan go. And that’s that from the plumber. Naomi and Chris are dead and Logan is set free and runs away. The Plumber and Martha have their house back.
Now for the twist ending:
There is a completely separated murderer from the plumber. This is a guy acting on his own, going from open house to open house killing unsuspecting victims. He’s the guy you see in the middle of the road when Naomi and Logan are on their way to the mountain house, he’s the guy whose boots you see the day of the open house, and he’s the guy in the very last scene going to the next open house. This is also the same man that kills Logan by the river. You know it’s not the plumber because for the short amount of time that you see his hands, you can tell they are black, not Caucasian like the plumber. He is also considerably more slender. Logan got away from the plumber and fell right into the hands of “the open house serial killer” simple by an unfortunate coincidence.
I thought the movie was good. It worked up the suspense, had a decent setting, and the acting was very good. I felt cold just watching Logan shivering around the last 20 minutes of the movie. Just because all the loose ends weren’t tied into a neat little bow, doesn’t make it a bad movie. Frustrating maybe, but it let me put some pieces together that I wouldn’t have thought twice about if it ended the way we wanted it to. Sometimes it’s refreshing to watch a movie that doesn’t end in a “happily ever after”. Because life doesn’t always end that way.
I liked it, though knowing who the killer was would’ve been cool. I agree that the guy who killed Logan was black. Paused and rewound. Also, at one point they ask where they are from and they answer California, yet EVERY vehicle in the movie had California plates, including the killers’ Bronco at the end of the movie?! WTF?
Invested time into watching hoping fpr entertaiment. Complete let down. Did the writer (s) get lazy or forget how to write an ending? Very disappointed.
No, the hands are not ‘clearly black’ they’re white. Look closely and consider the lighting in the environment, shadows, etc. Check the color on your tv screen. I thought many of u had waaaay better ending ideas then what the movie did haha! Your opinions are well thought out Amari:) I’ll have to look out for your other reviews and critiques. While I mostly liked the movie I hated the ending and felt my life had been wasted for that hour plus. The only way to rectify this situation would be for them to create a part 2 with some explanation and links that explain some of the odd happenings.
I would like to say that you get a glimpse of “the killer” or the person hiding in the basement/house when Logan goes down to fix the water heater for his mom- you see the ( caucasian ) man’s face I think the third time Logan lights the match.
After watching this movie and seeing how they die. I don’t care if someone removes the contact lenses or not. The way he was able to remove the contacts is just total bull theres no way that guy could’ve head his head still enough to remove the lenses. I understand this is a movie but lets be real here, try to make the movie as realistic as possible. Its a given that if you follow a stream/river it will lead to a road eventually. I think anybody knows that, at least most do. Obviously this is taking why he needed contact lenses really far but based on his glass thickness of his glasses apparently his eye sight wasn’t too terribly bad. So based on that is easy to determine you can see things close up. I try to put myself in the scenario and I’ll tell you what there are so many other options that Logan had to choose from. I mean like seriously who leaves their mom behind? Secondly, just because theres a flat on a car doesn’t mean the car isn’t going to be able to drive… I mean come on now.. Its simple you bring your mom with you into the car drive X amount of miles, pull over change to spare and guess what problem resolved… Now if he would’ve removed the wheel with the wrench that comes along in every vehicle then thats another story.. thats more realistic and definitely caused a problem where the vehicle is not drivable. Anyhow, is it really that hard to think of all these types of options to eliminate in order to make the movie more realistic or believable?
I also thought the same thing with the hot water heater.. They where trying to make it seem that the water went instantly cold the moment it was turned off and instantly hot again when lite again….
If you pause the movie right before the killer kills Logan, you can see the killers hands and they are black. What is Chris’ death was staged and he was working with Martha and the plumber? that would explain why Chris disappeared into the house earlier in the movie. Also, who started the car when Chris was supposedly dead in the front seat, but the killer was off to the side hiding in the woods? My theory is, Chris was working with the plumber and Martha, and he didn’t actually die. Too many loose ends to know for sure though.
Meaning that Chris was the one that killed Logan.
I don’t know. The few glimpses we got of the killer’s face was of a white man who looked similar to the plumber. However, not clear enough to say it was him. Then, with Chris, considering he had a local job and the killer seems to travel from open house to open house, during the times which would be Chris’ work hours (Naomi is only in his shop, if I recall right, because her and Logan got kicked out for the open house).
No, I fully agree that the plumber was the initial attacker. He Broke his mother’s fingers and pushed her into the knife Logan was holding, then held Logan down and took out his contacts. But that’s the twist. At the scene by the river, the man standing behind Logan isn’t the same guy from the house. His hands are clearly black. Making the ending even more confusing. And in the scene where Logan’s mom runs into Chris in the parking lot and he gives her his number? That seemed completely intentional to me. Plus, he already had his number written down on a card in his pocket. That seems a little sketchy too. So he purposely ran into her knowing they were already a little freaked out by the house and that they would reach out to him for help because he’s the only person in town beside Martha that they had really talked to.
The killer’s hands weren’t black, they were dirty. It was the same guy…the plumber. The plumber who knew where everything in the house was, who had also serviced the crazy old lady’s house.
If you pause the scenes when first Naomi is being attached in bed and then punched on the chair, you can definetly see that is caucasian, You can actually see the face and see that he is wearing a sort of police officer uniform. You can also see the gun when he is walking by when Logan is in the bathroom.
I know that for all the other scenes the killer is white. All that I’m saying is in the last scene by the river, the person who kills Logan is black.
I just paused it. It looks to me like dirty caucasian hands. The lighting isn’t good either,
…..sorry I meant attacked.
but the guy who took his contacts out was white and even though it was a fuzzy view it looked just like that damn plumber… I vote joint effort for sure!
I normally shy away from ‘horror/thrasher movies’ with knifes and gasps. But this one interested me because of the stronger (than most thrasher movies) character development. I was interested in the mother and son relationship more than the killer aspect. I wanted to know more about why the mother said her husband was a deadbeat. That information just came out in a sentence or two when the son and mother said ugly things to each other. In fact, when the boy (Logan) said, “I wish it was you!”, I then didn’t care if he got stabbed. What a horrible thing to say.
When mother and son were driving to vacation house and almost hit that pedestrian in the middle of the night, I had to rewind and play-back that scene 3 times before I saw that there was a person there. I wish film directors would slow down a tad.
I fast-forwarded over the scary basement scenes. The older I get, the more painful those scenes are to watch.
WHO WAS THE KILLER
At first, I thought it was the crazy lady, Martha. Then that became too obvious. Also, I don’t think she had the strength, speed, or coordination to clunk the boy’s head against the car the way the killer did. It could have been the real estate helper boy who stayed after 5:00 one Sunday. I think more it was the real estate flunky than anyone else. But you’re not supposed to know. It was intentionally open-ended. When it ended, I thought I missed something.
Poor Chris (the black guy who flirted with the mom). I liked him.
I know I would have called my sister, if for nothing else, to ask about the weird lady neighbor. Oh, and a pilot light going out vs. it being in the “off” position are two different things. I wanted the old lady to have faked her husband’s death. He’s still around and pissed because either that had been their home once or they were outbid on it. Then, he had dug long tunnels between the two houses and killed them all. Okay, but still better than what I got.
sound effects in this movie were really good, however, so many facts distracted me from the horror line; for example, 1) how is Logan supposed to be so “cool” after his phone appear, (battery charged) since it was lost for various days. 2) the ending of the movie would have been even better if Martha has killed Logan when he was laying on the snow… 3) for sure, the plumber is the killer, he said “I have been so many times in here” 4) Chris’ death was really silly, why put him in the car? 5) as far as I know, even if there is no SIM card on your phone, you could still call emergency services (regarding the scene where desperate Logan tried to call the cops) 6) and talking about cops, those two were really bad actors as cops! — nevertheless watching it was good for a change!
I checked the actors that played the plumber and the “Man in black” they are different people. Meaning… the “Man in black” wasn’t the plumber. He is probably just some serial killer that chooses his victims by going to open houses.
My mom and I just finished watching the flim and well, we are also disappointed at how the film ended. Our conclusion is that Martha and the killer were the previous occupants of the home. When Logan and Mom moved in, well, the killer was uber upset and wanted his house back. We also theorized Martha and the killer, who may or may or may not be the plumber, live in the basement of the home behind the boarded up wall. This l may explain why Martha is always aimless my walking through the woods (I’m imagining the only way they enter and exit the home is though the basement). I think this also explains how the killer was able to move things around the house, like the cell phone, and the photos. Only someone living in the house would have been able to take pics with her camera. Anyway, I wasted far much time thinking what could have happened. Ugh! Why weren’t we just given a proper ending!
One theory: Naomi’s husband had debt problems. He could not pay the rent, no money at all. So, he asks for money to some do-not-mess-with-me guy, one of those who tells you “I will kill u and I will kill ur family if I dont get my money back”. So, the bad guy sends one of his servants to hurt him, making it appear lke a car accident. Does not hurt him, kill him. Then, he makes suffer Naomi and Logan in the open house to finish the business. Martha and the plumber could have been paid by the bad guy to torment and kill them.
Concerning the “car accident” I remember one girl said “I guess the driver had a heart attack”. Maybe is my english, but the word “guess” implies here a rumor (something somebody told her, kind of a gossip) and not a certitude. So, the car accident could have been rather a murder.
It would help explain who “Jim” is in the beginning of the film. I thought maybe it could have been someone who he worked for in the past, but could also be someone who loaned them money.
THIS MOVIE SUCKED ASS
Why did he take his eyelashes???
He took his contacts so that he wouldn’t recognize him. I think, originally, his target was just going to be the mom but then with Logan interfering so much, he decides he had to be handled as well. Though, this is all an assumption since motive isn’t something we are really given here.
He took his contacts out so he couldn’t see
Dynamic mom/son relationship? Are you on glue? I thought the script was extremely one dimensional. Sounds like it was written by a first year film writer. Everything was very monotone. Yes, no, ok, thanks. Blah! Not to mention the TERRIBLE acting played by Logan. Couldnt stand his character. Aside from everything I just said, there’s two BIG reasons this movie sucks. While we can theorize and maybe narrow down who the killer is, we can never really know for sure. Number two, all the main characters are dead! Any sort of relationship you can build with the characters means nothing. There is literally NO SATISFACTION in this movie. NONE. Big waste of my time
I enjoyed their relationship because we don’t see the complications of a mother and son relationship that often. Just the glimpse we saw, when talking about the father’s death and how he put them in the financial situation they were in, reminded me of Lady Bird.
Now, this isn’t to say they dove deeply into how complicated the relationship was, but for a movie that dropped the ball with its killer, it was the one bright spot amongst it all. And generally speaking, I try to say something positive, even if half-hearted, about whatever is talked about on here.
It’s obvious it was the man posing as the plumber who is also the crazy neighbors husband you can see his face a few times.
It was the plumber, who is Martha’s husband. They have been living in the vacant home until mom and son move in, which pisses them off. This explains the man in the road, why Martha recognizes them in the store, why we never see Martha’s house (which I assume is where Logan was trying to go in the end of the movie). Also, it explains Martha’s weird obsession with them and the house, why she visits the Open House, why she comments that it won’t be sold for a long time, why there are noises from the basement and water heater problems, which only the plumber can solve. The plumber also talks about Martha and their visits and have s story molds to the conversation with mom. Also, the plumber messes with them by giving clues that someone else is living there. Not crystal clear, but after thinking about it, this is what makes sense to me.
That enormous labyrinth of a basement! A whole community of tall trolls could have lived there. First clue that the movie would make no sense. Good acting, sad story of people on hard times, but ALL that story and left with no idea whatsoever who killed them and Chris? Where’s the fitting Scooby-Doo ending…”if it hadn’t been for you pesky kids…” and then you find out what was going on? Oh, wait, it was probably the unhelpful deputy.
The movie lays out the killer, as clearly as a man laying out a rug. Early on, the crazy neighbor screws up her story about her husband. He is unnamed, but for the sake of the story we’ll call him Jonathan Williams-Chastain. Is he alive or did he slip into the ether? The reality is he’s alive but crazier than a chicken in a fox house, which is why his wife can’t really decide what old Jonathan Williams-Chastain is to her anymore. Anyway, he murders the woman and the boy and though it doesn’t come right out and say it..I imagine he pretends to be the owner of the house, makes a quick sale, pockets the money, and heads to the Philippines where the dollar can really stretch. The basic story here is that when a guy’s wife is crazy, a man will do all sorts of things just to get the hell out of there.
I think it had something to do with that neighbor too. Remember, she came over and asked Logan after she met them at the little store, who he was there and why, was he in her house. Now remember, the boots, these boots are all that was shown upon a man entering the Open House. I think it was either Martha the neighbor, dont forget she was wondering around the woods when Logan was hiding under the log if not the neighbor, then it was her husband. First, she claims him dead, then when she brought the banana bread to them, she changed her story and said, he wasnt dead.
I actually liked this movie but I did feel sorry for Logan.
Omg you’re so right now that I think about it… and she knew EXACTLY when they arrived home the first night probably because she was either in the house or her husband was informing her.
From what she says, Ally has told her all about Naomi so, assumingly, she also told her the day she would arrive.
A total waste of time. The description of the movie made me think it was supernatural. This was just a version of the strangers. But with Mother and son. I didn’t like it at all. And the ending?!? Really??? So disappointed.
It’s really sad that Logan died, for a second I thought he was gonna run away and get help. Or, maybe they could’ve made an end scene when they show Martha somehow survived because the stab wasn’t that severe. And ended up in a hospital.
Martha DID survive…you meant Naomi.
I think it was Naoim’s brother in law. He was mentioned early by Naomi’s sister and she seemed doubtful but optimistic that her husband would be ok with Logan and Naomi staying there. Theory: He and Naomi’s late husband had shady business dealings. Ends in him being run over. The car accident looked intentional. Now the brother in law needs money to pay off whatever went wrong in the business dealings so the house needs to sell. He wanted to scare them out but ended up killing them in frustration. Keep in mind it was questioned earlier as to whether or not it would hurt the sale to have people living in the home.
Yea….that probably has a ton of holes and was a bit of a stretch. Fun either way.
I liked it because it’s rare to see a movie so realistic! Come on, mother and son being able to escape a noticeably intelligent and methodical serial killer? That’s something very repetitive in thrillers, and something that if actually happens in real life, is a situation of 1 in 100… I liked the idea the killer could be anyone too, because it really happens! Btw, I thought it was the plumber too! xD 10/10.
I liked it for the same reason. Usually these type of movies end with one or more characters living to tell the tale, the cliched ending would’ve been if Logan killed the killer, Naomi survived her stab wound and mother and son patch up their differences, forming a new bond. In the real world however, if a killer sets their sight on you there is no happy ending and there’s often no logic for murder.
Am I the only one who thinks it was Logan’s father? There’s this whole backstory that he died in front of Logan, but it’s never explained how/why. I think the father was abusive or something, and so Logan and his mom planned to kill him and escape. They thought he was dead, but he survived and came to get revenge.
It is explained…in the film and in the review. A motorist had a heart attack and killed Brian. Did you sleep through the move?
A part of me did think it could be him, but they really push the fact he is dead in such a way it wouldn’t be plausible. Though, I gotta admit, I did wonder if maybe him and Naomi could have been pulling an insurance scam. However, considering she didn’t even have enough money to buy breakfast, clearly, that wasn’t the case. Also, they don’t mention having life insurance at all.
If this movie did one thing, I can tell by the comments it made people come up with better possibilities than got delivered.
was a good movie. was disappointed with the ending. i like good endings like mother and son survives the attack.
I think the killer was Martha’s husband. Possibly they owned the house before and kill whoever moves there.
I agree with above comment. I thought the ending was horrible. It was PAINFULLY obvious to me that the directors tried to follow The Strangers plot. Heck, they even put in a cheesy old styled song. If you recall in Strangers, that record player playing the same old style song through most of the violence inflicted by the anonymous home invaders. But that was what was cool about The Strangers. I think they could have really pulled off a GREAT movie here with The Open House. The difference between Strangers and OH…Strangers managed to pull off the whole home invasion “sucks to be you” where OH just didn’t. Looked like a super easy ending. No real thought. Too bad as the cast (especially mom and son) really were great.
right horrible movie! Wasted my time and everyone dies except the killer! You think after the cereal he found downstairs would tell the kid that someone is in the house and heater going off. And even after the cops come, just move away or go to chris;s house. So plain dumb..
The first time I heard the bang on the floor I would have said “mom it’s time to go”. The cell phone missing, the glasses missing, and the bowl of cereal was just icing on the cake! The movie left me clueless at the end with more questions then answers..
The ending annoyed me because me don’t know who the killer was.. we had no hint of who he was except he went to open houses, as seen by the end scene.. it bugged me. A lot.
Me too. I actually hated this movie. It’s rare I’ll take the time to thumbs down anything on Netflix, but tonight I was aggravated enough by the film that I did. I felt it dragged out too long, was somewhat predictable in that we kind of know as we go along this is a lot of nothing and we’re about to get hit with nothing in the ending, and really annoying in that every story demands a WHY. Why in the hell is this guy harassing this family? Was he pissed off that they almost hit him when he was minding his own business standing in the middle of the road in the middle of the night dressed all in black? I don’t think I’ve ever been so aggravated as I was by this time pirate of a movie.
Yes, this would kind of rule out it being Martha’s husband and them wanting to stay in the house. And, where would she have baked the banana bread? lol It could have been that if the ending didn’t show someone driving to yet another open house..
I don’t think you can approach this movie with rational thinking. Notice the ending, he’s wondering around in snow, and then it’s daytime and he’s in a spring like setting (no snow, and the creek isn’t frozen.) There were moments of switching, where the kid walks too far in the forest, gasps seeing something, and he’s back in the house. He puts his cereal in one place, and in a moment it’s in another.
The only explanation is that the kid and his mother are dead. Right? Except the film doesn’t explain it at all. It’s probably the worst thing on Netflix right now. It was a good story… it was going in the direction of a true mind trick with some trippy result that they’re dead or something… and BAM, it ends without any conclusion, any explanation… how did the kid cross from snow to spring? how did they explain the random disappearing things?
I didn’t think it was going to be about a real killer… too many odd things led it to be a ghost story… but it didn’t even do justice to that. It’s horrible.
Well for the snow part, it looked like the snow was starting to melt as there were only patches of snow in some places, so the river would’ve thawed out by then. The switch when he gasps is probably just a jump-cut. The cereal bit is supposed to be a sign that there’s someone else in the house with them. When Logan went to ask his mom about his phone, the intruder took that opportunity to put the cereal downstairs as a way to freak him out and play tricks. Just like the moment with the candles+music playing and all those phone calls. Many horror movies can’t be approached with rational thinking, that’s why it’s a movie.
I think you are onto something. They died at the beginning, possibly by the dad’s hand (breaking the eggs in the kitchen) but did not know they are dead and could not comprehend he killed them. So they wonder about in a “Silent Hill” like wasteland with others like them, Martha and Chris. That would explain the torn photo, it was the mom’s (Logan’s picture is framed), a distraught Martha claiming it is her house (it probably was, look at the style of it, and she died there, and we never see her house), Chris who so wants to see the interior and says “He would kill for such a house” ` he probably killed Martha and her husband, and died there, too, while doing so. The mysterious plumber is a plumber for 16 years servicing the house, just like Naomi’s husband was married to her for that many years, and he kills them again. Naomi sees and remembers at the end, but the dad does not want Logan to see him killing them and thus, the symbolic act of taking out the contacts. Also, there is nobody else in that town. Logan does not go to school. The credit card does not work. The pilot light is off. I would argue it is always off and she imagines it turning on or showering. They are all dead and in a strange limbo.
Overall, not a good delivery for the message of they were dead, they just did not know. Too murky. American Horror Story, or the movie “The Others’ or “The Sixth Sense” did a good job to tie it all together; this movie left this house too open…
Kris, fascinating (that they were all dead). It’s a big jump, but wouldn’t it have been an awesome movie if they made that point clear at the end, perhaps by a scene of the Naomi’s sister attending Naomi’s and Logan’s funeral, and mentioning was a senseless murder it was.