Boba_Fett1138

(2012-05-01 22:41:42)

Not entirely successful but still good enough.

Basically this is a movie with some good- and some bad points to it butoverall it still remains a watchable enough movie, that is not as badas some people try make you believe it is.It's definitely true that this feels and looks like a very typicalgenre movie. It starts off like a typical haunted house flick, like wehave seen oh so many of already. It's clichГѓВ©d and formulaic but themovie still manages to throw in a couple of twists to keep thingsinteresting and going.Not that all twists are great but some of them still work out well forthe movie. It's best to simply watch this movie without reading orseeing anything about it. Let the story surprise you, even thoughchanges are you will probably not going to like everything that thestory will be offering you.I feel that the movie would had been better off if it simply went forone clear approach. It now instead is a bit of everything; a hauntedhouse movie, a mystery, a thriller. The movie keeps switching styles abit too often.Problem with the movie is that it's also being a bit of a slow andboring one at first. Luckily the movie starts to pick up some pacelater on but this of course doesn't make the first half of the movieany better to watch.Of course the movie gets also uplifted by its cast. It was greatwatching Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz but Naomi Watts is a bit wasted.Her role is too small to really make an impact, even while hercharacter still seemed to be an important one for its story.Not great and really nothing too special but also nothing horribleeither!6/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

David Ferguson

(2012-05-01 19:08:55)

Ward. Peter Ward.

Greetings again from the darkness. The horror/thriller idealist in mejust never gives up. With three legit movie stars and a director who isresponsible for one of my favorite movies, I thought this might just bethe genre's rare gem. Instead, it's watchable, kinda fun, and mostlypredictable.Much of the predictability comes from the trailer, which inexplicablyspoils the key twist in the film. Because of the trailer, I actuallyexpected an additional twist to contradict the give-away. Instead, itplays out pretty much as expected, saved only by the efforts of DanielCraig and Rachel Weisz (now married in real life). Word is that theproducer of the film, wrestled control away from director Jim Sheridan(In America, My Left Foot) and edited the film into it's mostly banalfinished state. Such a shame.Basic story is that a NYC white collar professional quits his job andmoves his wife and two girls to their dream house in a quaint littlecommunity. Problem is, no one told them that a few years back a mom andher two daughters were murdered, supposedly by the husband who thenspent years in a mental institution. With the help of a neighbor (NaomiWatts), Craig starts assembling the pieces of the murder mystery andhis new home. On top of that, Elias Koteas is tracking his every moveand watching the house.The frustration with this one lies in untapped potential. So much morecould have been done with Koteas, Watts and Marton Csokas who playsWatts' intense ex-husband. For two days after watching this movie, Ikept coming up with new twists and turns that could have made the moviemore suspenseful and entertaining. It's clear that Craig and Weisz areunhappy with the final product as they have been noticeably absent onthe talk show circuit.It's not the worst suspense thriller you'll ever see, but there arebetter haunted house films on the market.

japonaliya

(2012-05-01 09:05:10)

This movie was never made!

The poster catch phrase says it all: "Once upon a time there were twolittle girls that live in a house"SPOILERS!!!!!Other than the fact that they were dead (along with their mother) thechildren had very little to do with the story/plot other than to lookcute. They were killed, they may have been ghosts, or hallucinations,but the plot didn't concern them at all. I really love the evil kid,child ghost genre, and the trailer and the poster seems to say that thechildren were the focus of the plot...NOT!!Even the two little girl ghosts in the Shining left more of animpression on me after 30 plus years...and those ghost girls were onlyon the screen for a minute or two at most!The film, as some have said, had potential, but this is one of thosemovies that should have been a Lifetime Channel program that you couldafter about 40 minutes, switch to a rerun episode of Seinfeld!!!I gave 5 stars because I did see it all the way through to theend...BIG MISTAKE!I watched the CAM torrent and I still want my money back!!!

Jason Daniel Baker

(2012-04-30 17:40:11)

Utterly Incoherent!

Magazine editor Will (Craig) leaves his job to spend time with hisfamily at his new home outside the city. A bizarre nightmare awaitshim.This is one of those films that starts out like a predictable hauntedhouse movie pretty much like we've all seen before. What follows makesno sense as we see the main character struggle with trying to figureout what is real and what isn't. It becomes unpredictable butnonsensical.Then there are the questions about casting. I adore Rachel Weisz andNaomi Watts but we see them here acting opposite Daniel Craig (Whoseaccent keeps breaking), Marton Csokas, Elias Koteas, Gregory Smith (whois on screen for a but a moment or two) is all wrong. They areevidently meant to pass for Americans but Americans are better atplaying Americans don't you think? The cast is on screen looking almostas clueless confused as audiences must be. What the hell is going on?All I could think throughout this movie was "Huh?" or "What?". Theediting is so inept I kept wondering if I was seeing the deletedscenes.The estimated budget for this turkey is $55 million prompting familiarquestions as to what the cash was spent on other than the very talentedcast and director. Pretty much zilch in the way of special effects anda shoot in Brampton. Brampton! Not Geneva, not the French Riviera, notFlorence. A run down house in Brampton! Of course Paranormal Activity 3came out around the same time and debuted big at the top of the boxoffice despite a minuscule budget and succeeded in terrifying audiencesof all ages. Compare the two. What's wrong with this picture? GregorySmith is one of those child stars who began his career like a ball offire. Now in his late twenties he has returned to Canada and endedaccepting projects that are well beneath his level of talent and fame.As a domestic star in our local industry he deserves better from us iffor no other reason than because he returned to Canada to work.

hello-dean09

(2012-04-29 18:46:09)

It is not a bad movie.

Really really good acting!, Naomy Watts, Rachel Weisz very solid actingand Daniel Craig, the 007 in a totally different role with a quitebelievable acting. The story is not absolutely new but in some point isdifferent, you will see. I don't think they deserve so many critics,maybe some things could be better but in general is quite good, and canmakes you cry more than once. I can recommend it for a Monday nightmovie, and maybe not "the Sunday movie". I am not going to tell you "goand watch it" but I can tell you don't you believe all what you read.And please don't watch the trailer, Thanks... P.S: sorry for my English.

Austin in Wonderland

(2012-04-29 12:45:02)

Dream House was more of a nightmare.

This movie was advertised as a horror movie so if you're expectingthat, you will be sorely disappointed and annoyed. As was I. A coupleloud bangs and one mysterious dark shadowman were super misleading, asI kept waiting for more scary stuff to happen. But it became evidentpretty early on that my hopes would go unsatiated. Second major issuewith this movie: the previews totally ruined what could have been —nay, should have been — one of the first big ah-ha moments. Instead, asthe characters start in on their wide-eyed epiphanies in this supposedrevealing scene, we're all sitting there like "yeah, we know. Thepreviews already told us." Major deductions. Beyond that, the other bigtwist is okay. Not really expected so that's what makes a twist work.It's just so clearly NOT a horror film that it was difficult to getpast that and focus on the…well, I was gonna say positive but… *shrug*.I would NOT pay to go see this movie. Especially if you're a horrorfan. If you're NOT a horror fan, you may be satisfied. But it's nothingto rush out and wait in line for. Wait, who am I kidding. There won'tbe any lines for Dream House.

Robert W.

(2012-04-28 16:37:00)

Lots of potential but less than great delivery

Dream House was rife with problems behind the scenes. Unfortunatelysometimes, in fact, usually that means the film will be marred anddragged down and that seems to be the case. They have a top notch cast,a decent story, potential for a great twist and yet all of that getscompletely underused and under delivered. The film still has some charmin the way that it is dark and suspenseful at times but you are justleft feeling empty and disappointed. Even the 'big twist' to the wholestory is given away in the trailers and is completely disappointingwhen it does happen.Daniel Craig tends to be hit and miss with his roles. Having seen himin a few personal interviews I think he is very pompous and selfinvolved and sometimes that comes through in his performances. I stilllike him a lot, he is a powerful actor at times but this was likedrivel to him and he looks like he just constantly wants out of therole. Rachel Weisz gives a pretty solid performance considering thecontent she is given. Her role as Craig's wife is nearing excellent andgives the film the edge over being awful. Naomi Watts is completelyunderused in her role as the neighbour. Her role should have been savedfor a second rate supporting actor, because she is a great actress andher talent is completely wasted.Director Jim Sheridan is an acclaimed director, with multiple Oscarnominations. I'm sure part of the behind the scenes issues were himtrying to make this mess a little bit better and being stone walled bythe studios but we can only speculate. Dream House borders on beingthis terrific dark thriller but due to pathetic performances, sub pardirecting, and a lack of ambition on the part of the cast it is left inthe dust and comes across as a made for TV movie...and not a good oneat that. Its average in every way. 6/10

lewiskendell

(2012-04-28 12:48:25)

Could (and should) have been much better.

Dream House is a limp, ineffective thriller that has a great castand...well, really nothing else. I was well aware of how poorly Dream House had been received by criticsand most audiences, but I was convinced I should see it, regardless.I'd yet to encounter a movie that Naomi Watts didn't make at leastsomewhat worthwhile for me. Until now. There's a fine line between an interesting story and a ridiculous one,and this movie spends way too much time on the wrong of it. It'sadvertised as a ghost story, and it is (a very poor) one in a way, butit's also something of a (terrible) murder mystery and a (mess of a)psychological thriller. It reminded me of Shutter Island in some ways,but not in quality or coherence. Dream House is just so ridiculous andill-conceived that I could barely make it through it. The best cast in the world can't save a true dud, and this is just moreproof of that fact. Even the biggest fans of Naomi Watts, Rachel Weiszor Daniel Craig should do themselves a favor and skip Dream House.They're all wasted, as would almost surely be your time. 

kimbg-935-647578

(2012-04-28 04:25:23)

What a waste of a good cast

The movie is almost unbearable to watch the first hour of it. It wasthat boring. Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz's characters are to loveydovey to be a realistic couple though I understand they met and fell inlove while making this firm. Sadly most couples together for years and2 kids are not giddy like these 2. The movie is not scary and slowlystaggers on. You then meet Naomi Watts character and a lacklusterscript and her unnecessary character really make this film a hugedisappointment. I've seen all 3 of these actors in good films andunfortunately these 3 got together and made a very bad film. The last15 minutes of the film does close some loopholes and brought my finalrating from from a 4 to a 5 but overall, it's a very disappointingmovie.

grandbucket

(2012-04-27 09:28:58)

Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz have a great chemistry together, too bad they wasted their efforts on this movie.

Generic and predicable thriller made somewhat bearable by theundeniable chemistry and acting chops between Daniel Craig and RachelWeisz, even though both actors involved deserved better than what theywere giving with the material. Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz work verywell together on screen ( and supposedly in real life as well) but theyshould have waited for a better film to showcase their chemistry andacting chops then this film, which not only does not respect theirefforts in trying to bring humanity and credibility to a badly writtenscript but does not even try to at least capitalize on their efforts inbringing more to the movie. Instead, the movie goes into severaldifferent unnecessary directions that goes no where and drags this filmdown. Naomi Watts is good as well but i just did not think much abouther character and found her an unnecessary, forced inclusion to thestory that ruins the film by making it even more predictable than italready is. The film also feels like it was two separate movies beforeit became one. Its a ghost story then it moves into a mystery with outit making much sense, not to mention the fact of how predicable thewhole structure is. Let's just say that you have in fact seen thisstory before.Its alright for what it is but it could have been much more, especiallywith two great actors (Weisz and Craig) having great acting chemistryon screen.

Robert Collins

(2012-04-26 20:30:00)

Not bad in the way most say, just terribly boring and lacking any scares.

I've read a lot of reviews for Dream House and there's a lot of talkabout the film originally being a lot different that the finishedproduct, I would love to know what the differences would have beenbecause wowee this was a letdown and just a plain old bore fest. Themarketing, trailer etc all make this film seem like a smart horror filmthat is obviously aimed at adults, however after sitting down to watchit you quickly realize that it not the case. This film has a rathergood plot and the performances are great, it's just lacking any scaresor great scenes that make you really enjoy it.I agree with a lot of other reviewers when they say that it borrows alot from other films, I found a lot of similarities to The Sixth Senseand Amityville Horror amongst others. Another big problem with it isthe pacing, it's too slow, than fast, than slow again and it all endswith a really uneventful conclusion, and the twist is given away a tadtoo early. Daniel Craig is OK I suppose, he doesn't do very well on the accentscale though, is he American or English? Rachel Weisz is spectacular asusual, but she is wasted, she is far to superior of an actress to bedoing roles like this, same goes for Naomi Watts, she is good with thesmall amount she is in the film but all the way I was just saying "moreNaomi less Daniel, more Naomi less Daniel", I'm guessing they boththought the film was an easy quick film, but they are both stellaractresses so this won't harm their career at all.Fans of the horror genre, steer clear, no horror here, just cheap andboring drama about a boring character.

thomasjwilliams

(2012-04-26 16:22:59)

Ho-Hum and Humdrum

More psychological thriller than horror, Dream House goes EXACTLY whereone would expect it to go and that keeps the film from earning any kindof praise whatsoever. More-and-more we hear about a film's trailergiving away too much of a plot and NEVER has it been more TRUE thanwith Dream House.The only surprising thing here is the decent cast the film put togetherfor such an unremarkable story. Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, The GoldenCompass) and Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener, About a Boy) move toa small New England town with their young girls only to discover thattheir "dream home" was actually the murder scene of the house'sprevious inhabitants. As Craig grows ever-more-curious about the case,he finds a neighbor who has quite a bit of knowledge on the subject --played by Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive, King Kong). And ... the story"develops" from there.Dream House is rather humdrum and ho-hum and I am not going to wasteany more time writing about it. There really isn't any reason torecommend this one as all three stars have been better and there arebetter films out there that tread in similar subject matter (you canalso click to watch the trailer here on IMDb ... and you'll saveyourself an hour-and-a-half of your life!).The entire film was a let-down to me; but that this came from master,Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father, My Left Foot,The Boxer, In America) REALLY saddens me ...

slntreader

(2012-04-26 08:45:09)

There are better suspense thrillers out there

I go to the movies all the time with my cousin and we lovesuspense/thriller/horror (even the bad ones).This movie was okay, butdon't expect much. The story (for me) was a little bit AmityvilleHorror, an iota of Shutter Island, a taste of the Wicker Man, etc. etc.Even though we stayed for the entire movie, while I was sitting in thetheater watching, I didn't really care about the characters or what wasgoing to happen. Also, there appeared to be plot holes in the story,which were explained by the end of the film, but I couldn't get over acouple of scenes where what was taking place didn't seem plausible orrational.If you are just looking for fun and like the cast: Daniel Craig, NiaomiWatts, etc. then you might enjoy this flick. If you don't have themoney to blow on just any movie, go rent a great suspense thriller, orwait until a better one comes out.

briantwissink

(2012-04-26 02:01:02)

Absolute drivel

One of the worst movies I have seen this year, with plot holes bigenough to drive a truck through. Wooden acting from the supportingcast, and it never really knows what genre of film it wants to be.Daniel Craig obviously wanted a quick pay cheque, take the money andrun 007, and don't look back. IMDb wants me to type out 10 lines oftext but it hardly seems worth it if I have to reference this movieanymore so instead I will just type random sentences until I reach theminimum limit. So, how about this September weather? What a great fall.So nice to finally have decent,warm days. I sure hope the Oilers have agood year this year. Well, I guess I have reached my minimum lineamount so I will be signing off. Daniel Craig I want my money back!

dalelawson-1

(2012-04-22 18:13:49)

Dream House Review

Dream House (Jim Sheridan, 2011) follows a father who quits his job inorder to spend more time with his family and work on a novel at home.This movie begins like any other horror film, where the protagonist,and in this case his family, live in a world of tranquillity. Thisequilibrium is however swiftly broken when one of the daughters sees afigure watching them outside the window.A "spoiler" is already leaked in the trailer where we find out that atsome point in the film, presumably the end, the protagonist will findout he is the man responsible for murdering the family in the house hehas been living in. The problem I had with this twist was not that thetrailer already showed it to me, but that it doesn't occur at the endof the film and instead actually appears about halfway through. Leavingme to wonder how an earth the film can possibly progress any further.In all my other reviews I concentrate heavily on actors' performances,but in this film there is not a single actor that stands out asfantastic or appalling. All I can really state about the actors is thatDaniel Craig and Rachel Weisz portray loving parents with ease and thetwo daughters seem sufficiently talented. They all provided realisticenough characters for me to feel empathy towards them and their plightthroughout the movie.The one film that I kept comparing the plot of Dream House to wasShutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010). In Shutter Island we seeLeonardo DiCaprio seemingly as a detective investigating a missinginmate, but as the film progresses we find out he himself is an inmatecreating a fantasy persona to escape the truth. It is a very similartruth to that in Dream House where Daniel Craig lives in a house wheredoctors say he murdered his family, which was discussed in the trailer.Both are still noticeable psychological thrillers, although Dream Housedoes contain more elements to that of a horror film than ShutterIsland.Another noticeable aspect of this movie was its lack of locations. Mostfilms, even horrors, contain multiple interior and exterior locationsand so it was a surprise to find this film only used the "dream house",the neighbours home and the psychiatric hospital. This lack oflocations restricts the characters, as the film progresses, from havingany safe haven, which in-turn increases our sense of horror.Dream House was a mediocre film. It was a very restrictingpsychological horror thriller where the plot stretched on for too longdue to an early twist. Daniel Craig, who I praised in my The Adventuresof Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn review didn't stand out so much inthis films, although my hopes are still high for The Girl with theDragon Tattoo which I hope to see (and review) soon.

aaron esmonde

(2012-04-22 06:50:59)

Briefly treads original ground. Craig is on form

A family unknowingly moves into a home where several grisly murderswere committed... And the killer may still be at loose.The snowy setting from the city to the suburbs gives the film a crispeerie quality. Director Jim Sheridan's Dream House is  lovely lookingfilm. What appears to be a run of the mill mystery becomes anintriguing story and somewhat unpredictable drama.Rachel Weisz's odd American accent aside the cast are on top form withDaniel Craig pulling out all the stops. David Loucka's screenplay takesan unexpected if somewhat unorthodox turn which is probably the filmsmain strength. That said, the closing is messy as it tries wrapeverything up quick and in a Scooby-Doo like fashion. It's a shame asit spoils much of what came before.The stellar cast make it work for the most part and while it containselements of other psychological films it briefly treads some originalground. Worth watching if only for Craig's performance.

mockingbirds-139-672089

(2012-04-21 18:51:13)

Good plot, great cinematography, amazing sound.

Having heard the reviews for Dream House I thought it would be atypical thriller. I was pleasantly surprised. The film has a good plot,the actors are stellar and have great chemistry. It is evident thatDaniel Craig and Rachel Wietz eventually married when the film wrapped,they played off of each other perfectly. The only disappointment Ifound acting wise was Naomi Watts. Her part was not that big but shekind of walked through it. The cinematography was beautiful and thesound was especially good. The little girls who played the childrenwere very good actors. I thought the plot was good and a surpriseending. Over all I would recommend Dream House.

shoalscat

(2012-04-21 06:59:03)

Not what I was expecting but a good movie

Not a bad movie. Most of the bad reviews I have read involve thewriters comparing this movie to other movies of the Horror Genre...which it should not be. I was expecting the same, but was pleasantlysurprised by the engrossing storyline.If you are looking for ghostly shock value then you should watchsomething like Paranormal Activity. But, if you want a good story withsome plot twists then check this one out. This movie did not knock my socks off but it wasn't a waste of timeeither. Definitely worth a try if your looking for more then just "jackin the box fright".

marlawoods

(2012-04-16 12:33:55)

Dream House perfect name for a distraught father/husband living in a "dream" world,

This movie was great to me. The writer didn't spoon feed everything toviewers and I think that's the reason behind all the bad reviews. Ofcourse, it could've been better, but it wasn't a bad movie at all, it'sjust for an audience who likes to think and I'm one of them. Theproblem is, everyone doesn't like to think and they want everything tobe given to them on a silver platter. Well...this isn't a movie forthem. In a nutshell, the ex-husband of the next door neighbor,Ann,(Naomi Watts) hired someone to kill her for insurance money/fraudbut the guy went to the wrong house...the house of Peter Ward/WillAtenton and thus, killed his family, the wife(Rachel Weisz (Libby) andtheir two children. Libby shot Peter accidentally in an attempt to killthe intruder and I imagine after Peter, her husband, was out, theintruder finished off the wife and the two children and fled and thatswhen the cops and ambulance or whatever arrived and discovered Wardshot in the head along with his dead wife and children...but Warddidn't die, he was sent to a mental institution and they assumed he wasresponsible for the killings because my guess is the intruder was longgone when help arrived. Ward got out of the the institution 5 yearsafter the killings and returned to the home where he lost his familyand the entire time, they were only a figment of his imagination and hewas living in a dream world. While in the institution, he had everyonecall him Will Atenton because he didn't want to accept that his realname was Peter Ward...the guy being accused of murdering his family, sohe created a new name for himself and tried to relive his life with hiswife and children who were deceased, but in his mind, they weren'tuntil he was able to come to grips with what happened and accept thatthey were gone and no matter how many times he changed his name, hewill never be able to have a life with them. Of course, all of thisdidn't come clear to me until the end and hey, that's the type of movieI like...one that will keep the viewer guessing and this one reallydid. It definitely wasn't the worse film I've ever seen and I enjoyedit.

rdhathcock

(2012-04-15 20:56:11)

Glad I missed the trailer

None of the reviews I have read would have prepared me for Dream House.Yes, the trailer, which I watched after seeing the movie, would haveruined much of it for me. The reviews here at IMDb, even skipping thosewith spoilers, would have had me expecting a very different movie thanthe one I saw. The biggest problem of the movie itself was, of course, the script. Itwent beyond confusing, and the final bit didn't help to clear things upfor me. OTOH, had it ended without the final revelation that Craig'scharacter had written and published a book, I could have enjoyed thefilm more than most who have panned it here... that's because I work ina mental hospital. This film is an amalgamation of several genres, including TV's TheGhost Whisperer in which dead characters refuse to fully accept theirdeaths until things have been put right, secrets are revealed, andjustice is done. It also reminds me of Unknown (with Liam Neeson) witha very confused main character whose memories clash with reality. Thestruggle to understand what is real and what isn't is one our patientslive with every day.I do agree that Craig, Weisz, Watts, and the rest do their on-screenjobs very well. And I find myself wondering what the film might havebeen had Sheridan been allowed to work unmolested by panicking suitsfrom the production company. As it is, I'd recommend folks watch it onDVD once they've forgotten what was in the trailer.