Film’s trailer reveals major plot twist, nightmarish storyline forseeable, frightless
“Dream House” wasn’t released for an early screening for professional critics. And from what previous films like “Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star” have demonstrated, if a film isn’t pre-screened for critics, then it will likely be appalling.
With a solid cast — Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts and Rachel Weisz — and the direction of Jim Sheridan (“In the Name of the Father” (1993), “In America”(2003)), it seemed like “Dream House” would be another incomparable psychological thriller.
Alas, the film fails to meet these expectations, instead it is a slow, overly foreseeable and frightless psychological thriller.
Craig plays Will Atenton, an executive at a New York City publishing firm who quits his job so he can concentrate on writing his novel and spend more time with his wife (Rachael Weisz) and his two daughters.
They purchase a house in New England with the intention of renovating it into their personal “dream home.”
However, as one would expect from a movie like this, ominous occurrences begin to ensue.
His new neighbor Ann (Naomi Watts) acts skittish toward Will and informs him about the house’s previous owners. Will investigates the house’s history (probably something he should have done before he bought it), and learns that the previous owner killed his wife and children — and currently resides in a psychiatric hospital.
Then the major twist, which the trailers imprudently exposed, comes into play. About halfway through both the film and the trailer, the audience learns that Will was in fact the previous owner of the house, and Libby and the kids were the murder victims.
The dreadful writing is more frightful than the film. Written by David Loucka, the script feels like it has been bolstered with a collection of story bits from “The Amityville Horror” (1979), “The Shining” (1980), “The Sixth Sense” (1999) and “The Others” (2001).
The first 30 minutes of “Dream House” come off as slightly imperceptive and odd, but the second act, when Will recalls his true identity, is what almost sells the film, establishing it as a potential study in psychological behavior and recovery. However, it all collapses due to a poorly-executed ending.
This horrible script constantly fails to fully inquire about many overlooked events in the film, such as the Goth kids who perform the satanic ritual in the house’s basement, and the reason why Ann looks like she sat through a George A. Romero marathon.
While the story in “Dream House” doesn’t pass as intriguing, the story behind the making of the film is more fascinating. According to rumors, Morgan Creek Productions, which hasn’t produced an exceptional film since “Last of the Mohicans” (1992), implemented its own final cuts and changes into the film, all of which Sheridan himself disapproved. And if the director isn’t satisfied with the final result, what does that say about the overall film?
Some have also speculated that it was the production company’s asinine decision to include the “Dream House’s” major plot twist into the final cut of the trailer.
The romance between Craig and Weisz does make for easy chemistry during the calm-before-the-storm moments, though that chemistry does seem to shatter once the peculiar happenings occur.
“Dream House” could have been better had the narrative not crashed and burned toward the ending credits and had the spoiled twist not erased the film’s suspense.