The Attic (2006)

That was an excellent one.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Cinematography: 8/10 Mostly well-lit and in good focus, with reasonable framing. Occasionally, a vignette filter was used, which I could have done without.Sound: 8/10, good but not the best. In several passages the spoken word seemed hollow.Acting: 6/10 John Savage gave the performance I expected. I'd seen Elisabeth Moss in Mad Men and Top of the Lake, and this performance was not nearly as good. Elisabeth Moss is the center of the piece, so the whole movie seemed awkward. Tom Malloy gave a competent performance as the brain damaged brother.Screenplay: 6/10 Emma's refusals to cooperate with the police resulted in no consequences. Horror films, and also psychological thrillers, are all about consequences, so this struck me as mighty unlikely. That her family would allow her self-destructive behavior to continue was hard to believe.

Here is a horror movie that seems to take a little something from every scary movie that was a hit in the last ten years. The Ring, Skeleton Key, Sixth Sense, Hide and Seek--you could play spot the influence with pretty much every scene in this one. Realizing early on how derivative this one was going to be, I really didn't want to like it.But by the end, I had to give this one some credit. It does a couple things different. I thought the way the story ended wasn't totally predictable (it ended up reminding me a little bit of an older movie called "Haunts"--that's a spoiler for any of you who know that one).The story follows a young girl, Emma, who moves into an old house with her family and begins to see the ghost of the dead twin sister she didn't know she had. The ghost doesn't do much at first, watching from out in the yard, but the danger escalates until Emma is afraid to leave the house. And yet, she is not safe inside, either, because the movie is called "The Attic," so they had to put some stuff up there, too. Everyone around her thinks she is crazy, so be ready to put up with 90 minutes of paranoia. The only one who wants to help her is the young, handsome small-town cop with the nasally voice and poofy hair that our heroine will slowly develop feelings for.I thought everyone in this movie was terribly miscast. I understand it was probably a small budget production, which usually means a lower caliber of acting, but these people were ugly, too. I'll give an example, with a very specific SPOILER included: at the end of the movie, when a new family moves into the house, we see another young girl for whom the cycle will surely begin anew. This girl was much more attractive than the slimy-looking lead--why didn't they cast the 2nd girl as the star? Maybe they cast the actress who did play Emma because she was so freaky-looking that they didn't need much makeup for the scenes in which she played the ghost-twin. She definitely belongs in a horror movie, but not as a sympathetic character--she naturally looks evil.I can't really give a good reason why I didn't totally hate this movie--it's just one of those instances when you end up liking something even though it has ingredients that usually don't work. When I saw what happened to the family, I guess it felt like it was a slightly original way to bring a resolution, but it was still fairly silly overall. If you aren't totally sick of seeing pale girl ghosts with stringy hair who move around like they're in a Nine Inch Nails stop-motion animated video, than you may be into this one. If you don't usually like cheap, amateur, b-movie trash, don't bother.

well if you haven't watched the movie then i suggest you shouldn't have to. but if you wanna know how bad the movie's plot is,then go ahead, "amuse" yourself and compare it with other horrendous films that you have watched. you see, the movie makes us presume the house was haunted, and then they completely made a u-turn towards the end and made it appear that the girl was crazy. and then they added the "wicca" angle that is not at all related to the plot. if the girl was really crazy, how come before they moved into the house,there was another girl that was killed under the same circumstances? now that couldn't be the girl's "twin", right? and now the most confusing part of all... who or what is the guy detective/nurse/real estate agent? is he a real person? with multiple identities? or a ghost that has something to do with victimizing every young female in the household? (towards the end of the movie you can see him talking to his next victim) that really leaves the viewers (this one at least) thinking about it after the credits have stopped rolling. so overall, the film BADLY needs to be rewritten! they should have hired experienced writers, not just some newbie! coz the actor that played frankie is also the one that wrote the script for the movie. my verdict? a movie that COULD have potential if it was done by a professional scriptwriter. a below average movie.

The attic is certainly not the movie of the year or a movie to be remembered but certainly a movie that didn't make me think i wasted my time.A pretty decent haunted house story with some bad acting but a good movie pace.I'm sure with a bigger budget it would have become a horror flick that could satisfy the fans of the genre.It keeps the same eerie feeling from beginning to end and the main character's descent into madness left me quite satisfied.It is a movie based on atmosphere more than pop up scares which was nice for a change.It certainly could have been more scary or more gory but for it to get a 3,5 rating...you guys surely haven't watched really bad horror movies.