For Sale by Owner (2006)
Emeryville: population 73,250, including one feared serial killer on the loose who carves the number 13 into his victims’ chests. Sara is home alone on a stormy night when there is a knock at the door. Andrew, a real estate consultant, has stopped by regarding the sale of her house. Problem is, the house isn’t for sale. Against her better judgment, she grants Andrew shelter from the rain. But tension builds as Andrew, talking about his impending custody battle for his daughter, becomes more and more agitated. Sara finds herself in possible peril, until there is another knock at the door. John, a scripture-quoting home security technician, has stopped by to fix a fuse. But he may not be all he seems when a knife is found in his bag. Cautious cat-and-mouse play ensues as the trio tries to determine just who the true threat is, while a surprise twist leaves you wondering just who it is that really needs to be saved …
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the audience applauded
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
I was initially excited to check this film out, but I was sadly disappointed. My girlfriend couldn't even be bother to stay awake for its full duration. I'm rather baffled with all the positive reviews on here at the moment. Perhaps it's not seen wide distribution yet... the rating, however, speaks for itself.The acting is probably the best thing the movie has going for it, but the dialog they have to work with is stilted and filled with awkward pauses. You do get the feeling though that they were making their best attempts to make a silk purse of a sow's ear, so to speak. There are too few characters to really leave any doubt in your mind about how the film will end (despite well meaning attempts to throw you off the trail) and I would think that most folks would have it figured out after about ten minutes. Coincidently, this is about where my girlfriend fell asleep, although she was still able to guess the correct conclusion on her first try the next day.I hate to tear down the work of anyone, and it is admirable that this project made it through from script to production and distribution, but there is so much other great independent work out there now in the same vein (all of the After Dark Horror Fest releases, for example) that the bar has been raised and movies like this just won't cut it anymore.
We were given this film by mistake at the DVD rental shop (under the name 'th13teen' -- we actually wanted the Holly Hunter movie about teenage sex/drug/crime).This is basically like a student movie. The dialog is stilted and unrealistic, the production values are bordering on non-existent, the music is over-the-top and poorly done, the story makes very little sense and it's all a rather surreal experience in B-movie badness.It's the kind of film that might be worth watching at 3am on a Sunday morning if you were drunk/stoned and there was nothing else on. Certainly don't bother paying money to see this trash!
"For Sale By Owner" is a haunting thriller--from which you assume, trained by recent movies, that it is filled with nerve wreaking tension, eerie flash-backs and extremely disturbing character study. For those who expect episodic, gory, blood and guts ride, this is not your type of movie. On the contrary, it is a clever story in which an atmosphere of dread slowly envelops the characters--too slowly at times.The film takes place in a house in small-town USA called Emeryville. In this house lives Sera (Amanda Brown) with her husband, Mr. Growstosky. To the house one day, on a stormy afternoon, comes a real-estate agent named Andrew Byrd (John Lansch), who is responding to Mr. Growstosky's call for putting the house for sale on the market.Caught in the storm of the century and waiting for his ride, Sera reluctantly allows Andrew inside the house. At the same time, a serial killer is on a rampage, killing random victims and marking his kill by carving a number 13 on their chests.During the course of their conversation, we find out that Andrew is an extremely temperamental person fighting a nasty child custody battle. His personality changes after a few drinks. Sera soon realizes that Andrew does to plan to leave and her life might be in jeopardy.Just when things begin to take turn for the worst, John Denton (Marc H) shows up at the door in a form of Messiah. Just when Sera starts feeling a bit secured, we learn that John is carrying religious baggage.The movie's events are such that I must not describe them. Even a hint might give away the game. Of course they are elusive and mysterious, explained first one way and then another.The director has the patience to create a languorous, suspense filled atmosphere, and Amanda Brown succeeds in convincing me that she is a normal person in a disturbing situation and not just a standard-issue horror movie hysteric. The writing, although not superlative, had me glued to the screen wanting to watch as the drama unfolded.
I watched this movie late last night (alone) and it really freaked me out. Although, in my opinion, the movie needs to be reclassified as a horror rather than a thriller. The storyline is very unique and extremely realistic. I am not a horror buff but this one grabbed my attention. Although the story develops slowly, the movie never lost my attention. The actors and the cinematographer deed a very good job. The black and white flashback sequences were very disturbing. But as some other viewers already commented, there were some plot holes/things I didn't get. But I am guessing that those questions were done on purpose and the writer wanted to keep a certain degree of ambiguity. Upon reviewing the movie the second time, a lot of questions seem to have been answered very subtly.Bottom line was, I really enjoyed it, it was creepy and would highly recommend this one to my friends.