Old Man (2004)

- written February 2007

Summary: Michael and Linda Harris have just moved into their beautiful new home bought for a killer price. Linda will soon begin to learn why they were given such a great deal as she begins to discover the dark and evil secrets of its former owner - a demented serial killer, Walter "OLD MAN" Dowden. WARNING: This movie may scare you to death! (taken from dvd cover)           Overall: To start with, the reason I occasionally copy the official summary of the film is usually because if I actually summarized what I thought the film was about, I’d usually end up insulting the filmmakers with the simplicity of it. So this time, I’ll keep my insults strictly in my review of the film.           One of my biggest probs with “micro indie movies” is effects, effects, effects. So many use such awful effects that the films just can’t be taken seriously. In this instance, effects are not the problem. It’s a ghost story but they do a decent job. Nothing out of the ordinary, it tends to work, no problems. I think the big problem here is more of chemistry and dialogue. I just never get the idea that our intrepid couple likes each other, is married, etc. For one, he’s at least an entire foot taller than she is. But in addition, the dialogue and acting never helps me buy that these people are married and it’s a marriage that works. Take for example that she stays home...for no apparent reason. There’s no indication why she’d be staying home and not working…no kids or injuries or any reason she can’t work. That’s a big house…how is he paying the mortgage on one income? Oh, because he bought the house so cheap. And his wife who spends the entire movie investigating and being inquisitive, never spent any energy into the home purchase at the beginning. The story is based on the fact she knows nothing of the house’s history but her husband does. She just let him do all the shopping for homes while she stayed behind then? I buy they’re not very good communicators but please!! And the whole ending sort of comes out of nowhere with little to no hints. I’ve seen more than a few movies in my time, so I wasn’t shocked…but from a plot perspective, you get nothing from the script before they drop the whopper. You can skip this.           Comparison: Amityville Horror meets The Omen

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