GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE (1988) is a less well-known American horror film, shot in California and featuring a non-supernatural plotline. Oddly I found a HD print showing on Amazon Prime at the same time I learnt that 88 Films are bringing it out in blu-ray. It's certainly a handsome-looking film given the low budget, but is it any good? My answer has to be a resounding "no!". The simple truth is that this film just doesn't have an interesting enough story to sustain the viewer's interest throughout the running time.
The protagonists are a couple of teenage kids, a brother and sister called David and Lynn. They move in with their grandparents and soon notice something sinister about their activities in the basement. So far so good, an addition to the 'crazy old people' sub-genre of horror. But very little happens from this point until the end. There's a lot of relationship building that goes nowhere, and some well-directed set-pieces including a truck chase and a kid hanging from a roof, but it just doesn't do much with the plot ingredients and it's so tame that the horror is almost non-existent. Scream Queen Brinke Stevens has a pivotal role but fails to make an impression, although the younger stars are better. I just didn't find much to get excited about here.
The protagonists are a couple of teenage kids, a brother and sister called David and Lynn. They move in with their grandparents and soon notice something sinister about their activities in the basement. So far so good, an addition to the 'crazy old people' sub-genre of horror. But very little happens from this point until the end. There's a lot of relationship building that goes nowhere, and some well-directed set-pieces including a truck chase and a kid hanging from a roof, but it just doesn't do much with the plot ingredients and it's so tame that the horror is almost non-existent. Scream Queen Brinke Stevens has a pivotal role but fails to make an impression, although the younger stars are better. I just didn't find much to get excited about here.