The Attic (2006) Review
Written by: the5thdroog
The opening scene of this movie made me hope it was going to pan away to someone watching a bad horror movie. Maybe somewhere someone panned away and saw me watching this movie, because my hope was never realized. This was really the movie I was just beginning to watch.
I must say I was a little hopeful when I saw the opening credits and it said Mary Lambert. I had no idea what this movie was about, I mean I assumed an attic, but other than that. Then seeing Lambert's name on it made me remember maybe reading about briefly in a Fango blurb. After watching the movie there were a lot of shots that seemed very reminiscent of both Pet Semetary films. I at one point even thought about going back and grabbing my Semetary DVD's and seeing if it was the same house, but then realized it wasn't really worth it.
The story is kind of hard to summarize because it kind of didn't really go anywhere. The opening scene I spoke of earlier isn't really even worth mentioning in the grand scheme of things because it didn't really seem to have much to do with the rest of the movie to me. I guess they were trying to set a precedent and get you reeled in, but it I found it to be quite the opposite. So I'll start with what happens after. A family moves into a house. There is the mom, dad, and daughter and then the brother shows up a little later. The daughter, Emma, seems to be the reason they moved so that she could complete her classes at the college and get her teaching degree. Emma starts hearing noises from the attic and goes to investigate. She spots a mirror that has been covered up. She uncovers it to find her reflection and another person, who looks just like her, in the mirror. This causes her to step back and fall out of the attic onto the landing below. She then starts seeing this other her outside and becomes trapped inside her house afraid to leave for any reason. The rest of the movie is her becoming a little more afraid and the people who care about her attempting to persuade her to leave the house. There is, obviously, an attempt at a shock ending, but that just didn't work for me because not only did I see it coming I didn't care about anything by that time, except knowing this movie was actually going to end.
The acting was decent at times and other times just fell flat. Elisabeth Moss, who played Emma, sometimes did crazy well and sometimes just tried too hard. The rest of the cast had their moments as well, but nothing memorable here.
I have always been a supporter of Lambert and enjoyed both Pet Semetary movies. I don't know if it had something to do with weak source material or if she has just lost it, but this movie was bad. Sometimes it would seem that it was going to pick up in the creepy department and then it would just stop. Editing was definitely not a strong suit with this crew. She also had so many scenes that resembled Pet Semetary that it was like she was trying to say "remember when I did something like this way back then. That was good, huh?" All I can say to that is, it was good then because it actually took me somewhere, the only thing it did this time was make me wonder how an 85 minute runtime can seem like a 2 and a half hour waste of my day. Sorry Mary.