As far as I can tell from my extensive research (10 minutes on IMDb), this is the first movie in which Lucy Benjamin has appeared. She is more well known in the UK for her role as Lisa Fowler in the soap opera Eastenders ('oy mate, you been shafting my sister, innit?' etc.). She has also acted in other British TV soaps, sitcoms and series. She is a reasonably good actress, so I don't think the blame can be laid on her for this stonker of a movie. Instead, I think we have to point a finger (or two) at director/writer Tristan Versluis. He has also directed a handful of other movies, but his main involvement in movies and TV series has been for make-up, including top-rating shows like Game of Thrones. Anyways, Not Alone (a.k.a. 'The Haunting of Ellie Rose') is badly written and poorly directed. It is predictable and clichéd, and, apart (possibly) from the main role, seriously lacks character development - as we all know, if you can't empathize with any of the main characters, a movie will not hold your attention or stir your emotions (for instance, horror films are supposed to be scary...). On the positive side, some of the photography and filming is very good quality, but the low budget is clearly reflected in the limited locations, poor costuming, limited soundtrack, and dodgy 'special effects'. Versluis does well in the make-up department (where his experience lies) - Ellie Rose's broken wrist is gruesomely real, as are the dead bodies sitting around the kitchen table. But somewhere around the start of the third and final stage of this movie, the viewer begins to realize that there are no surprising twists in store, and that they have just wasted 80 minutes of their life. Let's hope Lucy Benjamin gets offered work in better movies, and that Versluis' writing and directing improves - because both show promise and could have done better. So, unless, as some of us do, you have an inexplicable attraction to B-movies, I advise you to skip this movie and look for a better horror film - about one in 10 of 2015's horror films were watchable, which is a fairly good rate.
9 Reviews
Spoilers follow ...
parry_na3 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Type-casting can be unforgiving. Lucy Benjamin, well known for years in cockney soap 'EastEnders', plays the title character here, and it took me a while to get used to her with an American accent. This is short-sighted of me because, to my UK ears, she is very convincing as Rose, returning to her remote family cabin after suffering an abusive marriage.
However impressive she is, I'm not quite as in love with her as Director Tristan Versluis seems to be; much time is spent with her alone living day to day, sleeping, eating, day-dreaming and running from spectral images, presumably from her past.
Whilst his lingering execution conveys very well the isolated monotony of her existence amidst these beautiful but unforgiving surroundings, it slowly dawns on me that nothing at all seems to be happening. I love slow-burning stories, but apart from her remembering her abusive past, there is nothing going on.
Joining Benjamin are other UK actors with American accents – fellow soap actor Bill Ward as Frank and Alexander Moen as Chloe. Moments are repeated, an occasional well-executed shock-effect occurs, but these moments are in isolation and don't appear to lead to anything. It's as if every scene has been thrown into a hat and picked out at random and made into a film.
The impressive finale threatens to almost make sense of it all, and it becomes apparent that the twist simply isn't hugely emotive because apart from Rose, all the characters are so sketchily written. This is a shame because visually, everything is great. Ultimately 'The Haunting of Ellie Rose', also known as 'Not Alone' is rather like a David Lynch film, only not terribly well made. It emerges as a muddle, despite the best efforts of the cast.
However impressive she is, I'm not quite as in love with her as Director Tristan Versluis seems to be; much time is spent with her alone living day to day, sleeping, eating, day-dreaming and running from spectral images, presumably from her past.
Whilst his lingering execution conveys very well the isolated monotony of her existence amidst these beautiful but unforgiving surroundings, it slowly dawns on me that nothing at all seems to be happening. I love slow-burning stories, but apart from her remembering her abusive past, there is nothing going on.
Joining Benjamin are other UK actors with American accents – fellow soap actor Bill Ward as Frank and Alexander Moen as Chloe. Moments are repeated, an occasional well-executed shock-effect occurs, but these moments are in isolation and don't appear to lead to anything. It's as if every scene has been thrown into a hat and picked out at random and made into a film.
The impressive finale threatens to almost make sense of it all, and it becomes apparent that the twist simply isn't hugely emotive because apart from Rose, all the characters are so sketchily written. This is a shame because visually, everything is great. Ultimately 'The Haunting of Ellie Rose', also known as 'Not Alone' is rather like a David Lynch film, only not terribly well made. It emerges as a muddle, despite the best efforts of the cast.
Two Stars For Cinematography
twelve-house-books8 August 2018
Ellie, supposedly about 25 years old, is played by a woman easily in her 50s. There is a problem at the outset. The director had some good ideas, and hired a good photographer, but overall the story is a failure--a weirdo slasher ghost story failure. Skip this one.
Movie is SOOOOO Slow!!!
danocaster27 February 2016
Another low budget horror film that is completely worthless. Absolutely no energy in this movie about a woman who is haunted by her past. It was impossible to create any suspense and the acting was very poor. In this type of film it's really important to feel something for the lead characters and instead we're treated to long, boring passages that don't amount to anything. The director needed to make the start much more involving. Simply not at all scary which is what you want out of a picture like this.Don't waste your money on this. In fact, don't waste your time on this. Truly awful.Please give us quality scare films. Not stuff like this!
MOM CHANGED
nogodnomasters8 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This is a confusing mess by design. Ellie Rose's mom (Kika Mirylees) changed when she was a child. She has a sister Chloe (Alexandra Moen) who apparently mom liked best. Ellie (Lucy Benjamin) has flashbacks to her husband Frank (Bill Ward) apparently slapping her and causing a miscarriage, although the flashbacks hide faces. Then there was the night her and Chloe go to visit mom and she finds blood everywhere, and if you missed that flashback, wait as it is repeated as it takes up half the film.
As I watched the film I was confused as to what was flashback, what was real and what was the present, and what was a dream. In the end things did come together and the imagery made sense. I can even say it was smartly done for what they wanted to do. However the fact is I struggled through the film and wasn't entertained seeing the same faceless scenes repeated over and over. Nice era recreation. Did they have underground power lines to remote areas?
Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.
As I watched the film I was confused as to what was flashback, what was real and what was the present, and what was a dream. In the end things did come together and the imagery made sense. I can even say it was smartly done for what they wanted to do. However the fact is I struggled through the film and wasn't entertained seeing the same faceless scenes repeated over and over. Nice era recreation. Did they have underground power lines to remote areas?
Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.
slow isn't even the word for the pace
debanyam4 September 2016
I rarely turn a movie off, I do my best to give it the benefit of the doubt and hope it will get better, some movies start off slow...this one...never picked up! From the first 5 minutes I was bored out of my mind and couldn't say my usual "have to finish this, I already have time invested that I will never get back" but this one has made my top 5 of worst movies I've ever seen. after 15 minutes I couldn't take the lack of dialog, terrible dialog (when there actually was any), lack of a plot, beyond slow and horrendous "acting". some movie that are classified as thrillers or psychological thrillers, which this was supposed to be missed the mark by miles.
Slow and Poorly Made
cartelsaide22 May 2016
I have seen worse movies but this one was a waste of time and money for those who made it and those who took the time to rent, buy, or see this movie. First of all it starts in the heat of the moment of blood and gore. Then it moves to this house in the middle of nowhere with one of the girls in the first scene and it takes a good 20-30 minutes for ANY lines to be spoken. All the while you are watching the same 4 scenes play over and over again with this broad roaming around this house that you have no idea who or where it is or what the hell happened in the scene that took place beforehand. Then when the movie FINALLY decides to progress nothing makes sense and the main plot point is painfully obvious. Honestly, I wish I could take back the time I wasted watching this movie and perhaps put it into watching Twilight again.
Worst movie ever made!!!!
zuki-174718 May 2016
I'm not a person that goes online to write movie reviews, but this movie is so terrible that I felt obligated to write a review for others so they don't waste their time or money on this garbage movie. This is without a doubt the worst movie I've ever seen in my lifetime. It is so beyond boring, and no part of the movie makes ANY sense whatsoever. The budget on this movie must have been like $1,000 no joke. To get the movie to a normal running time they had to repeat multiple scenes over and over as filler to waste time and confuse the viewer even further. Anyone involved with the making of this worthless POS movie should be ashamed. A child with a camcorder could make a better movie than this worthless waste. By a long stretch one of the most boring, generic, pointless, confusing, most low budget films that exist.
Ellie Rose: A Cinematic Maze That Stumbles In Its Ghostly Promises.
P3n-E-W1s317 November 2023
Story: 1.00/2 - Direction & Pacing 1.00 & 1.25/4 - Performances 1.25/2 - Entertainment 0.75/2
Total - 5.25/10
"The Haunting of Ellie Rose" cautiously emerges like a phantom from the ethereal realm of psychological thrillers, teasing audiences with its splendid promise of eerie vengeance, only to hazardously trip over its feet in a chaotic dance of cinematic storytelling.
This film's structure is a puzzle and not an intriguing kind. It is like wandering through a labyrinthine maze only to find yourself back at the same dead-end three or four times. Yes, repetition can be an artistic choice. Regrettably, it feels like they are trying to stretch a short story into an epic, and it is as pleasant as stubbing your toe on the same piece of furniture repeatedly.
Let us talk about the elephant in the room - or rather, the decaying animals being feasted upon by insects. While some might find these shots avant-garde artistry, they are more like misplaced ornaments in a Christmas tree. They look stunning but add nothing to the story, causing you to wonder if the director possessed a morbid fascination that spilt onto the screen: A waste of film, time, and probably a few lunch breaks for the effects team.
Kudos to Lucy Benjamin for her silent prowess in the initial sequences. Her ability to convey depth without words is commendable, building a character worth investing in amidst the narrative chaos.
Location, oh dear, location! You would expect the American backdrop to scream "Stars and Stripes", but instead, it is a mishmash of international flavours - the house is English, the cabin Australian, and the beach seems to have gone on a sabbatical away from the sea. It is a geography lesson gone wrong.
Now, to the impressive cast - the valiant knights vainly trying to salvage this sinking ship. Bless their kind souls, they do their best, but their collaborative efforts cannot fully hoist this troubled film from its self-imposed chaotic predicament. They are paddling heroically in murky waters.
Would I recommend this movie? Well! If you inadvertently discover yourself staring wonderingly at the bottom of the barrel of entertainment options and perhaps have a drink or two to buffer the jarring experience, "Ellie Rose" might be the oddity to laugh about with faithful friends. But otherwise, tread cautiously in these haunted halls of cinematic missteps.
Total - 5.25/10
"The Haunting of Ellie Rose" cautiously emerges like a phantom from the ethereal realm of psychological thrillers, teasing audiences with its splendid promise of eerie vengeance, only to hazardously trip over its feet in a chaotic dance of cinematic storytelling.
This film's structure is a puzzle and not an intriguing kind. It is like wandering through a labyrinthine maze only to find yourself back at the same dead-end three or four times. Yes, repetition can be an artistic choice. Regrettably, it feels like they are trying to stretch a short story into an epic, and it is as pleasant as stubbing your toe on the same piece of furniture repeatedly.
Let us talk about the elephant in the room - or rather, the decaying animals being feasted upon by insects. While some might find these shots avant-garde artistry, they are more like misplaced ornaments in a Christmas tree. They look stunning but add nothing to the story, causing you to wonder if the director possessed a morbid fascination that spilt onto the screen: A waste of film, time, and probably a few lunch breaks for the effects team.
Kudos to Lucy Benjamin for her silent prowess in the initial sequences. Her ability to convey depth without words is commendable, building a character worth investing in amidst the narrative chaos.
Location, oh dear, location! You would expect the American backdrop to scream "Stars and Stripes", but instead, it is a mishmash of international flavours - the house is English, the cabin Australian, and the beach seems to have gone on a sabbatical away from the sea. It is a geography lesson gone wrong.
Now, to the impressive cast - the valiant knights vainly trying to salvage this sinking ship. Bless their kind souls, they do their best, but their collaborative efforts cannot fully hoist this troubled film from its self-imposed chaotic predicament. They are paddling heroically in murky waters.
Would I recommend this movie? Well! If you inadvertently discover yourself staring wonderingly at the bottom of the barrel of entertainment options and perhaps have a drink or two to buffer the jarring experience, "Ellie Rose" might be the oddity to laugh about with faithful friends. But otherwise, tread cautiously in these haunted halls of cinematic missteps.
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