HOME SWEET HOME is a cheapo indie thriller about a girl who returns to the home of her childhood, a house which now stands abandoned. Unfortunately for her, a violent gang of robbers have settled there after carrying out their latest heist, and the scene is set for confrontation. This typical home invasion thriller isn't without merit, but the usual indie problems are present and add up as the running time progresses.
12 Reviews
Duh.
Stachehunter-857-7311112 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Not many low-end reviews for this shoulda-avoided-it excuse for a movie. It's amazing that someone gave anyone enough money to actually get this stinker off the ground and into Redboxes or mom n' pop last chance DVD rentals at the gas station off an unnamed highway you'll never go near.
Suffice it to say, this is yet another in the "home invasion" genre, where super crazy psychopaths prance around their victims and eat candy (just like Norman Bates) while sexing it up when they're not busy intimidating or killing anyone, just because they want to, see? Here we have two ridiculous psychos, a blonde ditz who loves her candy, and her horndog boyfriend. They rob convenience stores and slobber all over each other when crime isn't being committed. Evidently the horndog is dumber than a box of doorknobs since his cutesy blonde galpal is the brains of the outfit. That's about all the info we have on these two, so let's take a look at the victim.
Naturally, it's a woman with drinking and financial issues. She's isolated herself at the desert home of her now deceased parents because she's a loser who got evicted and has nowhere else to go. Convenient for the nutjobs, who run into this alcoholic mess at a Stop N' Shop where the blonde honey decides to have some fun with this stupid woman, who spills her whereabouts less than 20 seconds after encountering Candygirl. Victim goes to isolated location. Victim drinks a lot. Victim takes a bath and answers the door when the nutjobs show up. She's dressed in a towel, all the lights are on which makes it easy to see inside, and she doesn't do a damn thing to protect herself. Yeah, she has a gun but that means nada in a movie like this. Nutjobs get in (we've already been told the nutjobs have been there before because Candygirl like, has a bitchin' evil smiley face on the soles of her go-go boots leaving happy evil smileys on the floor), Candygirl drugs Victim's wine, mayhem ensues.
Everyone is this mess is stupid. Both nutjobs are marginally intellectually challenged, but Candygirl has a slight edge. Victim just sort of runs around and eventually pulls a Hansel and Gretel move on Candygirl by shoving her into a storage closet, trapping Candygirl and waiting for help to arrive. Horndog is already dead because after Victim chopped off his fingers with an axe (that she immediately drops out the window, boo hoo), Horndog has fallen out of said window (ouch) and begs his honey to take him to the hospital. Candygirl kills Horndog for no apparent reason. Help arrives, Candygirl is hustled out in restraints by one sorta lawman who immediately puts sexy ditz in the front seat. Victim then drives off in the nutjob's truck for no apparent reason (bye bye), and Candygirl must be giving some favors in the lawman's vehicle because it stops moving and just sits in the road. Credits roll while a terrible country ballad whines. The end.
Three stars for Horndog's chopped off digits and his sad death at the end of Candygirl's gun. If you fast forward this stupidity, it only takes about 15-20 minutes out of your life, which is more than enough.
Suffice it to say, this is yet another in the "home invasion" genre, where super crazy psychopaths prance around their victims and eat candy (just like Norman Bates) while sexing it up when they're not busy intimidating or killing anyone, just because they want to, see? Here we have two ridiculous psychos, a blonde ditz who loves her candy, and her horndog boyfriend. They rob convenience stores and slobber all over each other when crime isn't being committed. Evidently the horndog is dumber than a box of doorknobs since his cutesy blonde galpal is the brains of the outfit. That's about all the info we have on these two, so let's take a look at the victim.
Naturally, it's a woman with drinking and financial issues. She's isolated herself at the desert home of her now deceased parents because she's a loser who got evicted and has nowhere else to go. Convenient for the nutjobs, who run into this alcoholic mess at a Stop N' Shop where the blonde honey decides to have some fun with this stupid woman, who spills her whereabouts less than 20 seconds after encountering Candygirl. Victim goes to isolated location. Victim drinks a lot. Victim takes a bath and answers the door when the nutjobs show up. She's dressed in a towel, all the lights are on which makes it easy to see inside, and she doesn't do a damn thing to protect herself. Yeah, she has a gun but that means nada in a movie like this. Nutjobs get in (we've already been told the nutjobs have been there before because Candygirl like, has a bitchin' evil smiley face on the soles of her go-go boots leaving happy evil smileys on the floor), Candygirl drugs Victim's wine, mayhem ensues.
Everyone is this mess is stupid. Both nutjobs are marginally intellectually challenged, but Candygirl has a slight edge. Victim just sort of runs around and eventually pulls a Hansel and Gretel move on Candygirl by shoving her into a storage closet, trapping Candygirl and waiting for help to arrive. Horndog is already dead because after Victim chopped off his fingers with an axe (that she immediately drops out the window, boo hoo), Horndog has fallen out of said window (ouch) and begs his honey to take him to the hospital. Candygirl kills Horndog for no apparent reason. Help arrives, Candygirl is hustled out in restraints by one sorta lawman who immediately puts sexy ditz in the front seat. Victim then drives off in the nutjob's truck for no apparent reason (bye bye), and Candygirl must be giving some favors in the lawman's vehicle because it stops moving and just sits in the road. Credits roll while a terrible country ballad whines. The end.
Three stars for Horndog's chopped off digits and his sad death at the end of Candygirl's gun. If you fast forward this stupidity, it only takes about 15-20 minutes out of your life, which is more than enough.
Misleading
vengeance202 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Got this film from Amazon for christmas as it didn't look half bad.
How wrong I was. The film is completely off the mark about what it is about. In fact it was misleading & made me think it was going to be a completely differenf film.
Something like The Strangers which would've been A. Better, more suspenseful & simply a great watch. & B. Would've been true to its title, if not close to what it was about.
The story was rubbish & watery thin. So unimaginative yet not even horror orientated whatsoever. It was simply not great.
The characters were also thin & watery. Not convincing & simply boring. The rest of the film was pretty rubbish too. The opening to the film felt out of place & random. The motivations were weak & the point to the film seemed to be quite blurred.
There isn't any redeeming qualities to this film at all. It's not a horror & hell it's not even remotely scary.
1/10 Not good!
How wrong I was. The film is completely off the mark about what it is about. In fact it was misleading & made me think it was going to be a completely differenf film.
Something like The Strangers which would've been A. Better, more suspenseful & simply a great watch. & B. Would've been true to its title, if not close to what it was about.
The story was rubbish & watery thin. So unimaginative yet not even horror orientated whatsoever. It was simply not great.
The characters were also thin & watery. Not convincing & simply boring. The rest of the film was pretty rubbish too. The opening to the film felt out of place & random. The motivations were weak & the point to the film seemed to be quite blurred.
There isn't any redeeming qualities to this film at all. It's not a horror & hell it's not even remotely scary.
1/10 Not good!
Absolutely Awful
dfa12037414 January 2015
"Home invasion horror gets a new twist" raves one of the critics. Really?! Well, if this is the "new twist" that he/she is raving about then this genre is doomed.
Dear, oh dear, oh dear. What an absolutely awful movie this is. It reads decent, and looks decent but believe me - it is as far from decent as you can get. This is one of those movie's where you get 5 - 10 minutes into it and think "uh-oh - I've picked a stinker here".
Not much to say about Home Sweet Home apart from it's just full of nonsensical issues, bad story telling, and mediocre acting.
Avoid this movie at all costs, unless you want to feel numb for a few minutes after the end (if you manage to get that far) from thinking "what the Hell did I just witness?!"
Dear, oh dear, oh dear. What an absolutely awful movie this is. It reads decent, and looks decent but believe me - it is as far from decent as you can get. This is one of those movie's where you get 5 - 10 minutes into it and think "uh-oh - I've picked a stinker here".
Not much to say about Home Sweet Home apart from it's just full of nonsensical issues, bad story telling, and mediocre acting.
Avoid this movie at all costs, unless you want to feel numb for a few minutes after the end (if you manage to get that far) from thinking "what the Hell did I just witness?!"
Ridiculous.
jasonb777200220 May 2014
I cannot believe that anyone gave this film more than one star, unless they know someone associated with this "production". Maybe they like looking at pretty girls... how hard up you must be to see a pretty girl. Pretty girls, and nice scenery, that's all this movie has. Period. The script is so bad, no wonder the acting was so horrible. A monkey could have figured out a better plan for any of the characters' actions. In other words, there are so many opportunities for any of the characters to do something totally more sensible than what they chose to do. Actually, in my opinion, the insane woman made the most sense out of any of them! Just one of the weirdest experiences I've ever spent looking at a TV screen. Don't waste your time.
WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?
nogodnomasters18 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
"Home Sweet Home" is another "me too" home invasion film. After getting her third final notice, unemployed Gwen (Alexandra Boylan) at the advice of her brother, (Andrew Boylan) returns to the isolated family home. She is going to fix it up and place it on the market, although it didn't look like it needed much of anything other than a broken bird feeder and who has those in the middle of the desert?
Unfortunately she has attracted the attention of a couple of bad people lead by Kristi (Raquel Cantu). She is your basic soulless Shari Moon Zombie type of bad girl, and the sole reason for watching this film. Other than her character, the film was boring. I fully expected a wicked twist at the end, i.e. her brother hired them to get rid of her so he can have the house himself, but it didn't happen.
The film wasn't particularly bad, but the twist and the interest factor was lame. Recommend as a rental only.
Parental Guide: F-bomb. Brief distant truck sex. No nudity. Alexandra Boylan in teaser bath.
Unfortunately she has attracted the attention of a couple of bad people lead by Kristi (Raquel Cantu). She is your basic soulless Shari Moon Zombie type of bad girl, and the sole reason for watching this film. Other than her character, the film was boring. I fully expected a wicked twist at the end, i.e. her brother hired them to get rid of her so he can have the house himself, but it didn't happen.
The film wasn't particularly bad, but the twist and the interest factor was lame. Recommend as a rental only.
Parental Guide: F-bomb. Brief distant truck sex. No nudity. Alexandra Boylan in teaser bath.
Dollar Store
caristavictor18 April 2021
Spoilers follow ...
parry_na28 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Cash-strapped Gwen (Alexandra Boylan) has no choice but to return to her isolated family home, but finds Kristi (Raquel Cantu) is living there and has no intention of leaving. We know Kristi is bad news when we see, in the introduction, her robbing a grocery store with her beau Van (Christopher Dempsey) and treating the event as a joke.
'Home Sweet Home' is an intriguing curiosity. For once, the attractive blond girl isn't the victim but the frightening casual, sexually provocative home invader who seems always one step ahead. Aside from turning in a terrific performance, Boylan co-writes this, and Director John K.D. Graham gives it an at times unusual visual flair that belies the low budget.
As with many things in life, there are occasional gaps in logic. Just while the two aggressors do what they do is unclear, other than they're crazy and they want to keep living in Gwen's deceased parents' house – and neither is the fact that, believing the two are outside in the grounds somewhere, Gwen decides to sleep in the un-curtained living room with the lights on (not that Gwen's to know, but Kristi and Van appear to already be inside anyway).
Kristi is a wonderfully evil creation. She gets a sexual thrill out of her villainy but gives not a jot when Van is of no further use to her. The ending, slightly confused though it is, suggests that her allure is still not without its uses
'Home Sweet Home' is an intriguing curiosity. For once, the attractive blond girl isn't the victim but the frightening casual, sexually provocative home invader who seems always one step ahead. Aside from turning in a terrific performance, Boylan co-writes this, and Director John K.D. Graham gives it an at times unusual visual flair that belies the low budget.
As with many things in life, there are occasional gaps in logic. Just while the two aggressors do what they do is unclear, other than they're crazy and they want to keep living in Gwen's deceased parents' house – and neither is the fact that, believing the two are outside in the grounds somewhere, Gwen decides to sleep in the un-curtained living room with the lights on (not that Gwen's to know, but Kristi and Van appear to already be inside anyway).
Kristi is a wonderfully evil creation. She gets a sexual thrill out of her villainy but gives not a jot when Van is of no further use to her. The ending, slightly confused though it is, suggests that her allure is still not without its uses
Two strong actresses face off, one as a lethal psychopath, the other as a cornered victim
douglas-kershaw23 March 2013
Home Sweet Home, directed by John K.D. Graham, is a cracking good psychological suspense and terror feature film adorned with cold-blooded and unexpected murders, filmed in remote New Mexico desert. Raquel Cantu plays Kristi, a ditzy but ruthless armed psychopath, accompanied by her criminal boyfriend. She gives us some comic moments early on. But in a change of mood, Graham skillfully uses Kristi's unpredictability to maintain a high level of tension that grips the audience throughout the movie. I found Krisi's weirdness one of the best aspects of the movie.
The two terrorize Gwen (Alexandra Boylan) to drive her out of her home. You must see the movie to discover how Boylan digs deep into her acting talent to transform the terrified Gwen into a woman determined to survive and regain what is hers.
Suffice to say I found the uneven conflict that ensues to be the spellbinding core of the movie with its twists and its variations of pace from creepy to violent, the outcome ever in doubt. Nothing dull here.
Among the 3 leading characters, Kristi appears early in the film and her character is rather more strongly developed than the others, but her craziness seems to make her not quite real as an adult human: well, she's a psychopath. Her boyfriend (Dempsey) puts on a persuasive performance, and Boylan is very strong and totally convincing in a difficult role.
I loved the south New Mexico desert and small-town scenes: few movies are made in that area, so Home Sweet Home did not have that stereotyped western look for a change. Instead, it has its own look and its unique story line. It's good to see emerging indie filmmakers with their own ideas succeed in what they set out to do! Evidently they did not try to make an arty film, but instead a breakout thriller in their own style, and in that they succeeded! Look for these names again.
The movie took awards at the Albuquerque film festival where I saw it, and FYI is now available for pre-order on Amazon (search Movies and TV for "Home Sweet Home DVD"). Release and delivery from Amazon will be on June 4th. 2013.
The two terrorize Gwen (Alexandra Boylan) to drive her out of her home. You must see the movie to discover how Boylan digs deep into her acting talent to transform the terrified Gwen into a woman determined to survive and regain what is hers.
Suffice to say I found the uneven conflict that ensues to be the spellbinding core of the movie with its twists and its variations of pace from creepy to violent, the outcome ever in doubt. Nothing dull here.
Among the 3 leading characters, Kristi appears early in the film and her character is rather more strongly developed than the others, but her craziness seems to make her not quite real as an adult human: well, she's a psychopath. Her boyfriend (Dempsey) puts on a persuasive performance, and Boylan is very strong and totally convincing in a difficult role.
I loved the south New Mexico desert and small-town scenes: few movies are made in that area, so Home Sweet Home did not have that stereotyped western look for a change. Instead, it has its own look and its unique story line. It's good to see emerging indie filmmakers with their own ideas succeed in what they set out to do! Evidently they did not try to make an arty film, but instead a breakout thriller in their own style, and in that they succeeded! Look for these names again.
The movie took awards at the Albuquerque film festival where I saw it, and FYI is now available for pre-order on Amazon (search Movies and TV for "Home Sweet Home DVD"). Release and delivery from Amazon will be on June 4th. 2013.
Gender roles turned around here....solid female roles all around. Give it a watch!
jeffkac4011 June 2013
Unique home invasion style flick that has two front and center female characters as the heroine and the psychopath. Shot in New Mexico with some gorgeous SW vistas, this movie almost moves like a stylish art film / dream like and not the typical by the numbers horror / thriller.
What got me on this, was the two female leads playing such polar opposites. As a writer who won a screenplay award for stronger roles for women in film, I was thrilled to see this in HOME SWEET HOME. It's always nice to see the hero being played as a "strong woman", but it was even cooler to see the "complete bonkers" role played by a woman as well, where that is usually dominated by men and the women are left as the stupid sidekick. Tables turned around here....the male role is the "stupid" sidekick. Nicely played out by the filmmakers Alexandra Boylan and John KD Graham.
Not overly brutal as some home invasion flicks can be, but there is a nice spat of brutality towards the end, LOL.
Cinematography is very "dreamlike" with great SW vistas, as I said earlier. Soundtrack moves from creepy ambiance (always a winner for me) to what I thought sounded like South Western rock....cool.
What got me on this, was the two female leads playing such polar opposites. As a writer who won a screenplay award for stronger roles for women in film, I was thrilled to see this in HOME SWEET HOME. It's always nice to see the hero being played as a "strong woman", but it was even cooler to see the "complete bonkers" role played by a woman as well, where that is usually dominated by men and the women are left as the stupid sidekick. Tables turned around here....the male role is the "stupid" sidekick. Nicely played out by the filmmakers Alexandra Boylan and John KD Graham.
Not overly brutal as some home invasion flicks can be, but there is a nice spat of brutality towards the end, LOL.
Cinematography is very "dreamlike" with great SW vistas, as I said earlier. Soundtrack moves from creepy ambiance (always a winner for me) to what I thought sounded like South Western rock....cool.
Kind of made me want to be a squatter.
movmakr-717-93750220 June 2013
At first, I was warned that this movie should be skipped, but on further investigation, it turned out that the person warning me had viewed another "Home Sweet Home," that I suppose was released around the same time. I'm glad he was mistaken, because this movie delivered.
Let's get one thing straight: this is an independent movie, so don't rent or buy it thinking that there will be Johnny Depp battling Transformers on another planet inhabited by the Na'vi. But, unlike a lot of other "Independent Films," this movie had blockbuster-type rhythm and suspense, that lasts for almost two full acts.
The directing and cinematography were very raw-felling - something I think worked very well for the overall look. And the acting, although limited in the script to a lot of screaming, crying and intimidation, had a lot of subtleties to it that very few horror movies (even though I consider this more of a suspense-thriller) usually have. And guys - if your wife or girlfriend want to watch a scary movie, this movie still has plenty of great eye candy.
I think the ending was my favorite part. No spoilers here, but let's just say I had a good conversation with my friend about it afterwards. Really well done.
This was overall a solid rental. I'll probably even buy it. Glad to see that movies with potential are still finding a voice in today's distribution marketplace.
Let's get one thing straight: this is an independent movie, so don't rent or buy it thinking that there will be Johnny Depp battling Transformers on another planet inhabited by the Na'vi. But, unlike a lot of other "Independent Films," this movie had blockbuster-type rhythm and suspense, that lasts for almost two full acts.
The directing and cinematography were very raw-felling - something I think worked very well for the overall look. And the acting, although limited in the script to a lot of screaming, crying and intimidation, had a lot of subtleties to it that very few horror movies (even though I consider this more of a suspense-thriller) usually have. And guys - if your wife or girlfriend want to watch a scary movie, this movie still has plenty of great eye candy.
I think the ending was my favorite part. No spoilers here, but let's just say I had a good conversation with my friend about it afterwards. Really well done.
This was overall a solid rental. I'll probably even buy it. Glad to see that movies with potential are still finding a voice in today's distribution marketplace.
The hot blonde ISN"T the victim in THIS suspense filled movie
shelleylovesmuse23 August 2013
As a long time fan of horror and suspense movies, I had great expectations of Home Sweet Home. I was not disappointed. The plot was very creative and beautifully executed, with a slow build. To me, pacing is everything in suspense movies and the pace of this film was perfect. Picturesque scenes of a desert landscape and beautiful music created an eerie,ominous backdrop and sweet,vulnerable Gwen was the perfect victim. Then....Kristi. Manson family menacing, but unnervingly playful and sexy, this "villain" kept me on the edge of my seat, with my hands covering my eyes.....never certain of just what she could do next. Creepy, artistic and beautifully edited, I thoroughly enjoyed this film.
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