House by the Lake (2017) User Reviews

House by the Lake: Lackluster at best

[Platypuschow · 4/10 · 14 October 2017]

This horror thriller tells the story of a couple who move to a beautiful house beside a lake with their 10yr old autistic daughter.

They hire a nanny to assist them with the struggles of having such a high maintenance child but when the kid starts taking stories of her imaginary friend The Fishman too seriously it becomes questioned whether there is more to the story.

Sadly this is one of those films where nothing really takes place until literally the last 5 minutes and it leaves the film feeling somewhat incomplete.

The concept isn't terrible, it just feels like it needed padding out more and in its current form simply isn't that entertaining.

The Good:

Finale

The Bad:

Feels incomplete

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If your child is missing a logical place to check is the dryer

Entertaining until the end

[raquelzepeda · 4/10 · 13 April 2020]

I found this movie very interesting and entertaining until the end. I won't spoil it, but I actually laughed out loud because it was a real surprise.

If nothing else, it's good for a laugh.

Lots of build-up with a cringe worthy ending

[alisastrong · 3/10 · 22 October 2017]

Unfortunately, this is yet another horror movie that starts out great and ends with a cringe. Granted, Callis and Dudek were downright impressive, so if you just want to see the dynamics of a troubled marriage played out, you might appreciate this. If you are looking for a clever plot, you will just be annoyed when you get to the end. Seriously, expect an incredibly lame ending.

Don't.......Just Don't

[flnative-60281 · 2/10 · 15 October 2017]

Anybody rating this movie as a good film has obviously been entertainment starved and just let out of their cage. I loooove horror flicks, blockbusters and low budget. First off, this is not horror (except for the last 10 seconds and it's seriously lame), this is a "C" grade attempt at Drama, not horror. The cinematography is bad, the acting sub par with a couple of exceptions, the sound.....really? I will say the story COULD have been interesting in the right hands and with a decent budget. *****SPOILER ALERT***** The creature from the black lagoon in the last ten seconds of this project........No...don't!!!

Terrible,shoddy story telling

[sitara84 · 1/10 · 18 October 2017]

Terrible story telling,strained acting,has to be one of the worst horror movies ever! No sense of story in the movie and the audience doesn't feel connected to any of the characters...nor is there is any logical conclusion to what the movie was all about! Such a waste of time

Slightly good idea, very bad development

[stacy_bep · 3/10 · 28 October 2017]

What is really horrifying about this movie is that it has been produced such as it is! What's up with Gwen? Is she flirting with Scott or just being naive? What is her agenda with the Morgans? Who/What is the fish man? Is it real (well water marks around the house are real..) or is it just the pedophile next door in disguise? And I could go on and on... There are so many loose ends, so many chances to make it a good horror/thriller movie wasted.

I second the previous review, good acting for James Callis and good music score.

House by the Lake is up for foreclosure

[kennedyshannon · 1/10 · 23 October 2017]

Amateur Film. The little girl seems like the only one who took acting lessens. Very long drawn out movie that has no Horror in it. Most of the Film shows the Mother rolling her eyes at the young and pretty nanny and the husband trying to some from somebody. The rest of the movie is about running around the house looking for the little girl. The end is supposed to be the cherry on top. Ends up being poop on the bottom of your shoe. Bad, bad, bad

Not impressed

[sjalkarjadottir · 3/10 · 4 January 2018]

Its the rather (too) common structure ..

• struggling couple .. with the wife being a kind of nagging, older type
• hot and younger woman to complete the triangle
• some creepy guy
• creepy kid

While there is some sort of a chemistry between the mother and father, the (supposed) chemistry to the teacher/babysitter feels forced and anything but realistic. The relationship to the child is non existent... as a matter of fact it is completely unrealistic how the child can function at all .. or how the adults around it can be so oblivious and irrational not to act accordingly.

The setting of the house as a healing process seems to be silly as it obviously does not work at all, nor do the man and woman put any active effort into making it work.

The father is irrational beyond the point of being extremely annoying, the mother ... despite not having any reasonable connection to the daughter .. seems to consider her to be of utmost importance.

On the technical side, there is some "slight" shaky cam .. which i do not like at all .. as it does not add anything.

The acting is cheesy and on the level of a south american telenovela (overdramatic and overacted) .. also, there seems to be very little actual story in the film. It felt more like one of the worse episodes of X-files featuring the "monster of the week" .. in times when the show seemed to have a very low budget.

So why does it still have 3/10 for me? .. well, there are worse movies out there .. but this one certainly adds to the list of very boring and stereotypical ones.

Not recommended at all.

The far from idyllic lake house

[TheLittleSongbird · 2/10 · 5 June 2018]

'House by the Lake' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing and quite creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'House by the Lake' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is very little to recommend, but still a couple of qualities in 'House by the Lake'.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky, despite the rather direct to video schlocky way it's generally shot (apart from the odd nice one) and edited, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm.

Best thing about 'House by the Lake' is the performances of James Callis and Ann Dudek doing what they can with characters not well fleshed out.

Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and all of the acting is lacking mostly.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever, never recovering until finally getting slightly intriguing to the ending when something finally happens. Even the ending however is botched, due to being so incomplete-feeling, illogical and rushed. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense.

A lot of 'House by the Lake' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsetling

There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while the psychological elements are unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of horror. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music doesn't really fit.

Concluding, terrible. 2/10 Bethany Cox

very bad parents

[jcroak-18174 · 2/10 · 2 October 2020]

I couldn't finish the movie because all the characters suck. The father is flirting with the teenage nanny and she isn't stopping him. The dad and the nanny go off to play football, leaving the little girl alone by the lake. While they are screwing around a pervert starts talking to the little girl, the mom notices and tells him to stay away from her daughter and the father apologizes to the man. I'm wrong, not everyone sucks, I like the mother.The father is so into playing with the nanny that he couldn't see that his daughter was in danger. The mother needs to either get rid of the nanny or the husband. They put the girl in a dangerous situation. I don't know if it gets better, but what I saw was pretty bad.

Holy Crap

[the_doofy · 8/10 · 11 October 2017]

I got the tingles from this thing

The relationship between hubby and wifey is in the stage that a lot of marriages eventually get into, where they are at each others throat and pretty much ready to part, but seeing if they can grind it out. Generally movies don't touch on this aspect of marriage so realistically, hel its one reason people watch TV and movies, to get away from this kind of reality. This Hel stage of marriage is a very central concept to the movie. Its not over the top but done in a way that has U thinking its two actual married people unhappy with how things are going.

There is even a strong moral message in this movie to couples who expose their children to their bickering/fighting with each other, many parents don't really give a sht what this does to their kids.

I think the traditional movie threads U get in this kind of flick were tossed into the blender on purpose, because we have been programmed by dozens of prior movies to have certain expectations as to characters and outcomes.

I kept guessing and predicting as to what was going to happen, and crossing my fingers that I would be wrong for a change, and for once got my wish.

The acting in this movie was realistic, the manner in which the kid's autism is manifested lends itself to the ending. I'm guessing some viewers will be wanting something more over the top in this department.

A lot of people may not care for this movie, they are going to want formula adherence. Some expectations will not be met. There is very little if any 'filler', most things are in it for a reason. Even the very ending when one spouse looks at the other and then cutting to the credits with the closing song gives us a resolution to the marriage. Very well done movie

As for me, I felt like I was watching a real couple with real issues, {the 'mom' stuff was particularly gritty.} I kept trying to guess at stuff and was wrong enough for the movie to keep me engaged for a change, and I was creeped out by the way the story unfolds instead of being creeped out by buckets of blood.

Acting A, Direction A, effects C, Script A, Camera work B, music B-

8 from me, probably something much lower from the general viewing public

Not Half Bad with "Scott" carrying the Movie

[tdwillis-26273 · 7/10 · 15 October 2017]

The feel of this movie is contradictory right from the beginning for me. Some aspects are decidedly 2nd rate...some camera work and editing, and acting, at times. But There are some top notch aspects that made this film worth a chance. It isn't a horror, more of a thriller and it wasn't half bad.

The script has the flavor of a life time movie. (Maybe a 13+ rating)Which isn't a terrible thing if you are OK with that type of movie. The acting of the father/husband "Scott" was VERY impressive. I haven't seen him in anything else before but his work stood head and tales above the rest of the cast.

The score/music is well done if not a bit overly dramatic. The story is realistic in that there is a struggle within the marriage over the stress of having an autistic child. A mother who is overly fearful and controlling. A nanny is hired to help them with the child when they visit the lake house.

The plot was nice, in that it didn't strictly follow the norm. What you would expect to happen in this type of movie is not what you get. There is by no means any type of WOW, heart attack moments, as the viewer, but there is connection to the characters and an interest in wanting to see what happens to them.

For an independent lower budget movie, this happen to be one of the better ones. Id give it a chance.

Bad acting

[rosecalifornia · 1/10 · 22 July 2020]

The actors seem as if they are still acting in a class setting.

Odd, stiff, uncomfortable....can't even get facial expressions.

And the child Actor, yea, just staring with wide eyes is not remotely considered acting nor believable.

(Dramamine needed, shaky-cam )

This movie wasted 77 minutes of my life!

[akokha · 1/10 · 25 July 2019]

Nothing like horror events was occurred except the scene you can see in the poster of film. No story, No horror, No acting... In one sentence, it is awful! The worst movie I have ever watched! I highly recommend that don't waste your time watching it!

A disappointing indie ghost story

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 8 February 2018]

HOUSE BY THE LAKE is yet another American ghost story in which a family move into a rural home and find themselves assailed by dark forces which typically remain unseen thanks to the indie budget. This one's once again about a kid and her imaginary friend, the same old plot device already cliched by the time it appeared in the likes of HIDE AND SEEK. The production values are a little stronger than most indies and there's no faulting the photography, but the script is drawn-out and lacking and the main characters unlikeable.

Amateurish

[thehorsemenofpestilence · 2/10 · 5 September 2022]

Where it takes some ideas and presents them in an interesting way, nothing is done with them. The framing and shot composition was perhaps the most disappointing as they felt very disconnected from the story and scene overall; it was as if someone said "hey what if we shot it from that angle? That would be cRaZy and that would mean it's artistic." The acting was at times strong and at others fairly forced and unnatural. It did not really pass my test of "could I actually picture real people talking like this?" more often than not.

The finale was also so very underwhelming, all that build up for almost nothing. Granted it's a short movie, but barely anything happens and there's little to no real scares throughout.