TrashHouse

The special effects are horrible. I've seen better effects on the original Nintendo. The acting is eh. I wasn't expecting it to be great, so no disappointment there. It felt like the movie was made for superficial enjoyment. Don't try to overthink or peel back any layers.

The movie starts out slow. You do not get to know the characters very well. I wish they had given us a background to add depth to the characters. I spent the first part of the movie trying to figure out why I was watching it. A little more than half way through, the surprise (main reason I watched the whole thing) is Lucy. Lucy blended in with the rest of the boring actors at first. Then she changed.

I love Lucy.

Don't avoid Trashhouse because of bad reviews. Watch it yourself and form your own opinion.

An odd little movie that promises a lot but in the end its grasp falls someway short of its reach. As lo-budget films go, it has some strong positives - A funny script, some excellent cameos, ideas and invention - but it is unfortunately let down by some poor special effects and some terrible acting from three of the four leads. Amber Moelter, Tom Wontner and Hannah Speller are very wooden and not very convincing and are easily out shone by the rest of the cast.

It's a shame really, as the opening 5-10 minutes promise a great deal. His follow up, Hellbride, is a much better movie and I look forward to seeing Killer, Killer shortly.

First off, I commend Pat Higgins on having the balls to write, produce and direct his own feature film. For this, and this alone, Mr. Higgins got an extra star. Having said that, I had read a lot of good things about this movie on the net, and despite a promising start, it failed to live up to the expectations and hype that those reviews generated. Unfortunately for all concerned, Higgins seems to have spunked what little funds he obviously did have on a cast and crew who simply fall short of the mark - and by some distance.

Leading lady Amber Moelter's performance is hit-and-miss and she appears to have been cast for no other reason that the fact that she's American but her performance is nowhere near as bad as her "leading man" Tom Wontner - a truly wooden turn from someone who seemingly has a very high opinion of himself. Check out his official website for proof. The fact he calls himself "Tom Wontner - Actor" on his website - yes, I was sad enough to check out these bozos if only to see if they were real or not - could be worthy of prosecution under the trades description act. Likewise Hannah Speller - awful - and Oli Wilkinson - another hit-and-miss performance.

On the plus side, Sam Burke is terrific and Richard Collins rocks as the bad guy while some of the minor players are quite impressive, but it's not enough. Add to this the poor quality of sound, poor cinematography, a lack of props, some really crap special effects and a set that has been lifted out of an old folks home and you get the picture.

To end on a positive, the script was witty and the idea was neat. Just a shame that the execution was so lousy. Next time, steer clear of the CGI guys.

If you like low budget horror films, then you will probably like this film. You can tell the budget is low in parts, but the idea and the story are very inventive. Overall, I really liked this film. The main actress was very good. Some of the acting from other cats members was a bit dodgy, but isn't that part of the fun of watching B movies? It is for me anyway. I thought the idea of dropping in the scenes with the two security guards every now and then was great, and they actually provided some of the funniest bits of the film. With a slightly bigger budget, this film could have been much better, mainly as the idea behind the film could have been portrayed with better visuals, i.e. when the people in the house are in their rooms, a bigger budget would have allowed for possibly expanding this a little. Having said that, I loved the simplicity of the guy whose fantasy it was just to shag birds. You don't need effects for that.

I finally got to see this movie over the weekend and it's well worth a watch - especially if you're a fan of zombie flicks.

The script is very inventive and has some very funny lines. However, don't go along expecting to see Shaun of the Dead - this has more in common with the original Dawn of the Dead than anything, with just as much bite and originality.

There are some strong performances too, especially from Richard Collins - who steals the show with his evil turn - and Sam Burke as Della. Comedian Gary Delaney also turns in a very impressive cameo.

Writer/Director Pat Higgins can be extremely satisfied with his debut and I am already looking forward to TrashHouse 2.