Killers in the House

My heart was literally pounding throughout the entire movie! Mario VanPeebles and Holly Robinson Peete lead an edgy and frighteningly melodramatic cast. A down-on-their-luck black family suddenly inherits a Victorian mansion in Washington state, and falls in harm's way when a quartet of ruthless and hostile bank robbers decide to take cover in the mansion on a stormy night while on-the-run from the police. The entire movie is full of characters being chased around or held at gunpoint, barricading doors, and lying to or outfoxing each other in a delicate and dangerous game of "cat-and-mouse." Its plot is surreal, but gave me an exhilarating experience. Some parts are funny, especially the ending. A 'must-see' if you like horror!

I have to agree with the comment above about the rampant illogic. When Mrs. Sawyer conked one crook near the end with a toilet tank cover, she could have finished him off and taken his street-sweeper shotgun. She did neither. I agree also with the comment about the crazy lawyer who tried to be a one-man tactical team. I don't understand how three thugs with semi-automatic pistols would yield to an old man with a bolt action hunting rifle. But, once they did, why didn't Mrs. Sawyer grab the weapons they tossed on the floor and arm herself and her husband? A few talented actors, but a script without a sense of direction, so it was a waste of time.

"Killers in the House" is a cool suspense flick that blends elements of films directed by Alfred Hitchcock and Don Siegel. It has the tones of a horror-suspense flick with the raw cops and robbers movie. Mario Van Peebles plays Rodney, a family man who with his wife Jennie (Holly R. Pete) and their son get trapped in an old Victoria house by a group of slimeball bank-robbers led by the ultra-sleazy character actor Andrew Divoff. What follows is a break-neck chase between our heroes and the money-hungry scumbags.

This movie doesn't require much critique. It was the typical, boring, cliched Hollywood action garbage that litter movie channels these days. The family "miraculously" escape death time and time again while the bad guy descends into madness, yadda, yadda. No depth, one dimensional characters. Why is junk like this being funded? It was "watchable", but I knew what was coming around each corner. Could we PLEASE get some intellectual movies?

3/10