Grindstone Road (2008)

A young couple moves into a rundown house into the woods; disaster strikes when the house is seemingly possessed by the malevolent spirit of a young boy. The young couple tries to make do as strange events occur throughout their livelyhood in the house. Their neighbors are full of nothing but good intentions throughout the scenario; and revealed is that their own son entered a coma due to a coma nearly a year before due to a car accident. The woman of the couple is now on medication and…I'll stop here.This movie is not what I would consider a true horror film as much as it is a psychological suspense film. There are at least two moments where the typical violin streak is heard for ambiance; it managed to scare me once – but otherwise it was one of those fake scares. The film ushers the typical scare moments and scenes of supernatural where the ghost of a malevolent spirit (the boy) appears; but otherwise they are purely psychological save for actually confirming they are real out in the woods from the house some distance away. I would say about half of the film is spent revealing that the woman is insane; but this is already established in the fact that her husband is a psychiatrist and she is already on medication; her condition only gets worth throughout the film.The film, logically by most horror movie standards, would continue the downward spiral as the malevolent spirit continues to wreak havoc and otherwise get the woman killed, possess her and have her do its bidding. It doesn't work that way – I won't spoil it, but the movie quickly does an about face, takes everything established and throws it right out the window. It just so happens that the woman's hallucinations are in fact correct – regardless of if they chime in with reality or not.This does not make a very good film when I am required to stomach a movie that shows itself as horror, when it is in fact nothing short of a suspense filled angst fest. The movie might be good for those that want to watch a young couple sharing their stress with the neighbors, but that's all I can think of.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/?p=5517).

While the story is so-so and has all the unnecessary clichés, it played out pretty well and not mind-numbingly stupid like most Hollywood flicks. The acting is great (especially the performance of Fairuza Balk), actors behave like actual real people, you won't find any stupid blond chicks running around and screaming all the time. Cast is also great, actors really fit their roles. Directing and editing are well done. Soundtrack does it job, but can't say you will remember it.I guess it can't be "all time favorite" movie, but it's certainly recommended for rental or having in collection.

Story: A couple moves to get over a family tragedy in this case an accident that leaves their son in a coma. The wife feels guiltier as she was driving and struggles with her own sanity. The husband is trying to get on with life and support his wife but is getting tired of it. Everything has been built up for a basic drama but this is a horror. As the wife is more vulnerable she starts getting visited by a ghost child, which does the usual scares her first but in reality wants her help to discover what happened to him. The story tries to throw in a few twists and turns but with very limited characters introduced it struggles to really surprise us. It is a simple ghost story that is easy to watch but really isn't anything standing out. (5/10)Actor ReviewFairuza Balk: Hannah who has been involved in an accident leaving her son in a coma, she is stuck suffering for what happened but she starts getting visited by a ghostly figure of a young boy. Once she realizes the house they moved into might be haunted she tries to figure out about its history only to discover the boy was murdered in the house. Good performance in the simple investigator role. (6/10)Greg Bryk: Graham husband to Hannah who is trying to put the life back together and accepting their son will not wake up from his coma. He struggles to cope with everything that is happening with his wife but tries to support the best he can. Simple supporting performance. (4/10)Walter Learning: Ted a neighbour who helps with the renovation of the house, but reluctant to tell much about the history of the house. Basic supporting performance. (5/10)Joan Gregson: Linda partner of the neighbour who tries to make them all feel welcome, but also reluctant to talk about the houses history. Another basic supporting performance. (5/10)Director Review: Melanie Orr – Simple ghost story created with the ABC moments for the character to go through. (5/10)Horror: No real scares used at all, but the basic ghost story told. (4/10)Settings: New house good setting for ghost story but otherwise nothing used that is that special. (7/10)Suggestion: If you are bored and this is on one night give it a try otherwise this isn't one to be going out of your way to see. (Late Night TV)Best Part: Creepy Toy?Worst Part: No real thrills of scares.Believability: No (0/10)Chances of Tears: No (0/10)Chances of Sequel: NoPost Credits Scene: NoOscar Chances: NoRuntime: 1 Hour 33 MinutesTagline: There goes the neighbourhoodOverall: Ghost Story without scaresCheck out more reviews at http://moviesreview101.com/

Grindstone Rd. starts as Hannah Sloan (Fairuza Balk) visits her comatose son Daniel (Felix Pennall) in hospital, Daniel has been in a coma for about a year after a car accident in which Hannah was driving & as a result she blames herself for his condition. Hannah drives out to her childhood town of Evansville where an large old house on Grindstone Road is for sale, it's rundown & needs attention but Hannah falls in love with it & together with her psychiatrist husband Graham (Greg Bryk) moves in. Standing in the middle of a wood the Sloan's nearest neighbour's are elderly old couple Linda (Joan Gregson) & Ted Jenkins (Walter Learning) who seem friendly enough, however they seem nervous when inside the Sloan's house & Hannah soon discovers that many years ago a young boy named Daniel who lived there went missing & that the man who was accused of killing him committed suicide in the basement. Soon Hannah starts to experience supernatural visions & happenings as the house appears haunted by Daniel who seems to be trying to communicate with Hannah, if only someone would believe her...This Canadian production was directed by Melanie Orr & is a pretty dull supernatural drama thriller with little to recommend it, films like Grindstone Rd. are a dime a dozen & this dreary effort adds nothing new to the clichés & routine formula. The script is strictly by the numbers, someone with emotional issues moves into a big old creepy house & starts to experience supernatural visions & happenings as a ghost who suffered in life tries to communicate with said new owner & right the wrongs that they suffered, Grindstone Rd. is totally predictable & I saw the so-called twist ending coming a mile off since I have seen so many of these lacklustre rip-offs before & know the deal. Grindstone Rd. starts off alright, it introduces our character's in a semi mysterious way with various flashbacks & quickly cut scenes that don't seem to go anywhere (Hannah walking into a hospital room & then suddenly cutting to another scene for instance) that I suppose was meant to create some suspense but once the script switches to the old house & the plot starts to be revealed things go downhill fast. Virtually nothing happens, sure Hannah hears voices, sees a few ghostly images & rather randomly decides to investigate the disappearance of Daniel but it plods along at a Snail's pace & becomes extremely boring. The character's are dull, the events of the film are dull, the basic mystery surrounding the supernatural occurrences is dull & I found the 90 minute running time pretty hard to get through. I suppose if you like ghost stories in particular then you may like Grindstone Rd. as it's competent if forgettable but I just found the whole thing a predictable bore with a really annoying happier than happy ending.The low body count doesn't help either, in fact there isn't a body count as no-one is killed except the evil doers who the ghost wants revenge on & even then it's more in a self defence scenario rather than pure hate driven revenge. There's zero gore, there's a bath scene with no nudity & the scares are pretty tame. There are one or two nice shots here but overall Grindstone Rd. is forgettable on all levels. To call Grindstone Rd. a horror film is stretching things to be honest, even though it has a ghost in it I'd say it's more of a psychological thriller. Quite why Hannah feels she can solve the decades old mystery of Daniel disappearing when all the cops at the time couldn't I don't know & why did the killers who murdered Daniel all those years ago move out of the house & literally a few hundred feet down the road?Filmed in Hamilton in Ontario in Canada this has decent enough production values is is reasonably well made although it's fairly basic & not much to look at visually. The acting is alright, Balk is quite good I suppose if I want to be positive.Grindstone Rd. is a really dull ghost story, it's predictable & at 90 minutes long it takes forever to go nowhere in particular. There are better ways to waste an hour & a half, also what's up with the DVD cover? Sure it's great with dripping blood & an eerie looking house in a misty setting but doesn't represent the film at all, it's like they say though 'never judge a book by it's cover'.