First off, being a library loan, it was free, so it's easier to be charitable when no money was spent. But I will have to talk to the local library for content control, cause this one had no redeeming value to it.

Allison Lange, playing the titular role, is the usual excuse for a teenage girl growing up in a stressful household. Of course, she is hot as hell and gives the movie the cheesy sex appeal, including some mammary gland shots and lots of skimpy revealing clothes. But she is no great actor. Even John Savage, the one big name actor, playing her angry father with hints of incest and abuse thrown in, delivers a stunningly pathetic performance. The plot is totally convoluted. You see they live in this old rental house for months, yet there is some person who lives in the attic, between the walls, basement etc who created this whole second set of rooms that of course none of the three residents of record, including her manipulative video gaming brother, ever happened on. So this fourth resident starts killing young girls, apparently for no real reason though at the end we learn that this killer was someone that her psycho mother sent to watch over her daughter. Apparently Dad moved them to rural Washington state to be near their psycho wife-mother in some asylum, but for one time, they never visited her. So there is this whole poorly executed psycho-drama routine- is Christina crazy by genetics, or maybe her father-local sheriff-obnoxious boyfriend or the weird Brad Pitt look-a-like handyman is the fourth resident and/or killer.

There is one scene that really exposed the plot for being weak and pedestrian. The killer, for reasons that will never make sense, lured Christina's boyfriend's ex girl friend over to the house so the killer could do her in, why? When Christina finds the rival's body in the stream in front of their house, they call the police. So the one creepy sheriff shows up and there is one scene where he interviews all the witnesses in the house, Christina, her brother, friend and, even though he was not there when they found the body, her crummy boyfriend. So it devolves into a shouting match between between creepy sheriff and boyfriend. You'd think they would spring for some paramedics, coroner, more cops, etc since some local girl was murdered and dumped and maybe that would get the whole small town, where everyone knows and cares about each other, riled up. But no, just a stupid pointless confrontation between sheriff and boyfriend. The director could have bribed local first responder versions to play themselves for a pittance, free wings or new gear, but not even one ambulance.

Nobody expects great plots or acting in such movies. But when these elements slip through the floor, along with a host of stinking red herrings, that is what constitutes a poor slasher, non psycho drama movie. Even the one authentic creepy element, the link between her psycho mom and the killer, was never even developed which could have been a real avenue of horror and drama. A better plot and acting would have made it a worthwhile genre standard,

I wanted a haunted house movie, but instead got a deranged lunatic flick.

Allison Lange, as Christina, is obviously the main draw here. Her stunning beauty kept me going, even when it became obvious that this wasn't going to appeal to me.

After placing their mother in a looney bin, Christina, her brother and father move into a new house. Everyone seems comfortable in their new setting except for Christina. She can't take a bath in peace, finds cookie crumbs all over her room and is pressured by her father to be a pseudo mother figure to her little brother. All of this piles up on her, and she finds herself following in her crazy mother's footsteps.

The cast isn't very likable. Lange does an adequate job but John Savage as her father is better, as well as Jerry Wasserman portraying a tough guy cop. Christina's brother and best friend were not appealing actors at all, and Brendan Fehr has come a long way since this.

Only redeemable quality is Allison Lange taking a bath. That's it.

OK here's another from my WM "Two for $11.00" bin collection DVD. For a B movie, this one was actually pretty good. Admittingly, mostly because of the hot young girl w/ the huge cans. Everything she wore was very revealing; obviously done on purpose to keep your attention (and btw, it worked). The acting was, again for a B movie, on par. The story was relatively believable, albeit misleading from the cover pic and plot synopsis on the back (its not about a haunted house), and the editing was again, fair. Pros: hot girls with revealing clothes throughout the ENTIRE movie (definant +), a couple of brief bare boobie shots (again from our main character), decent story, and characters that you found yourself loving, OK, er more like liking, and hating. Cons: Overly predictable (once you realize its not a haunted house). Crappy/unrealistic props (why does the deputy drive a 1988 Crown Vic with the old andy griffith dual light pods up top? How cheap is that Sheriffs Dept?), and its fair share of boring down time. Anyway, if you like B movies, go to your local wally world and pick up this B gem for 5.50....its definitely worth that. Thumbs up.