Knife Edge

"Knife Edge" (2009) is a horror / thriller starring: Hugh Bonneville, Natalie Press and Matthieu Boujenah that takes place in a large country mansion in England.

Emma is a successful New York stock broker who has a five year old son Thomas.  She is also recently married to Henri who has whisked her back to her home country of Great Britain and surprised her with the purchase of a huge country mansion and a lush estate.  Their new life seemed perfect until things start unraveling in the new house.

It turns out the house has a terrible secret in its past.  Emma, who has always been able to see glimpses of the past, believes she is now getting visions of murder in the past at the house.  She starts to hear a child calling for her from upstairs and it's not Thomas!  Thomas has an imaginary new friend named Tobias and carries an old doll around that Tobias gave him. Emma tries to share these visions and her fears about the house with Henri but he is too caught up in his own financial troubles to be of any support.

This turned out to be a great thriller.  Filled with spooky atmosphere that an old English Mansion with overgrown estate can provide.  An eerie tree that keeps haunting Emma in her dreams also seems to be a part of the secret.  Lots of scary moments, suspense and an interesting story keeps you guessing until the end.

Crooked House

"Crooked House" (2008) is a British made for TV miniseries that was shown in three episodes.  It is a trio of ghost stories centered around the same cursed house called Geap Manor, starring Lee Ingleby, Mark Gatiss and Derren Brown.

The first story is called "The Wainscoting" about an 18th century greedy rich man who makes a fortune on the backs of the local working folk and has purchased, renovated and moved into Geap Manor, the local "haunted house".  He soon gets more than he bargained for when the house's walls start to haunt him.

"Something Old" is the second story that takes place in Geap Manor in the 1920s.  A lavish costume party is taking place and the owner's grandson announces his engagement to a local woman.  The grandmother is not pleased because there is some secret from her past that is haunting the halls of the house and will soon affect her grandson.

"The Knocker" is the final story which takes place in the present with Ben, the main character who found Geap Manor's door knocker in his suburban home that sits on the site of the old Manor.  In addition to finding out more about Geap Manor, he discovers a doorway into the past where he sees what created the evil that continues to surround the house and the land it sits upon.

You can find these all together as one movie and it is a fantastic series of haunted house and ghost stories to keep you more than sufficiently scared!

Nancy Drew

"Nancy Drew" (2007) is a mystery / thriller that brings back everyone's favorite teenage sleuth, Nancy Drew.  It stars: Emma Roberts, Max Thieriot, Tate Donovan and Josh Flitter.

Nancy Drew is known by all in her small hometown of River Heights for her ability to solve mysteries.  When her father, Carson Drew has a three month long business trip in L.A., Nancy picks the house they will stay in, a house that belonged to a Hollywood starlet from the past named Dehlia Draycott.   Carson makes Nancy promise that while in Los Angeles, she will refrain from sleuthing as it keeps getting her into dangerous situations.  Being that she had already picked the house that has a mystery behind the actress' disappearance, that promise will be hard to keep.

Nancy is a smart and intelligent sixteen year old who would rather read books and solve mysteries instead of the things the kids in L.A. want to do.  Wearing her old fashioned clothing also makes her stick out from the crowd and she has a hard time fitting in at her new school.  She gets the attention of a precocious 12 year old named Corky who becomes her new best friend and helps her with the mystery.  When her "boyfriend" Ned comes to join them, he is annoyed by Corky's attentions toward Nancy.

While trying to fit in with her classmates, she gains unwelcome attention from some thugs that don't want her to discover the truth behind the disappearance of Dehlia Draycott and they will do anything to keep her from finding Dehlia's long lost daughter and the original will.

This is a great family movie with an intelligent and fun girl as its main character.  She does her own thing and doesn't care much what others think of her.  Nancy pieces together a long forgotten mystery and does good for others as her father always taught her.  If you loved Nancy Drew stories when you were a kid, you'll love this modern rendition of the character.

The Attic Door

"The Attic Door" (2009) is psychological thriller starring Jake Johnson, Madison Davenport, Kay D'Arcy and Tom Fitzpatrick set in the 19th century American West.

Brother and sister Darrell and Caroline live on an isolated farm in Utah.  There is nothing but desert, canyons and mountains as far as the eye can see. The parents left a note for the children saying they had to leave for a few days to go to the doctor to deliver their new brother or sister.  They left instructions that they should not go far from the house because it is too dangerous and that Caroline is in charge.  The viewer doesn't know how much time has elapsed since they left but from the worry we see in the children's faces, it appears to be a long time.

Caroline and Darrell do their best to run the farm and take care of themselves in this lonely and isolated setting.  They spend their days doing chores, reading, going to the stream to get water and even playing a little like any other children their ages.  At night though, there are sounds in the house and the children keep looking at the boarded up attic door with dread. There is something or someone in there and as time goes on, it gets closer to getting out.  What secrets are behind the attic door?

From the very beginning of the film with its sweeping views of the grand landscape, you see just how small the house and children are compared to the natural setting around them.  The scenes of the Utah landscape with a very haunting and lonely musical score adds to the loneliness the pervades the film.  That loneliness also haunts the two children  but their bond keeps them from getting lost in this landscape of solitude and loneliness. In addition to the loneliness the film is also filled with hope and perseverance.  The film is not action packed but instead focuses on the lives of these children and builds to a surprising conclusion.

Available for rental on Amazon

Donnie Darko

"Donnie Darko" (2001) is a very unique cult classic produced by Drew Barrymore that mixes a touch of horror, sci fi, drama and mystery.  It's loaded with stars including: Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze, Beth Grant, Seth Rogen, Noah Wyle, Drew Barrymore, Katharine Ross, Holmes Osborne, Daveigh Chase and Mary McDonnell.

The movie takes place in October of 1988, just before the presidential elections.  The main characters consist of the Darko family: siblings Donnie (Gyllenhaal), Elizabeth (Gyllenhaal), Samantha (Chase) and parents Rose (McDonnell) & Eddie (Osborne).  They are your typical upper middle class family that live in a nice neighborhood and whose children go to private school.  Beneath the surface of this family and community though, we see things are never quite so nice and easy.

Donnie is a troubled teenager who in the past has set fires and acted out.  He is heavily medicated and visits a psychiatrist weekly.  He hears a mysterious voice that tells him to do things and causes him to sleepwalk in the night.  It turns out the voice is from a six foot tall bunny named Frank (man in a weird bunny costume) that tells Donnie the world is going to end in 28 days, right around Halloween. As viewers we never quite know if Donnie's delusions are real, imagined or both.

The actors and these characters are simply first rate:  Jake Gyllenhaal and his real life sister Maggie Gyllenhaal are naturals as bickering but loving siblings.  Younger sister Samantha is played by Daveigh Chase, who is in the school's cheer/dance squad "Sparkle Motion!".  Mom is played by the always wonderful Mary McDonnell ("Battlestar Galactica", "The Closer", etc).  Patrick Swayze plays the local self-help guru who makes it big but hides a very bad secret.  Drew Barrymore plays Ms. Pomeroy, the English teacher whose progressive methods don't go over well in the somewhat conservative school.  And one of my favorites - the ever quirky Beth Grant plays Kitty Farmer, teacher and Sparkle Motion coach.

This movie is a hodgepodge of genres: sci fi time travel, coming of age high school movie, drama about dysfunctional families, mystery and suspense; that just work together with the set of excellent actors, beautiful cinematography and great 80s music tying it all together.  If you want to be entertained and mystified at the same time, watch this movie.  You'll discover more each time you watch it and it's always enjoyable to immerse yourself in the strange worlds of Donnie Darko!

From Time to Time

"From Time to Time" (2009) is a ghost story that takes place in 1944 and 1805 starring Alex Etel, Timothy Spall, Pauline Collins, Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith .  It is based on children's novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe.  It is directed by Julian Fellows who also directs "Downton Abbey" and has some of the same actors and grandness.

Near the end of World War II, Tolly goes to visit his grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow (Smith), for Christmas.  His grandmother lives in the old family mansion and she is just hanging on financially and may have to sell soon.  Tolly's father is missing in action and he makes sure everyone knows he is only missing and not dead.  Tolly explores the grand estate and mansion, trying to discover all its secrets.  He also listens to Granny's stories as well as those of the housekeeper, Mrs. Tweedle (Collins) and Boggis (Spall) the handyman.

Shortly after arriving, Tolly sees a ghost of a girl who he finds out from Granny is Susan, their ancestor from the early 1800s. Soon thereafter, Tolly is also pulled into 1805 and is seen by some as a ghost in that time.  As days go by, Tolly is pulled more and more into that time of his family's history and is even able to assist some of the people there.  Can Tolly discover the secrets of the mansion and his family and find out what happened to the family jewels and silver?

This is a wonderful ghost story, mystery, period piece and film that the entire family will enjoy. 

Ghost Cat

Ghost Cat starring Michael Ontkean, Ellen Page and Lori Hallier is a made for TV movie from 2004 originally aired on Animal Planet as "Mrs. Ashboro's Cat" and is also available as "The Cat That Came Back".

Natalie Merritt (Ellen Page) is a teenager who moves from Manhattan to the small town of Ringwood, NY with her father Wes (Michael Ontkean) a year and a half after her mother passing away.  While looking for a house they meet Mrs. Ashboro and her cat, Margaret.  Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Ashboro dies of a heart attack and the cat on the day of her funeral dies also.  The Merritts end up buying her home from her scheming nephew who has been trying to sell the house out from under his aunt and get control of her money.

Soon after moving in, Natalie starts experiencing some ghostly happenings in the large old house.  The piano playing at night, pictures falling from the shelf and other noises.  We soon see it's the ghost of Margaret the cat who is trying to help Natalie get Mrs. Ashboro's hidden money that she had intended to give to Brenda who owns the neighboring animal shelter. Natalie also meets the two brothers next door who she starts volunteering with at the animal shelter.  Will the ghost cat help save the animal shelter from the scheming nephew and the unscrupulous land developer who wants the land?  Being a movie geared toward families - take a guess. "Ghost Cat" is definitely not a scary movie but is an enjoyable watch nonetheless. 

Darkness

Darkness (2002) starring Anna Paquin, Lena Olin and Iain Glen is a haunted house movie from Spain.  A teenaged girl, Regina (a young Paquin) moves with her family (mother, father & younger brother) to an old house in Spain after the father had a breakdown in the U.S.

It doesn't take long after moving in that the brother begins encountering an eerie darkness under his bed and we see glimpses on the periphery of children running around the shadows of the house.  Regina also starts to see the father become more on edge and she tries to convince the mother who is in denial that he's headed for another breakdown.

There's a back story of 7 children being kidnapped 40 years before and taken to this house never to be found again.  Since no one will believe Regina, she seeks the help of her friend and they investigate the history of the house and soon find the real reason they are in this home on the eve of the next total eclipse of the sun.

This movie has a very eerie atmosphere throughout.  As its name implies there are a lot of scenes in the darkness and creepy ghosts and other creatures abound in this big old house.  The acting is not the best but that doesn't detract from a pretty good haunted house story with lots of scares and no gore.  Being able to see Anna Paquin (Sookie from True Blood) in one of her early roles is also a treat.

The Ghost of Greville Lodge

While browsing around Amazon for movies with a good ghost story, The Ghost of Greville Lodge (2000) starring Jon Newman, Prunella Scales and Marc Danbury caught my eye.  I hadn't heard of this British movie but it looked like it might be a good ghost story with lots of atmosphere so I gave it a try. 

A teenaged orphan, James, is invited to stay with his long lost great uncle at the family estate, Greville Lodge.  Once a bustling English country manor, now mostly closed up and run with the help of Sarah the housekeeper.  James explores the large house and manor and starts having dreams of the past where he is the owner's son.  These dreams soon become waking dreams where a ghost from the past is trying to get James to right some unfinished business.

There was some good atmosphere: wandering around the manor, estate and village (including a graveyard down the road), although I would have liked to see more.  The story kept my interest trying to tie the past to the present but overall it won't be one which I will return to.  If you are looking for a kid friendly ghost story, this may be a DVD for you.