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That was an excellent one.

Simply A Masterpiece

Great Film overall

Fresh and Exciting

Grindstone Road: Directed by Melanie Orr and written by Paul GermannGrindstone Road is another movie where a couple after having suffered a tragedy moving from the great big city to a country home with a devastating secret. You've seen this movie before probably about a million different times. Fairuza Balk is the only reason this movie was even on my radar. I have put a moratorium on movies like this. I think I've seen enough movies like this to last me a very long time. This is a by the book ordinary film trying to be creepy and failing miserably in the process. We were able to guess every little thing that happened throughout this dull and generic mess. I'm not sure what time period this is designed to take place in but it features the usual staples of landline phones not working out in the country, going to the library to look at old newspapers rather than searching for these very same things online. This is what most of us would do now. This is why I think it must be in a different time period. I imagine the writer might be trying to bring back this type of story. I wish they hadn't and also wish they hadn't drug Fairuza Balk into this boring nonsense. The visual style of the movie is very flat. Nothing really pops out until the scenes in the afterlife but even then it's rudimentary. They try for those jump scares but fail immensely. Every type of scare it attempts flops horribly. The main thing about this story is the atmosphere and they can't even figure this one out. This movie is a dull, lazy and boring mess. Skip it.I give this movie a D.

A young couple moves into an old farmhouse, only to experience a series of strange events. Is the ghost of a missing child reaching out for help from beyond the grave? In capable hands, Grindstone Road (2008), written by Paul Germann and directed by Melanie Orr, had the potential to be an entertaining (if not very original) horror film. Unfortunately, it doesn't even rise to the level of a made-for-TV movie.Melanie Orr is a script supervisor (oversees a film's continuity) who has directed episodes for a number of television shows. Grindstone Road was her sophomore effort. Paul Germann is a sound effects editor who has written a grand total of one film. Grindstone Road must have been so bad he never got another script optioned. It was like he had a weird dream and decided to make a movie out of it.Somehow they tricked Fairuza Balk into starring in their clichéd and mediocre Canadian horror film. Balk appeared in some popular movies in the '90s, including The Craft (1996), American History X (1998), and The Waterboy (1998), then dropped off the public's radar. She always embraced "alternative" roles, and wears a goth-ish outfit for one scene in this movie, but otherwise plays a conventional housewife. That's like asking Jackson Pollock to paint an idyllic country cottage. It's just not right.As bad as Grindstone Road is, at least it has an interesting story. Wracked with guilt over a car accident that left her son Daniel (Felix Pennell) in a deep coma, Hannah (Fairuza Balk) begins having strange experiences in her new home. Her husband, Graham (Greg Bryk), is oblivious and blames the antidepressants she takes to help ease the pain. Their neighbors, an elderly couple named Ted (Walter Learning) and Linda (Joan Gregson), alert them to the possibility their house is haunted.Hannah discovers a young boy, also named Daniel (Dylan Authors), disappeared while living in the house and may have been abused by his parents. John Dodson (Zachary Bennett), a mysterious man who only Hannah can see, serves as a red herring to deflect attention from the real villains. Since there are only a handful of characters, you can probably guess who they are. It was refreshing to see elderly antagonists, although the religious motivation behind their crimes is eye-rolling.With a budget of $1.5 million, there's really no excuse for the film to be this bad. Daniel's character looks like they slapped flour and black lipstick on his face. There are plenty of examples of decent horror movies with ghosts that look like regular people. They could have used context clues, lighting, or even an interesting costume to indicate he was a ghost, anything but this awful makeup. John Dodson is also a ghost, but goes makeup-free. I guess that's to trick the audience into thinking he's a living, breathing character.There is one captivating scene in which Hannah struggles to get out of a noose while hanging from the basement rafter. It looks real and it looks like Fairuza Balk did the scene herself.Filmmakers treat the horror genre as an excuse to make low quality films, and this check-the-box ghost story is no exception. Despite veteran leads (Greg Bryk also appeared in A History of Violence, Shoot 'Em Up, and a number of TV shows), Grindstone Road is the Halloween equivalent of a Hallmark Channel Christmas story. It currently has an 18 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and you can watch it for free on YouTube.

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.