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by Thomas M. Sipos,
managing editor [October 14, 2020]
[HollywoodInvestigator.com]
Horror playwright Jack Travis (William Holstead) needs fresh
inspiration for his next project. So he buys a Scottish castle, one
with a dark history.
Several generations ago, the laird of the castle had an illegitimate
son by his servant girl. (A laird is a Scottish minor nobleman.) When
his son grew up and learned of his parentage, he publicly mocked his
father. So dad (borrowing from Edgar Allan Poe) walled up his son in
the castle basement.
Legend has it the dying son made a pact with Satan. His soul for
revenge. Soon afterward, the servant girl tumbled down some stairs and
broke her neck. The laird jumped (or was pushed?) from a high window
and splattered upon the ground.
Now the son's demonic ghost haunts the castle.
Jack is writing a play based on this legend. He intends to have it
performed at the castle -- hence the film's title,
Playhouse. The haunted castle will
be where its story is told. Jack's agent says no one will drive that
far for a play, it, but Jack will not be deterred.
Actually, I wouldn't call it a castle. It looks to have been built
only a few centuries ago, say between 1500 and 1800. Yeah, there's a
thick stone wall with an archway. But I regard castles as medieval or
ancient edifices.
Jack is divorced and has custody of his sullen teen daughter, Bee
(Grace Courtney). Nearby lives an annoying young couple, Jenny and
Callum (Helen Mackay and James Rotter). Jenny is descended from the
laird, and intends to stop Jack from publicizing her family's sordid
past.
Along the way, Jack and Bee are possessed and compelled to reenact the
laird's tragedy. Jack walls up Bee in the castle basement. One expects
Jack to then jump from a window, but the nosy couple next door keeps
hindering him. Jenny demands he stop writing his play. Callum pesters
Jack for playwriting advice. Callum has never written a play, but he
figures that Jack can open some doors for him, so he might as well try
his hand at it.
Eventually, Jenny and Callum notice that Bee is missing and that Jack
is going bonkers. He's seeing things, including his ex-wife, now
alive, now dead. "Where's Bee?" they scream hysterically.
"Jack, where's Bee?"
"I don't know!" Jack blubbers.
Will they find Bee in time -- before she runs out of air?!
Playhouse enjoys strong production
values. A skilled cast, atmospheric cinematography and art direction,
and fine visual effects. Its weakness is its story and characters.
Playhouse is aggressively
unoriginal. You have a horror author protagonist (e.g.,
The Shining,
In the Mouth of Madness,
Misery, The
Dark). People moving into a new house where ghosts possess one or
more person, seeking to reenact past tragedies (e.g.
The Shining,
The House Where Evil Dwells,
The Amityville Horror). Bee even hangs out with some bad girls
from school (with the usual colored, punked out hair) smoking pot, who
tell Bee about the legend and dare her to place her hands on the wall
where the son was entombed.
Although Playhouse is a nicely
shot ghost film, I was bored. Plot points and tropes were too
familiar. This might not have been a problem (there are few strikingly
original horror films), were it not for the
unlikeable characters. The
cast's emotions were often over-the-top, their anger, mania, or
hysteria rising too quickly and too extremely.
Perhaps they received poor
direction? Directorial credit goes to "The Watts Brothers." (And how
many brother teams working in horror does that now make?)
Ironically, of the four main characters, and despite her sullen attitude,
Bee was the most grounded, sensible, low key, and likeable. Courtney's Bee
evokes Winona Ryder's Lydia in
Beetlejuice, both in attitude and hairstyle.
Playhouse has nice visuals but
lacks a compelling story. Horror newbies might enjoy
Playhouse, but longtime fans might feel a sense of deja vu.
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