Dream House

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Year:	2011
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Jim Sheridan
Genre:	Spooky house stuff
Starring:	Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, Elias Koteas
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462041/
Tagline:	Once upon a time, there were two little girls who lived in a house.
Favourite line:	"You live here and you don't know about the murders?"

Ghost stories are ten a penny.
Haunted house stories are almost as common.
So could this one really stand out from the pack?

The plot:
A family move into a new home and all seems well. The kids don't like it too much but, you know, they're just kids so fuck them, right?
Soon, as predictable as rain on the morning of a wash day, weird things start to happen: A sinister figure watching them through the window.
Footprints left in the snowfall.
Strange interest from local goth types.
When the man of the house, Will Atenton, hears rumour of a grisly murder in the home, he tries to keep it to himself but, inevitably, the lady wife finds out. None too impressed, she and the young girls begin to feel even more unsettled, to the point that Will decides he has to do something about it. Heading to the Mental Institute that now apparently houses the man responsible for the murders, Will doesn't know what he will find when he gets there, nor could he predict the terrible consequences of his discovery.

Ninety minutes, dead on, just as it should be, this cracks along at a fair old clip. With no time for much in the way of preamble, we're straight into it, here, and that's no bad thing.
Daniel Craig is in fine form, by turns angry and desperate and intense, and always those piercing blue eyes staring out of the screen, demanding your attention.
And he's ripped, too. By jove, he's got quite the physique.
Though fairly tame in terms of the terror levels, still this is intriguing, playing more as a psychological chiller than an all out creepfest, and it works just fine as it is. No need for gore, no need for blood, when the oddness of the situation will do very nicely, thank you.
With reluctance, I will make reference to a killer twist about halfway through. Reluctant because some bleat and bemoan when told there is a twist at all, but that's as far as I'll go.
Won't change the world, won't stick in your head too long, but for the duration this certainly entertained.
Liked it.