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Havenhurst
USA 2016
produced by Jina Panebianco, Tosca Musk, Andrew C. Erin, Mark Burg (executive), R. Wesley Sierk (executive) for Twisted Pictures, Protocol Entertainment, RMA Media Partners
directed by Andrew C. Erin
starring Julie Benz, Fionnula Flanagan, Belle Shouse, Josh Stamberg, Danielle Harris, Douglas Tait, Matt Lasky, Dendrie Taylor, Toby Huss, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Currie Graham, Carrie Armstrong, Gwen Holloway
written by Andrew C. Erin, Daniel Farrands, music by tomandandy, special effects by Cade Fall, special makeup effects by Vincent J. Guastini
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Jackie (Julie Benz) is a reforming alcoholic who has gone through hell
because of her condition - but now she's clean and takes up residence at a
rehab center, the titular Havenhurst, which actually looks like an awesome
place to stay, and the zero tolerance policy of the house might just be
what the doctor ordered. So it looks like everything has come to a good
end, and presently Jackie has only one concern, that her best friend
Danielle (Danielle Harris) has until recently also stayed at Havenhurst
(in the very same apartment she's in actually) but has then disappeared
without a trace - and Eleanor (Fionnula Flanagan) isn't able (or willing)
to give Jackie any info about where she might have gone. That she finds
many very personal items of Danielle's in her room makes Jackie believe
she hasn't left on her own accord - and the audience of course already
knows that's true, she has been pretty much sucked into the building by
someone ... or some thing. Jackie gets her policeman friend Tim (Josh
Stamberg) to investigate the building, but he fails to come up with
anything. On the other hand, Jackie befriends a little girl, Sarah (Belle
Shouse), and she seems to know more about the disappearance of Danielle
(and quite a few others), and how they have to do with evictions for those
who crossed the lines, but her knowledge is actually rather sketchy. Thing
is, at night Jackie can hear screams of pain and fear and on the day after
she usually finds out someone has disappeared, and she also finds Sarah's
foster dad's (Toby Huss) room looking like a bloodbath after he has gone
(which is of course cleaned up before the police arrives), and she starts
piecing things together, figuring it all has to do with
"evictions" that aren't really that. But then she receives an
eviction note ... Jennifer Blanc-Biehn can be seen as one of the
evicted. Havenhurst is a deliciously creepy movie that
admittedly gives away the solution of its mystery rather early in the plot
- but that doesn't matter one bit because the whole thing's deliciously
tense and suspenseful and creepy, not only thanks to compelling
performances coupled with an engaging directorial effort but also by the
many odd plot ideas and the extremely atmospheric locations. It's really a
genre movie one can easily get a kick out of!
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