By Geno McGahee
“It’s like they’re playing with us.” – Killian
Every once in a while (very often), I am a victim of impulse buys. This happens mostly with horror movies. I’m a sucker for an interesting synopsis and good cover art. That is why I spent 10 bucks on a movie called “TREEHOUSE.” I began watching it with high hopes. It was a beautiful looking film with very good acting and presentation, but as it went on, I realized just how empty and pretentious it was.
Elizabeth (Dana Melanie) cannot find her little brother, known as “Little Bob.” She is running and sees a dark figure standing in the woods. She now fears that her little brother has fallen victim to this force that has been kidnapping children. A few moments later, she goes missing and the police immediately cancel the town fair. They note that “it’s happening again,” and everyone must stay home, but you know kids…
Killian (J. Michael Trautmann) and his older brother, Crawford (Daniel Fredrick), are going to sneak out of the house and get together with their friends in the woods for a party. That is when they stumble upon a tree house and the missing girl, Elizabeth. She tells them of three things that live in the woods. Initially, the thought is that they are monsters of some sort. Crawford, the protective older brother elects to run out and get help while Killian stays with the injured Elizabeth. Unfortunately, he never returns, leaving the younger pair to figure things out.
The film is shot so incredibly well and some of the visuals are very nice. The best visual in the film was the three bodies hanging from the trees. They are hanging very high and it really looked creepy, but this was sizzle and there wasn’t much steak. Elizabeth and Killian make the decision that they are going to try to get away and they make their move. They end up at a house and find out just what is behind the kidnappings and it is less than fantastic. In fact, the killing force is rather boring.
The duo team up to take on the bad guys, get some guns, and the hunters become the hunted. After 1 hour and 40 minutes, the film ended in a somewhat happy way, even though a cop died. He was a good cop too. Maybe he didn’t die. He did get into a car accident and had his brain splattered. Perhaps he’s alive but must now live as a drooling vegetable. If so, it’s a double happy ending.
TREEHOUSE is a very slow film. The dialogue is written in a very unnatural way and despite the very good acting, the back stories and overall characters just aren’t very believable. As much as I liked both Trautmann and Melanie in these roles, I felt that they couldn’t click with the parts. They both tried very hard, but it is just a mess. I hope that they move onto something that can better showcase their talents.
So, it’s another 10 bucks wasted when it comes down to strictly the screenplay and story, but there is a little bit of saving grace here. The cinematography was superb. The film looked great and had a certain atmosphere that was imposing and interesting. All the elements were here to make a good film, but the backbone of the film, the script, was poor and the potential went right out the window. I can’t recommend this.
Rating: 3/10
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