BOTTOM LINE: The psychological terror infused by its concept definitely sends shivers down your spine, but Open House is unfortunately derivative of better horror films, despite a strong performance by Brian Geraghty.

THE GOOD: The key to a good horror film is always in generating suspense, from the concept through to the story. Open House starts on good footing in this respect as a pair of psychotic killers successfully take over Alice’s (Rachel Blanchard) house after one of them, David (Brian Geraghty) hides himself in the basement during an open inspection for sale. Before long David is joined by Lila (Tricia Helfer) and between the two of them, they proceed to wreak havoc on the neighbourhood by posing as new neighbours. Brian Geraghty’s performance is perhaps the standout feature of this film. He gives a delightfully subtle performance in showing a very controlled psychosis (ala Norman Bates) but with enough emotion and even vulnerability to suggest he does not want to be who he is. Tricia Helfer is clearly having fun in her role of Lila, almost in a campy way, which works quite well and makes for a good contrast with David’s character. Most of the film takes place in the one location (the house), and it looks surprisingly fresh for most of the film given it could have looked repetitive after a while. “Open House” does try to offer something more complex than the typical horror film by focusing on performances and not just the usual blood and gore.

THE BAD: Although the film has a good horror premise, the execution and certain scenes are too derivative of other films of the same genre. One film that comes to mind is “Funny Games”, which has just about the same premise, but is maybe more clever in exploiting the violence and its meanings despite its inherent meanness of spirit. The film follows a number of other typical horror conventions in relation to the death scenes and so forth, leaving a film that is not all that original or surprising. For example, David’s character is a little too close to Norman Bates from “Psycho”, despite Geraghty’s best efforts in his performance. As a result, the film is not particularly scary outside of its premise, and offers a somewhat lacklustre viewing experience.