Secrets in the Walls (2010) Reviews

• I've Seen a Lot Worse

  el72010-11-14

  Secrets in the Walls is about a single mother who, after landing a great job in an area of town far from her apartment, fatefully stumbles across the perfect house after getting lost while trying to find her bus home. After moving her two daughters into the old house, strange events begin to take place as something seems to be stalking the older daughter, but only the younger daughter can sense how dangerous it really is. The elements that make up this story are derivative, but they're derivative done reasonably well, and the actors all seem to be having fun with it, which adds a lot to a B movie's watchability factor. Also, some spooky stuff really does go down, especially in the film's first half. The second half is bogged down by the fact that the villain is trying to hide in plain sight and it kind of cramps her spooky style, but by that point she has fully earned a comeuppance and the desire to see it come to pass is just enough to hold the viewer's attention. As to the derivative elements, there's a good deal of Haunting in Connecticut DNA here, as well as a splash of Amityville Horror, but the movie's biggest twist is lifted directly from The Ring. This movie isn't as good as any of those three, but it beats a lot of ghost stories I've seen on TV lately, and for a late night spent home alone, it's good enough to turn down the lights with a bowl of Parmesan popcorn and get creeped out.

• Slowly paced mother/daughters relationship against background of muted horror...

  Doylenf2010-10-25

  A family moves into a haunted house. That much is certain from the very start when JERI RYAN foolishly purchases a house with strange noises coming from the basement. Ryan doesn't seem to have time to think clearly throughout the film. She's forever tossing back her unruly locks of hair and giving such an animated performance (with facial gestures on the move) that it's sometimes hard to just sit and follow the plot. Clearly, the writers were intent on disguising the horror elements of the story in favor of setting up a mother/daughters relationship as the focal point. Horror is a subtext to all the talky moments between the mother and daughters which, at times, borders on too much sentimentality--as though the film itself has been targeted toward female viewers. The most natural performance in the film is given by the youngest daughter, PEYTON LIST. As the oldest daughter, Lizzie, KAY PENNABAKER does a good job of portraying the older sister who eventually is inhabited by an evil spirit. But why she never tells her mother about the music box that plays by itself in her closet or the droplet of blood that comes from the ceiling when she peers at an old photo, is beyond me. We're told over and over again (as if the point needs to be made) that children seldom tell their mothers everything. And even after she experiences these weird happenings, she mocks her little sister for seeing things that aren't there. Her motives are never clear. Anyway, the story is generally well acted, the photography is fine, the music is suitably quaint before the thundering chords are used for shock effect, and it does have some effective chills. But the story is padded out to fit the two-hour time and there are scenes that drag interminably before we get back to the heart of the hauntings. Summing up: Easy to see why this is a made-for-TV movie.

• Really good for A TV movie

  atinder2012-08-17

  Single mother (Who as just been divorced) looking after 2 of Daughters Lizzy teens and the Molly who's little younger has got sixth sense about thing. As this was TV movie, i did not expect much of it, I did enjoy this movie, the movie I saw Early which was Fertile Ground (2011) . This movie Start when single mum goes on her new Job and on the way back she looked at a house, there family decided to movie in and it dose not take for Molly to feel something really bad in the house. There were some decent spooky scene in this movie, it had some really good tense moment in the basement scene, which I found creepy at time for TV movie. The acting was really good from most of the cast, this movie seem have the same feel as stir of echoes. this could have easily have been pasted at 3 but they also added little bit The Haunting in Connecticut (With teen girl moving in basement room) Even it borrow some stuff from other movie, it decent chiller for TV movie. 6 out of 10

• I hear her cry, all day all night…

  Spikeopath2014-10-03

  SPOILER: Divorced mum and her two young daughters move into a big old house that's price is too good to be true. Soon strange things start to happen, and just what is that false wall doing there? Secrets in the Walls doesn't offer up anything new to the haunted house formula, and the premise bears a striking similarity to a Richard Matheson story, but it is effective at what it does. Standard haunted house rules apply, with creaks, a music box, a creepy grate, spooky drawings and boo-jump shocks via reflections and peek-a-boo dark corners. It's competently performed by Jeri Ryan, Marianne Jean-Baptise, Kay Panabaker and Peyton Roi List, Christopher Leitch's direction is up to scratch for the spook and shiver narrative, and the music and photography tech credits are not intrusive and therefore well utilised for sustained suspense. It's a safe recommendation to fans of the haunted house splinter of horror, and coming out of the Lifetime Movie Network it's impressive to find it's better than a lot of bigger budgeted Hollywood genre pictures that have trundled out in recent years. 7/10

• Decent Ghost Story

  tonyjea922011-10-30

  I really have no idea what got me into watching lifetime movies when I'm a 19 year old boy who should enjoy partying and going out but after watching this movie i sort of liked it.The basic plot is really nothing i haven't seen before, the only thing different i really found intriguing was that the girl (Greta) was boarded up inside the house ALIVE. Now that i rarely see in a ghost movie which is i guess the reason why i watched this movie. The 3 woman of the story especially Jeri Ryan,and Kay Panabaker play their roles wonderfully and i could watch this movie again knowing full well i'd be scared again. Secrets in the Walls is nothing new to me and yet i still felt like i watched an accomplished film.