The Attic (aka 'Crawlspace') - Quite good (and also quite bad)

Many a time the problem with a movie (and ‘horror’ movies in particular) is that you don’t care about the characters.  As ‘Cabin in the Woods’ pointed out, the ‘stars’ of such films are little more than: ‘Generic Blonde A,’ the ‘Jock, the Slut’ and ‘the Best Friend.’ So, for a start, they’re not particularly entertaining and, secondly, you don’t really care about them when they meet their grisly end.

However, in ‘The Attic,’ the characters are actually quite well-written.  The main cast are all a family, who have just moved into a nice suburban house in America.  And, they’re actually quite likeable.  They’re likeable, largely because they behave like a real family, i.e. they bicker and get at each other, plus no one has been written as a deliberate ‘comic element.’

So, in a cheap B-movie, I found myself actually wanting to watch more and really enjoying the film.  Unfortunately, although the writers can definitely do ‘characters’ and dialogue, they’re not too good at story or plausibility.

The family move into their new home, only to discover that the previous occupant is still living in the attic (and he doesn’t take too kindly to newcomers in ‘his’ house).  And that’s where the story falls down.  You may guess that a certain amount of murders follow and no one seems to notice.  People just disappear from the property and no one really bothers to look into it.  Plus the badguy himself is pretty lame and not particularly threatening.

The death-scenes are at least inventive on the low budget and some of the kills are clever (if possibly a little unrealistic).  And special mention to the youngest member of the family.  He’s not in it that much, so he doesn’t have a lot to do, but his ‘one-liners’ are quite amusing.

All in all, I really enjoyed the dialogue and family interaction.  It was just the plot and lack of realism that spoiled it.  I’d quite like to see the same family in a different (horror) situation, as they were definitely the film’s high point.

6/10 May just keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights