Director:
Ray Etheridge
Studio/Production Company:
Golden West Films
Genre:
Thriller
Length:
Feature
Website:
http://vacanthouse.angelfire.com
Score:
1.5/5
Frank Capra once said that “in film the cardinal sin is boredom.” In a case of too little, too late, things don’t really get going until the second half of “The Vacant House.” As they teach in screenwriting class, audiences can always grow to dislike a film over the course of it’s running time but, according to conventional wisdom anyway, starting off slow and then becoming gradually interesting is not going to inspire many viewers to stick around very long.
Florida based husband and wife filmmakers Ray & Migdalia Etheridge, fifth feature, is clearly a labor of love, or at least something they do for fun, and, hopefully, the film was fun to make. Unfortunately, it is not very much fun to watch. Sometimes the joy of a particularly amusing shoot comes through and, even if the actual narrative fails, there can still be a palpable sense of an ebullient “let’s put on a show” energy from the cast that comes through but it is not enough to hope for this kind of effect and downplay the need for a good screenplay.
The story involves a young couple moving into a new home without knowing about its dark past and having an impromptu house-warming party where, among other things a “psychic” entertains everyone with standard party tricks ---- although, for the most part, he sits around sounding like Michael Jackson. The mind games end quickly though, when the faux séance actually touches nerves and causes people to reveal dark secrets. Unfortunately, very little of this material actually drives the plot and the sequence winds up going on and on for fifteen minutes out of the film’s seventy-five minute running time.
Production values are adequate and, while the camera-work is inconsistent, especially towards the end, it is generally passable. The acting is of the standard, generally bad to unremarkable amateur variety found in so many indie productions
Crucial structural issues in the screenplay, however, like having scenes and sequences that go nowhere and under-developed characters plague “The Vacant House” throughout and, in the end, really drive home the point that without a good screenplay it is very hard to make a good film.
Not to pick on The Etheridge’s, because they are hardly the only indie filmmakers out there, but too many people seem to think that if they get a decent camera and editing software, they will be able to bang out great film after great film when, in reality, even though it does not have lots of fancy buttons and effects, one of the essentials investments that everyone involved with a film should make is a good screenwriting book.. The unfortunately named “Complete Idiot’s Guide To Screenwriting” is actually quite good and reasonably priced, and “Save The Cat” by “Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot” screenwriter Blake Snyder is an excellent, easy to read look at character and story development.
Ray Etheridge
Studio/Production Company:
Golden West Films
Genre:
Thriller
Length:
Feature
Website:
http://vacanthouse.angelfire.com
Score:
1.5/5
Frank Capra once said that “in film the cardinal sin is boredom.” In a case of too little, too late, things don’t really get going until the second half of “The Vacant House.” As they teach in screenwriting class, audiences can always grow to dislike a film over the course of it’s running time but, according to conventional wisdom anyway, starting off slow and then becoming gradually interesting is not going to inspire many viewers to stick around very long.
Florida based husband and wife filmmakers Ray & Migdalia Etheridge, fifth feature, is clearly a labor of love, or at least something they do for fun, and, hopefully, the film was fun to make. Unfortunately, it is not very much fun to watch. Sometimes the joy of a particularly amusing shoot comes through and, even if the actual narrative fails, there can still be a palpable sense of an ebullient “let’s put on a show” energy from the cast that comes through but it is not enough to hope for this kind of effect and downplay the need for a good screenplay.
The story involves a young couple moving into a new home without knowing about its dark past and having an impromptu house-warming party where, among other things a “psychic” entertains everyone with standard party tricks ---- although, for the most part, he sits around sounding like Michael Jackson. The mind games end quickly though, when the faux séance actually touches nerves and causes people to reveal dark secrets. Unfortunately, very little of this material actually drives the plot and the sequence winds up going on and on for fifteen minutes out of the film’s seventy-five minute running time.
Production values are adequate and, while the camera-work is inconsistent, especially towards the end, it is generally passable. The acting is of the standard, generally bad to unremarkable amateur variety found in so many indie productions
Crucial structural issues in the screenplay, however, like having scenes and sequences that go nowhere and under-developed characters plague “The Vacant House” throughout and, in the end, really drive home the point that without a good screenplay it is very hard to make a good film.
Not to pick on The Etheridge’s, because they are hardly the only indie filmmakers out there, but too many people seem to think that if they get a decent camera and editing software, they will be able to bang out great film after great film when, in reality, even though it does not have lots of fancy buttons and effects, one of the essentials investments that everyone involved with a film should make is a good screenwriting book.. The unfortunately named “Complete Idiot’s Guide To Screenwriting” is actually quite good and reasonably priced, and “Save The Cat” by “Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot” screenwriter Blake Snyder is an excellent, easy to read look at character and story development.