smj-20548 It is hard to believe that this film is rated as highly as it is. The film has some basic jumps and scares - standard fare in any horror film, but the film seriously lacks any type of plot or story line. I actually wonder how this film received any financial backing given that the story is so weak. The plot can be summarised as follow: Pregnant woman and hubby move into house, creepy stuff happens, the end. There is no explanation given at any point as to what was going on in the house, or why the house was haunted. There is no plot twist or sense of building suspense or dramatic conclusion. Auxiliary characters just serve to eat up minutes of the film with pointless conversations and details that are not followed up. It is a frustrating experience. You wait for the director to take you on a scary journey, but ultimately all threads lead nowhere. The whole haunted house genre has been done to death, and you can find much more effective examples than this one. Rated 3 for some spooky parts only, but the rest is discardable stereotypical junk.

rowhanning I heard a lot of hype for The House on Pine Street for awhile when it was making it's rounds across the film festival circuit. Sitting down and watching the movie was unattainable unless I wanted to travel quite some distance to catch it at a festival. I was elated to see that it was finally available to view privately. And then I started to watch it....One of the first things I noticed immediately was the terrible acting. Every motion in this movie feels like just that, going through a motion. The three main characters you'll be dealing with (Jennifer, Luke, and Meredith) all lack fluidity on the screen overall. Worse yet, they fail to bring forth any stir of emotion in the more intimate scenes. A big supporter in the downfall stated above, is the atrocious script. The dialogue is dry and immensely boring (add onto this the white-washed filter they used to shoot the entire film, and it's basically a lullaby.) There is little to no character development even as you reach the end of the almost two-hour run time. And worse yet, the big reveal of the "evil" that haunts our protagonist at the end can be equated, basically, as "bad vibes dude". I REALLY love and respect a good horror film. It's a genre in film that calls for a lot of finesse. It takes phenomenal acting, a good plot, and creating an atmosphere to encompass all these elements together in a package containing ample amounts of dread. The House on Pine Street nailed absolutely none of these elements. It was an extreme disappointment. If you want to see a good horror film from 2015, check out "It Follows".

marleneholmhammershoej While I'm no movie expert, I am a horror fan and not easily scared. Sadly, there's so long between a horror movie which really delivers, but this one did rather well I thought. What makes it all the more joyful, is the lack of reliance on special effects. It's well paced and uses the art of suggestion rather than cheep jump-scares, a style I appreciate. Furthermore, I found myself sympathizing greatly with the female protagonist, another key element in a good horror movie. This movie keeps the viewer speculating and guessing until the end, which I find is the turning point of a scary movie. Nothing is more scary that the unknown, as we well know. This brings me to the only regret I have about this movie, -the ending. I won't reveal anything, but as most suspense movies, the ending leaves the viewer a bit disappointed. I for my part can forgive the movie for this, since it relates to the point above. It's the unknown which is most scary, the sum of possible explanations. As soon as the movie settles on one specific explanation, most of the suspense is diffused. Don't let this keep you from viewing the movie though. I promise, it postpones the inevitable solution as long as possible. All in all; no masterpiece, but delivers as a horror movie.

Erik Vanlier Review by Golden State Haunts and EventsAaron and Austin Keeling have created a creepy and atmospheric haunted house movie with "The House on Pine Street". In the movie, seven months pregnant Jennifer (Emily Goss) has moved to a Kansas house with her husband Luke (Taylor Bottles) which is a step up from their apartment in suburban Chicago. It turns out the move was facilitated by Jennifer's overbearing mother Meredith (Cathy Barnett) who wants Luke to do more with his life than be a bartender and wants the baby to be born in a more rural environment. Meredith imposes herself by throwing a housewarming party and inviting her own friends including Walter (Jim Korinke) a so-called psychic who states that the house has weird energy. Absent from the party is Jennifer's friend Lauren (Natalie Pellegrini).Jennifer receives weird stares from the people in the neighborhood as if they're holding a secret. She starts to experience weird events in the house such as seeing someone in the bathroom, having the crockpot lid move on its own and hearing weird noises coming from the attic. The film was shot in an 1800's house that is supposedly actually haunted and the cinematography uses the environment to perfection. Jump scares aren't something you'll find in this movie, but rather a slow buildup and tension.When Lauren comes to visit the house we're introduced to her toddler son who is very creepy. He stares and talks to only something he can see. Experiencing paranormal events herself Jennifer is very concerned and her and Lauren hold a seance. Things only get worse but Luke and Meredith think that Jennifer is going crazy and having a mental breakdown. Jennifer didn't want to leave Chicago and isn't happy that she's having the baby. In fact we find out that she tried to self abort.Emily Goss portrays Jennifer with a genuine feel that makes you empathize for the character. You're left wondering if she's really going crazy of if the house is actually haunted.