Open House (1987)

User Rating:

3.2/10   

Director:

Jag Mundhra

Writers:

David M. Evans (screenplay)
Jag Mundhra (story)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Now it's open season for murder

Plot:

Someone is killing off nubile real estate agents. A psychologist doing a therapy talk show begins getting calls from the perpetrator...

Plot Keywords:

Real Estate | Real Estate Agent | Psychologist | Hanged Girl | Radio Phone In

Cast

Joseph Bottoms	...	Dr. David Kelley
Adrienne Barbeau	...	Lisa Grant
Rudy Ramos	...	Rudy Estevez
Mary Stavin	...	Katie Thatcher
Scott Thompson Baker	...	Joe Pearcy (as Scott Baker)
Darwyn Swalve	...	Harry
Robert Miano	...	Shapiro
Page Mosely	...	Toby
Johnny Haymer	...	Paul Bernal
Leonard Lightfoot	...	TJ
Barry Hope	...	Barney Resnick
Stacey Adams	...	Tracey
Roxanne Baird	...	Allison
Tiffany Bolling	...	Judy Roberts
Dena Drotar	...	The Fan

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:R | USA:R

Quotes:

Adrienne Barbeau: When's the last time that you so much as read the ingredients on a can of deodorant?

The high cost of living and low cost of dying in L.A

(Some Spoilers) Dull as dishwater slasher flick that has this deranged homeless man Harry, Darwyn Swalve, out murdering real-estate agent all over the city of L.A because of the high prices that they charge for their proprieties. Looking like an extra from a Clint Eastwood "Spaghetti Western" Harry who's been living in abandoned houses eating dog food get's very upset where his quite lifestyle as a squatter is interrupted. This happens when a number of real-estate agents invaded his space in an attempt to sell the houses, that he's staying at to their potential clients.

Joseph Bottome stars in this bottom-of-the-barrel horror movie as radio talk-show host Dr. David Kelly the handsome and popular host psychologist of the KDRX survival line. DR. Kelly is being sued by the family of one of his callers,Tracy, who ended up blowing her brains out while on the air with the doc who couldn't do anything to help her survive her ordeal of taking to him.

The real-estate killer gets to talk with Dr. Kelly on the air about his adventures and the police try to get the doc to get his phone number and address, by keeping him on the line, but he refuses to in order not to hurt his rating by having potential callers not call in in fear of being monitored by the LADP.

Kelly also is having a hot and heavy affair with a real-estate manager and agent the busty Lisa Grant, Adrienne Barbeau, who's office of sellers are Harry's main victims in he movie. Harry also gets to murder Lisa's main competition in the housing business the chubby and outrageous Barney Resnick, Barry Hope, who threatened to put Lisa out of business by any means possible even if he has to kill her.

Getting Berney alone and with his pants down Harry slices his head off while he's being entertained by one of his clients, a hooker, whom he leaves dead and hanging together with the headless Barney. The movie ends with the deranged Harry taking Lisa hostage and having Dr. Kelly try to come to her rescue only to have Det. Shapiro (Robert Miano), looking like e hasn't slept in a week, pop out of nowhere and blow Harry's brains out. Harry quickly come back to life minus the gay matter between his ears and gets himself killed for the second time in the movie by being thrown from a balcony and landing on the ground as a dozen members of the LAPD, M16 cocked and ready, come on the scene.

Nothing in the movie "Opean House" worked with the tension laughable to almost non-existent. Even the hot sex scenes between Dr. Kelly and Lisa didn't save the movie since there were far too few,only two, of them and and sexy Adrienne Barbeau was a bit too underexposed, with not enough light and too much clothes on, in all of them.

Harry the killer in the movie was also a bit to comical to be taken seriously in trying to make a point, to Dr. Kelly on the phone and in person, about the high rents and real-estate prices in the country and how people like himself find it almost impossible to find a decent place to live in. You can sympathize with Harry's concern about the high cost of living but be very critical of him in how he crazily went on in correcting it.