Film Review: Secrets in the Walls (2010)

SYNOPSIS:

Single mom Rachel Easton and her two daughters move from their cramped Detroit apartment to the suburbs when Rachel gets an irresistible deal on her dream house. But with the night comes scratching from within the walls, distant cries, and a figure of a young woman in the shifting shadows of the basement. As the haunting intensifies, Rachel and her friend must uncover the horrifying secret of what happened in the house years ago to save her family.

REVIEW:

Rachel has just been plunged into true independence as she prepares for her first work day. With a divorce behind her, she is finding the routine of working to be something she has to become reacquainted with again. Rachel has 2 daughters which include older daughter Lizzie (Kay Panabaker) and younger daughter Molly (Peyton List). Molly seems to possess some sort of ability, that allows her to sense events before they happen. Lizzie is prepping to go to college soon and is trying to also finds her independence.

Rachel happens upon a fixer upper house in a nice neighborhood that would be prefect for her and the girls. Living in a small apartment is getting tight, and the act of home owning sounds like a great move for a new divorcee. It doesn’t take much to convince them that a new home would be the prefect transitional opportunity. Especially since the original owner has lowered the asking price considerably.

Rachel’s younger brother Marty (Ian Kahn) has been a great help and his construction skills would be perfect for the work that the house still needs. Though as expected, this is an old house with some old tragedies and it doesn’t take long for Rachel and her children to learn the true secrets of the house and former residents.

Things begin to heat up providing a firm share of “watch out for the apparition in the mirror” injections that you’ll most likely roll your eyes too ojnce you;ve gotten past the first one. Jordan Trovillion does a pretty decent job of playing our ghost inhabitant Greta. The blue skin might have been better served with a small bit of cgi overlays, but then again this is a TV budgeted Lifetime movie which isn’t expected to go the extra mile. Jordan though has the right feel for the character of Greta, which I’m sure will lead her to other future sinister roles.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays the role of the resident medium who comes to Rachel’s aid. You instantly want to compare her to Scatman Crothers from “The Shining” as she instructs on the complications of the after life and things beyond.

“Secrets” doesn’t bring much to the table that hasn’t been seen before and relies largely on familiar territory to sells its plot. I think I just like seeing films that star Jeri Ryan, that I’ll sit thru the duration knowing she’ll deliver a promising performance.

“Secrets in the Wills” originated as a Lifetime Movie Network debut under the direction of Christopher Leitch. For a TV movie it stills manages to accomplish a few thrills and worthy ghost moments. Alot of which seem to be enhanced with some rather loud impact sounds that at times almost seem “too” overdone. Ghost stories on the whole, either work or don’t, though I felt this was one that was founded on a pretty solid storyline and delivered an adequate level of tension. Jeri Ryan as Rachel provides a perfect believable performance with her 2 on-screen daughters. If this were an Asian film, there might be touch of longer black wet hair to go with the character of Greta. In fact, I thought certain aspects were at least inspired partly by that spectrum of the genre.

“Secrets” is on the whole a pretty safe horror film that is great for the younger daughter / mother sitting session. It does a firm amount of scaring and does so without having to go over a PG rating. I think it’s great addition to a needed target-market with the horror titles that are now available.

Secrets in the Walls (2010)