Dream House (2011)
Average Rating: 3.7/10
Reviews Counted: 81
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 76
Dream House is punishingly slow, stuffy, and way too obvious to be scary.
Average Rating: 3.4/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 14
Dream House is punishingly slow, stuffy, and way too obvious to be scary.
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Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 27,542
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Movie Info
Successful publisher Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) quit a job in New York City to relocate his wife, Libby (Rachel Weisz), and two girls to a quaint New England town. But as they settle into their new life, they discover their perfect home was the murder scene of a mother and her children. And the entire city believes it was at the hands of the husband who survived. When Will investigates the tragedy, his only lead comes from Ann Paterson (Naomi Watts), a neighbor who was close to the family that
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Cast
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Daniel Craig
Will Atenton -
Naomi Watts
Ann Paterson -
Rachel Weisz
Libby Atenton -
Elias Koteas
Boyce -
Marton Csokas
Jack Patterson -
Taylor Geare
Trish -
Claire Astin Geare
Dee Dee -
Rachel G. Fox
Chloe Patterson -
Jane Alexander
Dr. Greeley -
Brian Murray
Dr. Medlin -
Bernadette Quigley
Heather Keeler -
Sarah Gadon
Cindi -
Gregory Smith
Artie -
Mark Wilson
Capt. Conklin -
David Huband
Officer Nelson -
Martin Roach
Tommy -
Jean Yoon
New Editor -
Lynne Griffin
Sadie -
Jonathan Potts
Tony Ferguson -
Marlee Otto
Young Author -
Niguel Henry
Author's Assistant/Guar... -
Bryon Mumford
Author's Assistant/Guar... -
Joe Pingue
Martin -
Ryan Blakely
Harkness Client -
Karen Glave
Harkness Receptionist -
David Fox
Building Inspector
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Dream House Trailer & Photos
All Critics (82) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (78) | DVD (4)
A well-acted but ramshackle mess.
Top CriticWas the screenplay, credited to David Loucka, this schizophrenic from the beginning? Or was some major tampering/reworking done at some point?
This suburban gothic is a logy, convoluted mess.
While Will and Libby struggle to adjust their thinking caps, the viewer already knows, thanks to the tell-all trailer, the reason for much of the confusion.
This crackpot thriller from the usually competent Jim Sheridan leaves only one mystery unsolved: what on earth was he thinking?
Daniel Craig does everything to dispel comparisons to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining with a finely tuned performance, but the film flattens as it tries to explain his character's psychological state.
Dream House has been sold as a ghost movie but in reality, it is a psychological thriller mystery with a really bad ending.
The only real mystery is why some A-list actors and a director of Jim Sheridan's calibre would even ponder working on such an uncalled-for project in the first place.
So much is just so...obvious.
At least Weisz and Craig wound up married after this mess.
"Dream House" is a mess of a film. This is not only because its writing is amateurish, but also because the film itself seemed like it was someone's first attempt at putting a film together.
Not to overcook the metaphor, but Dream House is pretty much as intangible as its name suggests and, when it's all over, you may struggle to remember anything noteworthy from the experience at all.
Dream House is clearly something of a wreck, yet watching the film provides glimpses of the better film the project might have been.
Dream House is not the film it was advertised as, but beyond the wonky finale, reshoots, and strange editing there is an interesting tale to be told here.
It's little surprise that Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz disowned this turgid, woefully inept thriller which idiotically gave away its big reveal in the trailer.
This is the kind of thing that happens when there is a squabble about who controls a movie. Director Jim Sheridan bickered with studio over how scenes in this thriller should be shot, and scenes were redone after test audiences reacted negatively.
This is one property you'd do well to stay away from.
It's daft and nonsensical. But it's that silliness and the sheer calibre of cast that ensure this has a certain car-crash watchability about it.
Disappears up its own fundamental implausibility.
The fragile hope that we might have a grown-up horror movie on our hands is smashed to smithereens.
This is a workmanlike movie that is never quite scary enough, and never quite ingenious enough, though the four leads do an honest enough job.
An intriguing twist livens things up midday way but the mood is almost oppressively melancholy and the plot doesn't stack up.
Weisz and Watts are badly served by two dimensional roles and Koteas's part in the big picture is laughably obvious.
Crowbarred into the standard haunted house chills is a supposed twist that feels like Shutter Island written for drunk people.
Audience Reviews for Dream House
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Will Atenton: Stay away from my family or I'll kill you!
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- Trish: Everybody who lives in this house gets killed.
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- Will Atenton: One upon a time, there were two little girls that lived in a house.
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- Libby Atenton: How could the neighbors not have said anything to us?
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Latest News on Dream House
October 10, 2011:
Jim Sheridan Tried to Take His Name Off Dream HouseThe L.A. Times details some of the trouble behind the scenes.
September 29, 2011:
Critics Consensus: 50/50 is Certified FreshThis week at the movies, we've got a survivor story (50/50, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth...
September 20, 2011:
10 Certified Fresh Psychological ThrillersTake a look at the trippiest, craziest, scariest psychological thrillers!
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Foreign Titles
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