Review of Suburban Nightmare (2004) by Suzanne M — 15 Nov 2006

[font=Courier New]Charles (Trent Haaga) and Deborah Rosenblad (Brandy Little) aren?t like most married couples. On the surface everything seems to be fine in their house, especially to dinner guests. Little to these hungry companions know that it is they who Charles and Deborah wish to prepare for dinner. But even these two murderous monsters can?t hide from the troubles that will test any marriage. And the two take domestic violence to a whole new level.

Jon Keeyes? [i]Suburban Nightmare[/i] has a funny premise, but never manages to do anything with it. The acting supplied by the two leads is very sub par, and hurts the film a lot during scenes where Charles and Deborah are fighting. Instead of sounding like a real couple at each others throats, they sound like a pair of would-be actors trying out for a soap opera.

The movie does sport some creepy moments, especially the woman trapped in their basement who they refer to as ?the pet.? But the movie is so timid about trying anything daring. With its concept, there could have been a lot of mayhem in this film, and maybe even some dark humor to it. But instead, the film is lazy and uninteresting almost throughout its whole length.

I?ve been trying to give a lot of the straight to video horror films a chance, hoping I would discover a hidden classic. With[i] Suburban Nightmare[/i] and [i]Rest Stop[/i], which I will review shortly, I?m beginning to think straight to video isn?t what it use to be. Man do I wish the days of Full Moon and Troma would return. Well, the days when those two were good I mean.[/font].