The Attic

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Rating 2½


Directed by Mary Lambert

Written by Tom Malloy and Robert M Reitano, based on a story by Tom Malloy

Starring Elisabeth Moss (Emma Callan), Jason Lewis (John Trevor), John Savage (Graham Callan), Catherine Mary Stewart (Kim Callan), Tom Malloy (Frankie Callan), Thomas Jay Ryan (Dr Perry), Gil Deeble (Detective Carter), Nick Gregory (Detective), Clark Middleton (Dr Cofi) and Alexandra Daddario (Ava Strauss)


When the Callan family move to a new home, the daughter Emma is strangely affected by her new surroundings. She becomes very withdrawn and refuses to leave the house. She also claims to have seen someone in the attic and starts to believe she has a twin sister. Her parents bring in a psychiatrist to try to find a cure for her crippling agoraphobia and refusal to eat, but the only people Emma trusts are her brother Frankie, who has autism, and a sympathetic police detective, John Trevor, who she starts to fall in love with.

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This direct-to-DVD 2008 horror film, which seems to have been made two years before its release, has the look of a television movie. It covers very well-worn ground; a house that is intrinsically evil, a dysfunctional family trying to make a new start, a young female who is adversely affected by her surroundings and sees ghost-like figures. The screenplay, which was co-written by Tom Malloy, one of the lead cast of actors (Malloy also wrote the 2008 Eliza Dushku film ‘The Alphabet Killers’), leaves a lot to be desired, which might go some way towards explaining the often decidedly unconvincing acting. What rescues the film and makes it worth watching is Elisabeth Moss.

I first noticed Moss in the sadly short-lived Shaun Cassidy-created television series ‘Invasion’ in 2005, although she had already been around for a very long time at that point, notably in the early 1990s television series ‘Picket Fences’ and playing Zoey Bartlet in ‘The West Wing’. She also had a lead role in the popular 1995 television family film ‘Escape to Witch Mountain’ and that same year played a teenage Ashley Judd in a biopic of the mother and daughter country duo Naomi and Wynonna Judd. She has subsequently hit something of a high point playing Peggy Olson in ‘Mad Men’ and I think she is the best thing about that highly acclaimed multi-award winning series, although I cannot say it is one I watch very often.

The character Moss plays in ‘The Attic’ is similar in some respects to the one she played in ‘Invasion’, a troubled individual who becomes increasingly unhinged. This is a role she is clearly very adept at playing, although her other notable roles show that she has a wide acting range.

‘The Attic’ is not a memorable film by any stretch of the imagination. It’s clichéd and not especially well made, but it pressed a number of my buttons and I enjoyed it. Director Mary Lambert’s other credits include the 1989 horror film ‘Pet Sematary’ and various Madonna pop videos from the 1980s.

Review posted 4 November 2009



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Invasion

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Created by Shaun Cassidy

Written by Shaun Cassidy, Juan Carlos Coto, Michael Alaimo, Becky Hartman-Edwards and others

Starring Eddie Cibrian, William Fichtner, Kari Matchett, Lisa Sheridan, Tyler Labine, Alexis Dziena, Evan Peters, James Frain, Elisabeth Moss, Aisha Hinds and Ariel Gade


This 2005 science fiction show lasted for one season of 22 episodes on the ABC network before it was cancelled. It was broadcast immediately after the ratings hit ‘Lost’, but failed to hold onto the audience for that show. It was put on hiatus twice, eventually being broadcast over a period of 34 weeks between 21 September 2005 and 17 May 2006. The average audience numbers per episode was in the region of nine or ten million.

A hurricane leaves a small Florida town called Homestead cut off afterwards. Many people in the town went missing during the storm and when they turn up again they start to behave strangely. Dave Groves (played by Tyler Labine), a beer-drinking conspiracy theorist, believes it is the work of aliens. He involves his sister’s partner, Russell Varon (Eddie Cibrian), the park ranger, in his theories. Varon’s former wife, Mariel Underlay (Kari Matchett), a doctor at the local hospital, is married to the local sheriff, Tom Underlay (William Fichtner, in a fantastic performance). These people, and their children, have an uneasy relationship, which becomes increasingly strained when Varon begins to investigate further and becomes concerned about the sheriff’s suspicious behaviour.

It’s a variation of ‘Invasion Of The Body Snatchers’. The story unfolds quite slowly, although not unduly so, and allows plenty of time to explore the lives of the main characters, who are all interconnected by family ties, but equally are in conflict because of these ties. It’s nicely written, with very good production values and excellent acting.

On first viewing I found Larkin Groves (the character played by Lisa Sheridan) rather irritating. That dissipated when I watched the episodes again. Whilst I was baffled first time around by her insistence that Eddie put the safety of their unborn baby above that of his two children from his first marriage, her seemingly selfish and sometimes unreasonable behaviour made more sense second time around. It is also interesting to contrast the reasoning of various characters for investigating the strange happenings taking place around them.

Dave is driven by the fact he is convinced he has found proof of the existence of extraterrestrials - and this obsesses him. Eddie is concerned about the town. Tom (the sheriff) also claims the safety of the people is his first priority, but the motivation for his actions often suggests a hidden agenda, and he and Eddie are constantly at loggerheads. Larkin is an ambitious news journalist working for the local television network. She begins to independently investigate the strange occurrences, hoping for a journalistic scoop. Although she talks about being concerned for the safety of her family, it is not, initially at least, the real reason for what she does. It can also be said that Eddie’s suspicions about Tom, the husband of his former wife and, therefore, the stepfather of his two children, is as strong a reason for his actions as any concerns about the town itself.

The premature cancellation of the show was a shame. It would have been interesting to find out where creator Shaun Cassidy intended to take the story. However, it still works very well as it is and the ending is actually rather satisfying.

One last thing of note, unimportant as it may be, Rose Varon (played by Ariel Gade, who is also featured in the film ‘Dark Water’), the youngest child of Eddie Varon and Mariel Underlay, is surely the cutest child ever seen in a television show.



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