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Playhouse

Play trailer Poster for Playhouse 2020 1h 27m Mystery & Thriller Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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63% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 25% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
After an irreverent playwright moves into a Scottish castle to develop a horror production, his daughter falls prey to an evil curse lurking within the walls.
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Playhouse

Critics Reviews

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Rocco T. Thompson Rue Morgue Magazine its forceful performances and penetrating atmosphere linger in the mind far longer than its less successful elements. Jul 3, 2024 Full Review Alix Turner Ready Steady Cut A Highland castle setting is just as important a feature as the characters in this debut feature from the Watts brothers, about a writer taking advantage of his new home's history. Rated: 3/5 Feb 13, 2021 Full Review Paul Grammatico Dread Central If you are looking for a good throwback to a grand old gothic good time, Playhouse will be a dreadful delight. Rated: 3.5/5 Nov 21, 2020 Full Review Frank Swietek One Guy's Opinion A Gothic ghost story with oodles of atmosphere but too little tension and suspense. Rated: C Nov 20, 2020 Full Review Andrew Stover Film Threat Although Playhouse isn't as emotionally critical or tightly written as it should be, The Watts brothers are skilled in nurturing a dour atmosphere and exposing a darker side to the creative impulse. Rated: 7/10 Nov 17, 2020 Full Review Jennie Kermode Eye for Film Whilst unresolved mystery is part of the oeuvre of the Gothic, too much just results in a narrative muddle. This, ultimately, dooms the film, but not before they've succeeded in showing off their skills. Rated: 2.5/5 Sep 11, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (3) audience reviews
Brad P If you are looking for a good throwback to a grand old gothic good time, Playhouse will be a dreadful delight. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/28/23 Full Review Audience Member I don't usually bother writing reviews, but this was honestly so terrible I felt compelled to. Nothing remotely interesting happened and I'd reached half way through the movie. I eventually got so bored waiting for literally anything that I switched it off. The "acting" (if you can call it that), is bland and the actors show no emotional response to anything going on. If you're struggling to sleep, this may help. For entertainment, better off watching paint dry. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review the s It always astounds me when producers have access to an amazing set (like an old, gothic Scottish castle) and still end up creating a film that is neither scary nor creepy. Honestly, just taking a camera through the castle would have been scarier than this movie (and dare I say, more interesting). All the same old, cliched tropes are explored here to no real end; the plot itself had some potential but the characters are wholly unlikable and the movie suffers horribly as a result. I get trying to write an eccentric playwright or a brooding teen...but haven't we figured out by now that if the characters are impossible to like that the movie is difficult to watch? That's the case here...nobody wants to sit through cliched, pretentious, offensively bad characters being pretentious and miserable to one another. It becomes a chore to sit through. And you can write characters who are eccentric and dark without making them offensive to all the senses. (By the way, I get that the author was young when the daughter was born but poor casting choices for these parts may have been the first big error. Like some other viewers, I thought they were a married couple for the first 10 minutes.) The rest of the movie kind of burns itself out: the cliches all come together for a movie that is slow, boring and very difficult to get all the way through. Yes, it has elements of dark/gothic horror but they're juxtaposed against all the trite parts that turn it into little more than a syfy type of made-for-TV rubbish with nothing new to say and void of all the classic parts of the vintage, creepy Hammer type of horror movies that people romanticize and love. In short, this movie combines the worst of the best worlds and falls dramatically flat. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Playhouse

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Movie Info

Synopsis After an irreverent playwright moves into a Scottish castle to develop a horror production, his daughter falls prey to an evil curse lurking within the walls.
Director
Fionn Watts, Toby Watts
Producer
Fionn Watts, Toby Watts
Screenwriter
Fionn Watts, Toby Watts
Production Co
Far North Film
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 15, 2020
Runtime
1h 27m
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