Cubbyhouse (2001) - 2.5/4

In Cubbyhouse, a woman going through a messy divorce moves back home to the Australian suburbs. With her are her two young children, Ivan and Natalie, and her adult son Danny (Blair Witch Project's Joshua Leonard). An unscrupulous real estate agent has sold them a home where an alleged satanic cult murdered two children (seen in a harrowing introductory sequence)--in the cubbyhouse. Now strange things begin to happen as the two young children become increasingly obsessed with the demonically-possessed cubbyhouse and increasingly creepy.

Cubbyhouse has a 2.5/10 rating on imdb. This leads me to believe the majority of film-goers really just don't love movies, perhaps don't even like them. I find something to like in every film I see, whether I choose to emphasize the good or not. But there's actually a lot to like in Cubbyhouse. It is made with pure joy and that really shows. It is an unabashed '80s throw-back horror that owes a great deal to Evil Dead II, some to Celia, House, The Guardian, Poltergeist, The Blob (1988) and probably others. Prowling monster-cams, tree-vine attacks, bleeding vines, flying tools, a man pulled through a grate--it's all pure '80s supernatural horror. The main point of praise I can say about Cubbyhouse is that it's fun; probably more fun than it has any right to be.

The film is not without faults, of course. The characters can be frustrating. The mother never listens to anyone and generally only speaks to chastise. Danny twice physically assaults people who are actually trying to help him. The possessed children turn into know-it-all brats. Other characters are left undeveloped. On the other hand, the main character, Danny, is normally quite charming. Whatever Joshua Leonard brings to the role, it really works and sustains the film. I was impressed with his performance and his well-written character.

Then there's the CGI. Well, what's to be said? It's 2001 small budget CGI. Thankfully it's not overused and really appears only at the end. I suppose for what Fahey wanted to do with this film, it would have been difficult to do anything other than CGI, but not impossible. The presence of CGI is often a failure of creativity. Instead of trying to come up with an interesting solution, they hope the computer will magic it alright.

I got interested in Cubbyhouse because I had seen Murray Fahey's only other horror film, Encounters. I found his style so curious and his storytelling adept enough that I wanted to see more. Fahey, moreover, produces, writes, and directs his own films. Fahey's style still held my interest in Cubbyhouse. He has a very pleasant shooting style that yields fascinating and beautiful images.

So Cubbyhouse is not really a good movie, but it's a fun movie. If you like late '80s horror, you won't regret picking up Cubbyhouse.