Desperate to wind Grainey up,the guys use devices that create random power cuts,and even break the windows. Over the next few weeks,Ethan and Sean spend all their waking hours watching Grainey. The plot: Deciding to make their own secret "social experiment" film,Ethan and Sean break into the house of loner neighbour Harold Grainey,in order to plant hidden cameras and other electronic devices around in order to make Grainey believe the house is haunted. Recognising the title from a very good review by Kim Newman in Empire magazine, I decided to pay a neighbourly visit. Whilst talking to a friend about what Grunge bands she has been listening to,I decided to ask about what movies she has recently seen,and was told about a Thriller on Netflix UK. That they seemingly got away scot-free with what might be considered a legitimate manslaughter rap only made me that much angrier. If you can suffer through the emotional outbursts of the frustrating, movie-making, scientist wannabe's, the outcome will most likely affect you with a visceral response. All the while I'm waiting for Harold to go big time Sonny Corleone on the pair of instigators, and it just wasn't meant to be.
Grainey's reputation has taken a hit over recent years due to the death of his wife, and the story's non-linear exposition of Grainey's true character is what makes the story's resolution so stunning. They get involved in what they call their 'Haunting Project', a deliberate attempt to scare their next door neighbor, a neighborhood curmudgeon named Harold Grainey. Up until that point, the picture was dragging for me, primarily due to the shrill relationship between teenage buddies Sean (Keir Gilchrist) and Ethan (Logan Miller).
It's rare for a movie these days to come up with something unique by way of story, but this one's twist ending is bound to create an awareness in the viewer that things are not always as they seem.