Susan Granger’s review of “The Disappointments Room” (Relativity/Rogue)
The haunted house is a staple of the supernatural horror genre but this dismal, wannabe thriller has little to offer.
Trying to recover after the traumatic death of their infant daughter, grieving Dana (Kate Beckinsale) and David (Mel Raido) decide to move from Brooklyn to rural North Carolina with their young son, Lucas (Duncan Joiner).
Dana is an architect, so she’s set to remodel the cavernous, if dilapidated country estate they bought. But when she discovers the long-lost key to a hidden attic room, she opens herself to nightmarish evil.
Ms. Judith (Marcia de Rousse), a local historian, explains that this mysterious chamber, whose only entrance was hidden behind a cabinet, was where wealthy families used to incarcerate their disabled/disfigured children, effectively keeping them out-of-sight – and, apparently, their troubled ghosts still prowl the premises.
Along with losing all track of time, distraught Dana’s eerie explorations lead to nightmarish visions of the former owner, satanic Judge Blacker (Gerald McRaney), and his demonic black dog. Plus there’s the local handyman, Ben (Lucas Till), who flirts with her while repairing a hole in the leaky roof.
Scripted by Wentworth Miller (best known as Michael Scofield on Fox TV’s “Prison Break”) and director D.J. Caruso (“Eagle Eye,” “Disturbia”), it’s filled with malignant hallucinations, resulting in a witless endeavor that, understandably, sat on the shelf when Relativity Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July, 2015.
While Kate Beckinsale, Lucas Till and Gerald McRaney do the best they can with their underwritten roles, it’s a lost cause.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Disappointments Room” is a derivative 2 – at least its title should be credited with truth-in-advertising.
