Playing House (2010)

AKA: Homewrecker

Directed by: Tom Vaughan

Starring: Mayra Leal, Matt Lusk, Sarah Prikryl, and Craig Welzbacher

Genre: Thriller, Suspense

Rated: Unrated (R equivalent)

Newlyweds Mitch and Jen McKenzie have just bought their first house. Danny, Mitch’s best friend, moves in to help out with the mortgage payments. All is well until Danny meets Blair, a beautiful young woman who is soon over at the house all the time. Blair claims to be in love with Danny, but she is after more than she is letting on, and that puts everyone in the house in danger.

This film is very predictable. It is yet another “crazy girl wants man and will destroy whatever gets in her way” flick, and poorly done at that. Blair is so obvious about her intentions; I don’t understand how the other characters are so fooled by her. She blatantly flirts with Mitch the minute she meets him, right in front of Jen. She sashays around the house in her underwear or a button-down revealing her cleavage, and nothing else; swims naked in the pool; uses every opportunity to create chaos within the household, and uses her looks and silver tongue to manipulate everyone. Jen is the only one who sees through the act to some degree, and that is because she feels her relationship with her husband is threatened by Blair’s presence. I assume she doesn’t speak out because she’s afraid she’ll seem jealous and paranoid, but she should have because she had every right to feel those things. It’s obvious from the beginning who Blair is REALLY after, and it’s not Danny.

The men in this film are incredibly stupid – Mitch more so than Danny. With Danny, it’s understandable. He has a gorgeous girlfriend who loves to cook for him, play video games, and have lots of sex. He’s smitten. Mitch is just fooled by a pretty face and a “please take care of me” pout. Jen is intelligent and independent. She is a successful chef who has recently been offered her own restaurant. This upsets Mitch because he wants to spend more time with her, and Blair is there whispering in his ear that a good wife is home when her husband arrives and makes an effort to enjoy everything he does. How Blair is able to talk him into doing some things is beyond me - and somehow this man is a doctor.

There are just too many moments of idiocy to make this a decent film. If you suspect a person of murder and have let them on to that suspicion, why would you allow yourself to be alone with them? How did Blair clean up gallons of blood with one large kitchen sponge? It’s pretty clear she has no idea how to clean up a crime scene, yet the tile is spotless. Why would you allow a woman you know nothing about to move into your home? A woman who seems to have no job or means of paying rent? At least Jen was in her right mind about not wanting Blair to move in, but once again, Mitch makes her feel like an ass and she backs down.

The acting was okay at best, with Prikryl and Lusk being the most believable. Leal does well with the seduction scenes, but she’s rather laughable when committing murders. I’m sorry, I’m not buying her as a sociopathic killer. Welzbacher is probably the worst of the lot, being rather stiff in his portrayals of most emotions. Unless he’s conveying anger in some capacity, it’s hard to tell what his character is supposed to be feeling. Is he stressed? Is he happy? Who knows?

All of the kill scenes are done out-of-frame or off screen, so the viewer skips out on most of the violence. There’s also little to rate the special effects by, but the pool of blood was done well. There is plenty of nudity from Mayra Leal, for all of you hoping for some T & A. Otherwise, the film has very little to offer.

Overall, another weak, direct-to-DVD/Blu-ray entry into the thriller genre. It has quite a bit of nudity, which might appeal to some, but otherwise it is predictable, full of stupid characters and off-screen kills. Skip it.

3/10