Cubbyhouse (2001) Reviews

• Naff, but fun

  Unicorn-92006-10-08

  'Cubbyhouse' is one of the naffest decently-budgeted horror movies I've seen in years: a family move into an old house that's been empty for years only to be attacked by demons from the garden shed. As someone else mentioned, the plot is basically identical to every single naff horror movie of the 80s and utterly predictable as a result, but set in Australia, with an obviously deliberate American angle for the international market, and full of bad CG effects rather than bad latex effects. Yet despite that, I found it surprisingly entertaining: technically it's decently made other than the bad CG effects, the plot isn't totally nonsensical, the kids don't do a bad job in their parts and the older actors manage to deliver lines with a straight face that would leave most of us laughing... the biggest flaw is that Lauren Hewett never gets naked. It's probably fair to say, though, that a large part of the fun comes just from the cast, and trying to work out which Australian soap opera you've previously seen them in: it's kind of like 'Neighbours' with serial killers and tentacle monsters.

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• Enjoyable, but silly

  The_Missus2002-07-13

  Called The Cubbyhouse on release in the U.K, The Third Circle is an Australian made horror movie. A divorcee and her three children move back to her native Australia with her, and they start to settle in to their new home, but the two younger children become strangely obsessed with the Cubbyhouse in the Garden. Their older brother Danny, along with next door's teenage daughter Bronwyn discover the Cubbyhouse's gruesome secret - 30 years previous, a man allegedly murdered his two young children there. There appears to be a demonic spirit in the Cubbyhouse, and Danny and Bronwyn fight to save the children from it and to destroy the Cubbyhouse for good. Better than I thought it would be, but still pretty cheesy and.. y'know.. Craig McLachlan... but if there's nothing else on, or all the big movie are out to rent already, it's worth a shot, expect to roll your eyes at the silly ending though ;)

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• Not so Bad as the IMDb User Rating Indicates

  claudio_carvalho2012-10-27

  After a troubled divorce in the United States, Lynn Graham (Belinda McClory) returns to her hometown in Australia with her teenage son Danny (Joshua Leonard) and the children Ivan (Joshua Tainish-Biagi) and Natalie (Amy Reti) that were born in America. Lynn can only afford to buy and old house nearby her sister's home and the real state agent Bill (Craig McLachlan) omits the clause that the house should never be sold to a family with children. Ivan and Natalie are fascinated by the wendy house in the backyard and soon they are possessed by an evil force that is trapped within the cubby house. Meanwhile Danny dates his next door neighbor Bronwyn (Lauren Hewett) and they meet the disturbed Harlow (Jerome Ehlers), whose brother Harrison has been interned in a madhouse for thirty years after slaughtering his two children in a satanic ritual. Danny has nightmares and notes that the behavior of his siblings is weird. Further, he finds that they have drawn the cubby house exactly identical to the drawing made by the diseased children. "Cubbyhouse" is not an unforgettable or great horror B-movie. However, it is not so bad as the IMDb User Rating (2.9) indicates. The story is not original or scary and has many flaws, like for example, how could Lynn's sister ignore the past of the evil house or many characters that dies or vanish without any further consequence, but it is enjoyable. For a 2001 low-budget film, the special effects are reasonable despite the rip-off "Evil Dead" camera work. My vote is five. Title (Brazil): "Casa do Terror" ("House of the Terror")

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• Quiz Time

  Theo Robertson2003-06-10

  A question for you : A family go to a new house and get stalked by demonic forces . Which film am I talking about ? Every horror film you`ve seen ? Yes that`s true but that`s not the answer I`m looking for . I`ll narrow it down by saying there`s a lot of teen angst scenes . Doesn`t help ? Well there`s lots of bits where the characters are stalked by a creature and you see the characters through the creature`s POV . No futher forward ? Okay there`s a dream sequence involving lots of blood ? Could still be any horror film you say . Oh gawd this could take weeks so I`ll say the film I`m talking about features loads of Aussies many of whom have appeared in NEIGHBOURS and HOME AND AWAY . Yes that`s right the film is THE THIRD CIRCLE ( aka CUBBYHOUSE ) and do you understand what the above exercise is about ? It`s about me pointing out how THE THIRD CIRCLE is absolutely no different from any horror film that`s been made

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• Cheesy

  turtlewax1822002-10-11

  I didn't expect much seeing as how even the rental box looked somewhat cheesy. Here it's called 'Hellion: The Devil's Playground' how spooky, too bad it didn't live up to it's title. I didn't like any of the characters, well, except Danny, he was the only one who didn't annoy me. I found myself laughing at situations instead of being scared. The deaths, special effects and even acting is incredibly lame. This plot has been done many times before, and more creatively at that. I didn't feel sorry for the characters dying at all, only thing I regret is paying 3 dollars too much for this video. I wouldn't recommend it unless you like low-budget, unoriginal horrors.

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