Grindstone Road

May. 20,2008      NR
Rating:
4.5
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Trailer Synopsis Cast

The Sloan's young son Daniel has been in coma for an extended period of time following a car accident. Hannah, who was driving at the time of the accident, is suffering a great deal of guilt and depression. Shortly after moving into a newly purchased farmhouse, strange occurrences begin to happen.

Fairuza Balk as  Hannah
Greg Bryk as  Graham
Joan Gregson as  Linda
Dylan Authors as  Daniel Jenkins
Matt Gordon as  Martin
Zachary Bennett as  John Dodson
Felix Pennell as  Danny Sloan

Reviews

UnowPriceless
2008/05/20

hyped garbage

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StyleSk8r
2008/05/21

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

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Hayden Kane
2008/05/22

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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Griff Lees
2008/05/23

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

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mherrin-43253
2008/05/24

Grindstone Road: Directed by Melanie Orr and written by Paul GermannGrindstone Road is another movie where a couple after having suffered a tragedy moving from the great big city to a country home with a devastating secret. You've seen this movie before probably about a million different times. Fairuza Balk is the only reason this movie was even on my radar. I have put a moratorium on movies like this. I think I've seen enough movies like this to last me a very long time. This is a by the book ordinary film trying to be creepy and failing miserably in the process. We were able to guess every little thing that happened throughout this dull and generic mess. I'm not sure what time period this is designed to take place in but it features the usual staples of landline phones not working out in the country, going to the library to look at old newspapers rather than searching for these very same things online. This is what most of us would do now. This is why I think it must be in a different time period. I imagine the writer might be trying to bring back this type of story. I wish they hadn't and also wish they hadn't drug Fairuza Balk into this boring nonsense. The visual style of the movie is very flat. Nothing really pops out until the scenes in the afterlife but even then it's rudimentary. They try for those jump scares but fail immensely. Every type of scare it attempts flops horribly. The main thing about this story is the atmosphere and they can't even figure this one out. This movie is a dull, lazy and boring mess. Skip it.I give this movie a D.

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Leofwine_draca
2008/05/25

Another cheap haunted house movie that comes to us from Canada. This is a cookie-cutter filmmaking experience with dark and gloomy cinematography and a cast who feel that their hearts aren't really in it. Fairuza Balk (THE CRAFT), unrecognisably aged, plays a grieving housewife whose son has been left in a coma after a car accident. She's heavily medicated and starts experiencing weird visions.You can guess the rest from here. It's another is-she-going-out-of-her-mind-or-isn't-she? type plot of the kind which has been done to death over and over again throughout the years. This low budget tale brings nothing new to the table. Balk is dull and the rest of the cast even duller. The scenes of her being menaced by a CGI-faced kid are laughable. The director throws in some clichéd jump scares to startle the viewer and the story finishes with the silliest twist ever. GRINDSTONE ROAD? A grind to watch, more like.

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MoviesReviews101
2008/05/26

Story: A couple moves to get over a family tragedy in this case an accident that leaves their son in a coma. The wife feels guiltier as she was driving and struggles with her own sanity. The husband is trying to get on with life and support his wife but is getting tired of it. Everything has been built up for a basic drama but this is a horror. As the wife is more vulnerable she starts getting visited by a ghost child, which does the usual scares her first but in reality wants her help to discover what happened to him. The story tries to throw in a few twists and turns but with very limited characters introduced it struggles to really surprise us. It is a simple ghost story that is easy to watch but really isn't anything standing out. (5/10)Actor ReviewFairuza Balk: Hannah who has been involved in an accident leaving her son in a coma, she is stuck suffering for what happened but she starts getting visited by a ghostly figure of a young boy. Once she realizes the house they moved into might be haunted she tries to figure out about its history only to discover the boy was murdered in the house. Good performance in the simple investigator role. (6/10)Greg Bryk: Graham husband to Hannah who is trying to put the life back together and accepting their son will not wake up from his coma. He struggles to cope with everything that is happening with his wife but tries to support the best he can. Simple supporting performance. (4/10)Walter Learning: Ted a neighbour who helps with the renovation of the house, but reluctant to tell much about the history of the house. Basic supporting performance. (5/10)Joan Gregson: Linda partner of the neighbour who tries to make them all feel welcome, but also reluctant to talk about the houses history. Another basic supporting performance. (5/10)Director Review: Melanie Orr – Simple ghost story created with the ABC moments for the character to go through. (5/10)Horror: No real scares used at all, but the basic ghost story told. (4/10)Settings: New house good setting for ghost story but otherwise nothing used that is that special. (7/10)Suggestion: If you are bored and this is on one night give it a try otherwise this isn't one to be going out of your way to see. (Late Night TV)Best Part: Creepy Toy?Worst Part: No real thrills of scares.Believability: No (0/10)Chances of Tears: No (0/10)Chances of Sequel: NoPost Credits Scene: NoOscar Chances: NoRuntime: 1 Hour 33 MinutesTagline: There goes the neighbourhoodOverall: Ghost Story without scaresCheck out more reviews at http://moviesreview101.com/

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Paul Andrews
2008/05/27

Grindstone Rd. starts as Hannah Sloan (Fairuza Balk) visits her comatose son Daniel (Felix Pennall) in hospital, Daniel has been in a coma for about a year after a car accident in which Hannah was driving & as a result she blames herself for his condition. Hannah drives out to her childhood town of Evansville where an large old house on Grindstone Road is for sale, it's rundown & needs attention but Hannah falls in love with it & together with her psychiatrist husband Graham (Greg Bryk) moves in. Standing in the middle of a wood the Sloan's nearest neighbour's are elderly old couple Linda (Joan Gregson) & Ted Jenkins (Walter Learning) who seem friendly enough, however they seem nervous when inside the Sloan's house & Hannah soon discovers that many years ago a young boy named Daniel who lived there went missing & that the man who was accused of killing him committed suicide in the basement. Soon Hannah starts to experience supernatural visions & happenings as the house appears haunted by Daniel who seems to be trying to communicate with Hannah, if only someone would believe her...This Canadian production was directed by Melanie Orr & is a pretty dull supernatural drama thriller with little to recommend it, films like Grindstone Rd. are a dime a dozen & this dreary effort adds nothing new to the clichés & routine formula. The script is strictly by the numbers, someone with emotional issues moves into a big old creepy house & starts to experience supernatural visions & happenings as a ghost who suffered in life tries to communicate with said new owner & right the wrongs that they suffered, Grindstone Rd. is totally predictable & I saw the so-called twist ending coming a mile off since I have seen so many of these lacklustre rip-offs before & know the deal. Grindstone Rd. starts off alright, it introduces our character's in a semi mysterious way with various flashbacks & quickly cut scenes that don't seem to go anywhere (Hannah walking into a hospital room & then suddenly cutting to another scene for instance) that I suppose was meant to create some suspense but once the script switches to the old house & the plot starts to be revealed things go downhill fast. Virtually nothing happens, sure Hannah hears voices, sees a few ghostly images & rather randomly decides to investigate the disappearance of Daniel but it plods along at a Snail's pace & becomes extremely boring. The character's are dull, the events of the film are dull, the basic mystery surrounding the supernatural occurrences is dull & I found the 90 minute running time pretty hard to get through. I suppose if you like ghost stories in particular then you may like Grindstone Rd. as it's competent if forgettable but I just found the whole thing a predictable bore with a really annoying happier than happy ending.The low body count doesn't help either, in fact there isn't a body count as no-one is killed except the evil doers who the ghost wants revenge on & even then it's more in a self defence scenario rather than pure hate driven revenge. There's zero gore, there's a bath scene with no nudity & the scares are pretty tame. There are one or two nice shots here but overall Grindstone Rd. is forgettable on all levels. To call Grindstone Rd. a horror film is stretching things to be honest, even though it has a ghost in it I'd say it's more of a psychological thriller. Quite why Hannah feels she can solve the decades old mystery of Daniel disappearing when all the cops at the time couldn't I don't know & why did the killers who murdered Daniel all those years ago move out of the house & literally a few hundred feet down the road?Filmed in Hamilton in Ontario in Canada this has decent enough production values is is reasonably well made although it's fairly basic & not much to look at visually. The acting is alright, Balk is quite good I suppose if I want to be positive.Grindstone Rd. is a really dull ghost story, it's predictable & at 90 minutes long it takes forever to go nowhere in particular. There are better ways to waste an hour & a half, also what's up with the DVD cover? Sure it's great with dripping blood & an eerie looking house in a misty setting but doesn't represent the film at all, it's like they say though 'never judge a book by it's cover'.

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