Horror Movie Review: The Attic (2007)

Directed by Mary Lambert, The Attic is a forgettable psychological horror that tries its hardest to pretend to be a supernatural horror, even though everyone can see the twist coming a mile away.

Elisabeth Moss stars as Emma, a young woman who has moved to a new house alongside her parents and brother. Once a lively and outgoing character, the new house seems to have an adverse effect on her, in particular, the attic.

It’s while in there one day, that she gets attacked by someone who looks exactly like her. A story that no-one believes of course. Although it does give her the opportunity to meet the dashing and sympathetic deputy, John (Jason Lewis).

As the days and weeks go by, strange events continue to occur around Emma, and she begins to sink into a depressive state. She becomes an agoraphobic, and begins to suspect her parents are hiding something from her. Confirmed when she discovers she once had a sister named Beth who died twelve days after Emma was born.

Emma believes that Beth has returned to take her place and that her parents might be involved in the plan.

It’s one of the rare times you’re going to read us saying that a film would have been far better had it stuck to the story it seemed to be trying to tell. In this case, a paranormal horror. While another ghost story is so far from what anyone wants, even in 2007, at least it would have made sense.

Which is one of the biggest problems with The Attic as, in an attempt to subvert expectations, it has a double twist. One that is hilariously signposted every step of the way, and another that is so stupid that it hurts some of the positive aspects of the movie.

Which there are some, the most notable being the performance of Elisabeth Moss, who does the mental descent aspects of her character well and in believable fashion. There’s also the initial intrigue, that certainly will keep people watching for a while.

…and that’s about it. It comes and it goes, forgotten about almost immediately after watching and leaves absolutely no impact at all.