Empty Rooms (2012) User Reviews

What happened to the horror...?

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 25 August 2013]

"Empty Rooms" is more of a drama than it is a horror movie. I wasn't fully aware of that when I sat down to watch this movie, so it was somewhat of a disappointing experience for me, as I had expected somewhat more scary from the movie.

The movie is about a single mom who moves to a new house with her autistic son. However, the boy is not fond of staying in the house and is drawing a strange, naked man. Soon things start to happen to the mom and the son starts hiding in the basement. It turns out that the house is not empty at all.

Storywise, then the horror in the movie was really tame and rather dull. In this aspect, the movie progressed in a really slow and dull pace, and the events taking place weren't really scary.

However, if you look at the movie from the drama aspect, the story dealing with a single mom's struggle to raise an autistic child by herself, then the story was actually good enough, it had potential, but it was initially worn thin and stampeded by the 'horror' element.

As far as the acting go, then people were really doing good jobs with their given roles and characters, and this is what makes the movie somewhat bearable to sit through.

The synopsis says: 'A single mother and her mute, autistic son are terrorized by supernatural entities in this haunting story of love, loss and the occult.' - if that was to be the case of the movie, then these entities had mightily physical manifestations. And you don't really believe them to be supernatural entities at all.

"Empty Rooms" receives a 4 out of 10 stars rating from me, given the acting and the drama part of the movie. I think the 'horror' element was an anchor weighing down the movie, because it was anything but scary or disturbing.

Most accurate review

[duckman_079 · 5/10 · 23 April 2020]

The plot/story is of the typical haunted house movie. Which isn't bad, but nothing that original. The acting was believable to me, unlike other low budget films. Although it was a little slow, it wasn't The Village slow. What stand out as exceptional, is that although the budget was $47.36, whoever put this together did an outstanding job at the creepiness and complete lack of stupid dialogue which usually prevents me from enduring a low budget film. I was very satisfied with the ending as well. To me, a 5 rating means that it's nothing to get excited about, but definitely a decent movie.

I got us bagels.

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 22 August 2017]

Maddie Usher ( Ramlah Frediani) ushers her autistic child Jonah (Charlie Koudsi) into a new home and has the support of her New Age sister Amber (Tegan Ashton Cohan). Jonah, who is mute, doesn't like the house, He draws pictures of a large naked man....and we know where this is going.

The script attempted to change up the formula a bit, but there is only so much you can do. Jonah gets blamed for things and then...We do have options...Captain Howdy, ghosts, mom is crazy, or maybe someone is living in the walls of the house. Dialogue and soundtrack was similar to a made for TV film. Odd twist.

Guide: F-word. Attempted rape. FF nudity (Ramlah Frediani)

from a non affiliated horror movie fan

[flitz35 · 1/10 · 24 August 2013]

Reading the 5 reviews I had good expectations of watching a well made ghost horror movie. I was very disappointed. I wasn't scared once and was waiting for this mess to end. The 5 other reviewers only reviewed this movie telling me it's individuals who are affiliated with the making of this movie.

Not plot not scares and horrible acting is what wasted 90 mins of my time and this is coming from someone who loves a good ghost story and is always non partial when reviewing a movie. I have learned my lesson. I will do my research instead the reviewers before and not after I watch a movie with unusually great reviews. Thanks for reading.

Creepy As Hell

[shawnblackman · 5/10 · 13 October 2016]

This was one of those real slow burner horrors that has a single mother moving into a new house with her autistic son. Things get bad for them when a chubby naked man and a toothless woman turn out to be the house ghosts. The ghosts are creepy as hell because they are physically there tossing people around and then just disappear. The family gets torn apart as people don't believe she's being haunted but instead abusing her son.

They did this one well with the gradual build up and then it just starts freaking you out. When you see those redneck ghosts the hair will stand up on the back of your neck. Not a huge budget film but I liked it better than those Paranormal Whacktivities. Check it out.

Completely dull

[Leofwine_draca · 1/10 · 28 April 2018]

EMPTY ROOMS is yet another indie haunted house flick utterly devoid of any horror content or even any suspense. Bad camerawork abounds in the story of a single mother who moves into a haunted place with her autistic kid, where absolutely nothing proceeds to happen. It's all about wooden acting and trite dialogue and nothing in between.

Complete mess of a double ending looses all respect for director

[boydwalters · 2/10 · 25 August 2013]

Don't misunderstand me ... I wasn't particularly impressed by the direction before the end ... And the characters were somewhat annoying ... The film is fairly mediocre modern horror ... All set in a middle class world ... No visual style ... Obviously grew up in front of the television ... The main actress does OK ... The child is fine cos he doesn't have anything to say ... The sister is hugely annoying ... But nothing is really wrong ... Just same old same old ... Until the end ... Then the next end ... And basically it completely goes into this silly badly done mess which it attempts to get out of by using clichés ... Its awful and looses the director any respect that he had for at least trying

I can not believe people like this movie.

[jacobjohntaylor1 · 1/10 · 18 July 2018]

This is a horror movie that is not scary. It has an awful story line. It has an awful ending. Do not see this movie. See The Amityville horror. See Amityville II. Do not see this movie. It is awful.

I was left sad at the end!

[fiercecouture · 7/10 · 20 June 2020]

I really liked the maddie character. There are few jump scares, but I wish they had gone more into the back story of the house to see why it was haunted. It's not the worst movie I've seen but could have been better

Great horror film, better than most I have seen in a long time

[symphonyno1 · 10/10 · 25 October 2012]

I recently saw the world premiere of this film at the Thriller! Chiller! film festival in Grand Rapids, MI. Although I did not get a chance to see many of the films over the three day weekend, this was definitely the best of the ones I caught, and in fact it went on to win best feature. In fact, I can honestly say it is one of the best of its genre I have seen, on or off the big screen, in a very long time. The film maker has stated in interviews that he was going for the 1970s horror film vibe and particularly those which built up intense emotion without the use of a lot of gore, and that is exactly what he accomplished. Besides being a great story, the quality of the film itself (cinematography, acting, sound, etc.) were great, and if I had seen it in another venue I probably would have thought it was a studio film. I love horror, but not much scares me film-wise, but I was definitely on the edge of my seat for much of this one. I am really looking forward to what's next for the film-maker!

Excellent Vision

[corywallace9 · 9/10 · 3 April 2013]

I really enjoyed this film.

Refreshing to see a low budget horror flick with some thought and heart put into it.

Amazing to me see movie after movie made with 1000 times the resources these guys had that don't demonstrate any feel for telling a story.

The acting performances are right on, the writing is superb, and the look and feel of the movie is cohesive and chilling. It is obvious from the start that they knew what story they want to tell and do so without apology.

The sometimes frustrating while simultaneously loving relationship that a single mother has with her special needs child is unexpectedly heady fare for this genre. Ramlah Yavar and Adam Llamas deserve serious kudos for bringing this to this movie and making it so accessible.

Tegan Ashton Cohan is also adorable as the "new age auntie". It would have been so easy to make this character a caricature, but Ms. Cohan manages to make her lovable and real while also bringing a lot of weight and power when needed. This girl means it when she tells somebody they have to do so something and we the audience can not help but agree; an impressive accomplishment considering we also get see her dancing around like a drunken yogi while burning sage in an attempted 'energy cleanse'.

Really hope to see more from these guys. Great work!

"Empty Rooms" is full of fear!

[vslwns · 9/10 · 25 October 2012]

Fear is a motivator to bring people together or tear them apart. Fear for your child with or without disabilities is primal and all encompassing. "Empty Rooms" brings out all these emotions in a terrifying and "edge of your seat" narrative. You leap out of your chair many times in this psychological thriller directed by Adam Lamas. Get the right director and you will get a million dollar scare.Loved the retro feel of the film. It reminds me of when I would hunker down into my seat at the old Roosevelt theater, popcorn in hand, ready to cover my eyes in anticipation of the terror filled horror about to leap off the screen. What a thrill ride, a good story, good acting and a shocking hour and half that keeps you wondering what happens next. Loved it.

awesome little drama/horror/thriller out of nowhere

[harrisonlionel23 · 10/10 · 2 September 2013]

i was impressed with this little movie. i think it might be mis-marketed (is that an expression?) to die hard fans of the genre. there is very little blood. more of a drama about girls with some freaky ghost sexual assaults in it. the pacing is deliberately slow and subtle and only a few horror clichés make an appearance and are then kind of turned upside down. from what i am able to tell, a bunch of obscure artists came together and did something very well with what seems to be no money. the performances are spot on. the director really managed to get them to emote honestly, which is not something you see in most horror movies. what i enjoyed is the fact that it didn't talk down to me. almost felt slice-of-lifey only with ghosts. i'm not really that much of a horror fan. i found this one to be scary enough, though i can see horror fans being irked by how much horror is replaced by skillful drama. this is one for people who like craft, and artful efforts to tell a story with subtlety and no money in the bank. judging by the stats, women are digging this movie more than men. i think i understand why. nonetheless, i loved it. the critics seem to agree.

Holy Crapola!

[littlesister1006 · 10/10 · 25 October 2012]

The story lulls you in to a somewhat peaceful state and then suddenly you have the crap scared out of you in the blink of an eye. This is a tremendous psychological thriller about a mother and her autistic and mute son. Maddie mother wants to make a change in her and her sons Jonah's life. She buys and beautiful house in the suburbs. As her sons behavior slowly changes, she still does not realize the secrets this pleasant looking house still has for her and son.

Adam was able get grab the feel of many of the psychological thrillers of the 70s. He has chosen the perfect house for the setting of this thriller. Casting of the actors was superb for this shocker! Can't wait to see what he has in store for us with his next movie! Loved it