The Scary House (2020) Poster

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6/10
Family horror movie to watch with kids
It's a "family horror movie". It's not scary as Conjuring or childish as Casper. Isn't great but has good moments. Fritz is, definitely, the best character; in the other hand, there's a lack of charisma to the brothers Hendrik and Eddi, but they're ok. And the successful spirit session conducted by a 10 year old (maybe less) boy was very hard to buy, but this is one of the clues that this movie can not be take so seriously. Watch with your kids (11 years or more), they will probably gonna like.
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5/10
Decent teen horror
borgolarici19 June 2021
Quite nice horror movie for teenagers, I definitely don't recommend it to an adult audience though.

The young actors do their best but the pace is slower than the story would require.
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6/10
Just ok - lovely haunted family movie
Un7865715 May 2021
Just ok ! Sometimes a bit slow and boring... but worth to watch! Not scary ! Fritz was very funny - if you like the goonies, Tatort and stranger things, maybe you will like this !
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1/10
Bad actors and stupid story
fuckyou-7858016 May 2021
One of Netflix's worst movies. The clichéd story was stolen from all sorts of films and the actors are terribly bad. The dialogues are so stupid that sometimes you don't know whether you should be ashamed or laugh about it.
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7/10
Entertaining, especially for teens.
johannes2000-13 August 2021
I liked it, it has a nice creepy atmosphere, which together with some occasional humor makes it an entertaining one and a half hour. While watching it, it became more and more clear that it's meant for a young audience, the main characters are teens, and the humor, especially of the Fritz-character, is of the more cheesy, juvenile kind. But the story is pretty solid, the photography is great, and there are several well-done scary moments. Most of the (very) young actors do their best, but don't leave lasting impressions. With the exception of Leon Orlandianyi, who's really excellent.
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1/10
Each and every cast knows how to do a bad acting
israttamanna-4370716 May 2021
Omg their bad acting made this more irritating. I would give the story 1/10 amd their acting -10/10🤣
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6/10
Simple, family movie
erhanipekciler15 May 2021
First of all Fritz is my favorite character in the movie :) it is a little childish, simple story. As everybody says you can watch with your family.
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5/10
Teens horror story
gabriel_sanchez3 November 2021
16-year-old Hendrik, his younger brother Eddie, and their mom Sabine have just moved to a small village-like town in the north of Austria because of Sabine's line of work. Hendrik is not happy.

Soon enough, Hendrik discovers his new home was the stage of a murder followed by suicide where a mom killed her children. Eddie seems to be the channel for some ghost, as he starts acting weird.

Given this movie's rating, I wasn't expecting much. The horror elements are very light with a few jumpscares, some real, some fake. There is little violence, either implied or non-visual. The movie centers on four kids, the older of them is 16 years old, so you know you won't see anything scary. This movie reminds me a lot of "Are you afraid of the dark?"

To me, there were two mysteries. One was solved, the other, I don't know. What motivated the murder. And why the hell everyone in this town is so creepy or weird for no reason. If it is because their new guests live in a haunted house, it just seems odd. Especially because we get facts that they were weird-os towards the old inhabitants of the same house, so people are just random weird-mot********** for no reason.

A childish abrupt ending seals the deal for this movie. Maybe because elaborating on a better ending could lead to a higher parental rating.
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7/10
Teen Mystery Thriller
This film should appeal to younger teens who love films where other young teens get together to uncover mysterious crime stories as in Scooby-Do and Stranger Things. The Strange House (2020) aka Das schaurige Haus (2020) is a ghost story that takes place as a haunting in the new home this family now lives in the small town.

It starts out with a family who leaves the city for a place in a small town that is more affordable but unaware of a triple murder that had happen 40-years prior. The rumor was that a mother had poisoned her two children and committed suicide. The family is unaware of the history of the home until the children make new friends with other children of similar age in the town.

The woman's handsome boy of the house with his little younger brother meet with a pretty village girl at a summer party. They hit it off well and they meet another child who becomes their nerdy friend. The three set out to unravel the true mystery behind the murders that had taken place back in the early 1980s by investigating clues much like a Scooby-Do or Goose Bumps story.

It's a fun movie for younger teens and tweens. Not very scary. Its more fun seeing them piece together clues to figure out who was actually responsible.

I'll leave it at that. You have to watch it for the big reveal at the end of the show.
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1/10
Terrible acting
linasharar20 May 2021
Boring and terrible by all means. Stupid story with actors acting with the impression as if their moms made them act in this very bad movie .. avoid!
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8/10
Just a bit of fun...
annieje23 May 2021
This might not go down in movie making history, but if you just need some lighthearted movie entertainment, and something which is also family friendly, then this will be just for you.
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6/10
Slovenia!
GiraffeDoor17 May 2021
With a title like that you don't really expect much do you?

I could swear this was a children's horror movie if not for the f-bombs but maybe they have a different connotation in the German language, I don't know. Otherwise, it's easy to imagine this as something that the disney channel might have shown, at least during the '90s. There is a retro feel to this story of youths investigating the paranormal which is consolidated by the the synthesiser heavy sections of the score.

Although this is as scary as Sauerkraut, this film bizarrely carries a lot more charm than the horror movies markets toward teens in general and I would really not recommend this for adults who are snooty about horror (of which I count myself as one).

A lot of this will feel familiar: a family sans one of the parents arrive in a new location for the remaining parent's work. The older kid is despondent the younger one isn't but then starts acting spookily. They even gave him black sclera for when he's possessed...

It's remarkable how easily these three kids team up and commit themselves to opening up this cold case, basically because they have nothing better to do. Plot elements like a gang of bullies or the deceased father just go nowhere and you bet your life there is some romance just tacked on.

Yet, the whole thing is strangely watchable. Maybe because it is non-anglophone and one always wants to encourage those. Two other elements that really add color are 1) the delightful local color of this Austrian town near the Slovenian border (featuring the language too) and 2) Fritz. Played brilliantly by the young, Lars Bitterlich, he is one of those characters who feel a bit wasted on just a movie rather than a sitcom or something. The writers use him as a sort of cheat code because since he is *eccentric* he has every skill or resource the plot needs (including a way of playing some obsolete home media). He is likable though and by far the best character.

There is nothing shocking, original or really unexpected in this narrative of youthful investigation that sort of feels like the Hardy Boys but with a cute Teutonic girl.

But like I said: although it's not exactly stunning nor clever, it manages to never be straight up dumb or goofy.
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1/10
Bad film in (wanna be) style of "DARK"
matthmu19 May 2021
Really very boring, an absolute waste of time! Not even convince the actors...
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2/10
The snailes stole the show.
geeza200618 May 2021
And thats no lie, the acting in this movie is terrible, the snails did a better job. Do yourself a favour and watch something else because this is not good at all.
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7/10
Watchable family supernatural horror movie
el715 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is one I'd personally give a 6 and a half stars. It's definitely better than average. The Strange House is a charming and well made ghost story for family viewing. There is nothing objectionable enough that you couldn't watch this with older elementary school kids, and middle schoolers can probably handle the material with no trouble. The story involves the family of widow Sabine, her sixteen year-old son Hendrik and ten year-old son Eddi, who have moved from the big city to a rural mountain town because Sabine can no longer afford their city home without her late husband's income, but she hasn't told the kids that. She says she's there to study a unique cave system as part of her career -- and she is actually, that's just not the main reason they're moving into a creepy old house sight unseen. This is the sort of setup you've probably seen before in a hundred ABC Family Halloween movies, so it's familiar but there is something comforting about that. This is not the sort of ghost story movie that's really meant to unsettle viewers. Anyway, Hendrik soon discovers that the house has an unusual effect on his little brother, who takes to sleepwalking and drawing snails on the walls, and speaking in Slovenian. In an effort to figure out what Eddi is saying in his sleep, Hendrik enlists the aid of fellow expat Fritz and local girl Ida. The threesome form a fast friendship around their ghost hunting activities while trying to stay out of the way of local bullies, and they uncover a long ago trio of deaths in the house. It would seem that the previous occupants are not resting easy. Meanwhile, the creepy realtor won't stop hitting on Hendrik's mom. Overall this is just a really cute movie that's a little melancholy but not terribly scary. The scenery is gorgeous, the characters are likeable, and the plot does drag through a few too many red herrings, but if you like family friendly horror movies you should definitely check this one out.
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5/10
A basic and boring production, though not awful throughout.
connorundrumme15 May 2021
This is the kind of movie that reminds you to love yourself more for not having children, because 'there for the grace' did you not end up with a teen that wakes up rolling its eyes in baleful lameness, and uttering sh!tty put-downs all day and night. Seriously, you'd just end up committing infanticide yourself in that house.
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6/10
A sweet house
gurumaggie15 May 2021
This is the kind of film you could watch with the entire family, it's not scarey it's sort of innocent and it reminded me of stranger things when it was good.

I thought the kids were all good in their roles.
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1/10
A 5 REALLY?? absolutely NOThat was terrible as well. HING happens!! The story was boring, dont bother!!
joiningjt19 May 2021
The kids were ok but nothing great it's trying to be a goonies and a goosebumps movie and accomplishes neither. The story is very pedestrian and tries to be scary but never is, the supposed ghosts are not scary and just look like extras in a film. Nothing happens and it has a lack luster ending. I watched the dubbed version as we hate subtitles and.
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6/10
Just Ok
gab-6759915 May 2021
It was not the worst movie I have ever seen but also it was not the best. I loved Fritz, I think his character was the only reason I kept watching. The ghost's looked fake and the actors were all dull. I did end up finishing it, but it felt a bit drawn out. It had a few curse words in it but I still was able to watch it with my 11 yo. If you have nothing better to watch I would say give this a go. Definitely not a horror, to be a horror it would need to be scary either in the normal since or the scary since. This movie will not make you jump what so ever.
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1/10
Khan Review
zkzuber26 November 2021
Very bad boring don't waste your time. Can't call it kid movie or family entertainer or scary, it's dull complete waste of time. The girl seems to be so lazy she is finding hard to run, or pretend to be scare or shocked. She walking while the possesed guy is following as if she is walking on ramp. It's not even a children film even kids will find it boring.
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8/10
Good movie for family!
christineballone15 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
First of all the title in German translates to gruesome house not strange or scary!

The movie starts out all too familiar with a family( father died) moving to an old house in an Austrian village. Supposedly a mother killed her 2 sons and herself by eating poisonous mushrooms.

Without giving away any spoilers the children of the new family unite with children from the village to solve the mystery of the deaths!

The film was predictable but enjoyable also because of the beautiful Austrian surroundings and mainly for me because I come from there and I could watch it in German !

Totally recommend this as a family film that both parents and kids can watch together!

Has a surprise and feel good ending!
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6/10
Kids know it
kosmasp17 May 2021
Don't expect this to be full on horror. This is aimed at kids - or families in general! So this is rather "soft" for anyone who is used to horror movies or a fan thereof. Having said that, that leaves it up to you if you want to watch it - if you already know this will annoy and/or bore you, why do it? Better not watch at all I'd say.

If on the other hand you are the target audience or watch this with the intended target audience you will be able to enjoy it on a different level. Decent enough and some interesting characters/performances too. Doesn't reinvent the wheel, but doesn't have to either.
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1/10
How dumb are your kids?
takato052414 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This movie was terrible. I understand these are children, but they are 16/17 years old. You're telling me they don't have the common sense to not make most of the decisions they did? The biggest one for me was near the end. A man is chasing you, so you decide to go into a cave? And go deeper and deeper into it knowing there is only one way out? Stop it. I was already bothered that these two older teens were hanging out with an 21 year old, but other things also added to the annoyance. Like why did the one boy have beef with our main boy? That was added for 0 reason. Added nothing to the story. Save yourself some time with this one and pass it by.
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2/10
Do you know what is scary ?
nodoubtnow20075 September 2021
Scary is to realize that someone find this movie good and well acted.

Scary is to know that someone wrote this stupid script and someone accept to directed like this.

2 stars : Photography Local setting

So bad, so bad! Omg.
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6/10
A Decent Distraction for a Night
AnirudhGod16 July 2021
An interesting distraction that has has a decent premise, and interesting moments of visual imagery and characters. The imagery here is pretty evocative of the Dark series, and is strangely atmospheric. The characters, especially our protags, pretty much lack any interesting qualities that made me feel invested in their personal journey. It was interesting when our elder brother, Hendrik, is facing a conflict of getting out of the country-side and go back to the city. But it all goes nowhere. He becomes a blankslate by the end, and his journey doesn't matter. Of course, he finds love pretty easily, so, that makes him feel better. It's all jumbled and not that well developed, so the movie has not much of an impact going for it. Anyway, it's pretty much a one time watch, and you can quickly forget it after you turn it off.
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