Open House (1987)

Someone is killing off nubile real estate agents. A psychologist doing a therapy talk show begins getting calls from the perpetrator, and cooperates with the police to try and stop him. ... See full summary »

Director:

Jag Mundhra

Writers:

David M. Evans (screenplay), Jag Mundhra (story)

Stars:

Joseph Bottoms, Adrienne Barbeau, Rudy Ramos

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joseph Bottoms	...	Dr. David Kelley
Adrienne Barbeau	...	Lisa Grant
Rudy Ramos	...	Rudy Estevez
Mary Stavin	...	Katie Thatcher
Scott Thompson Baker	...	Joe Pearcy (as Scott Baker)
Darwyn Swalve	...	Harry
Robert Miano	...	Shapiro
Page Mosely	...	Toby
Johnny Haymer	...	Paul Bernal
Leonard Lightfoot	...	TJ
Barry Hope	...	Barney Resnick
Stacey Adams	...	Tracey
Roxanne Baird	...	Allison
Tiffany Bolling	...	Judy Roberts
Dena Drotar	...	The Fan

Storyline

Someone is killing off nubile real estate agents. A psychologist doing a therapy talk show begins getting calls from the perpetrator, and cooperates with the police to try and stop him. Unfortunately, his lover is a real estate agent, and when it becomes clear that the madman is getting information for his kills from her discarded home listings, they both become endangered.

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Plot Keywords:

real estate agent | real estate | psychologist | electrocution | fall from height | 

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Taglines:

Now it's open season for murder

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Assassino

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Adrienne Barbeau acted in this movie so she she could pay her son's tuition fees.

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Quotes

Adrienne Barbeau: When's the last time that you so much as read the ingredients on a can of deodorant?

User Reviews

Pretty pleasing slasher silliness

Real estate plus murder. I'm a great fan of kooky combinations in my slasher cinema, so Open House automatically had a leg up for me, being a tale of Adrienne Barbeau menaced both by an ass-hole rival and a serial killer taking out her various contemporaries. By and large though, it operates just a click or two above the majority of late 80's slasher trash, which is to say that no one outside of slasher geeks should feel any compulsion to check it out, but those who do may well value it above say, Iced or Fatal Pulse. Standard plotting, we have a lady estate agent amongst the murders of her comrades, attached to a radio psychiatrist troubled after a suicide but possessor perhaps of a link to the villainous culprit. There are murders, house selling, radio scenes and so forth, building to a fairly effective climax and interesting motive boasting a modicum of legitimate social interest. Mostly this is standard trash, but it holds together a little better than a lot of its era. For one, the kills are nicely spaced throughout the film, there are a fair number and the film allots a good length to several, allowing for a nice build up of suspense and at times a fun helping of minor sleaze (yessum, there be boobs). Not much gore in this party, but there are a few after the event corpses and some OK bloodshed, moreover the kills are generally competently and even amusingly constructed, making for a fairly worthy ride. Acting is typically variable but important parties do OK, Barbeau gives her all as well as brief nudity, a strong and likable turn. Joseph Bottoms isn't up to much as her boyfriend but he hardly embarrasses himself, while Barry Hope is effectively seedy as the ass-hole of the piece. There isn't much to impress here, with the few genuinely good ideas a little ill used and a vague sense of boredom often sliding in between active moments but somehow things tend to pull through, nothing too much in the way of flair or incompetence but the bright spots here and there are rather cool. All in all this is another of those films that are only at all worth watching for serious slasher geeks and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, but for those who have to see it it surely won't make you want to gouge your eyes out in the same manner as some of its fellows.