Repossessed (2002)

Director:

John Coven

Writers:

John Coven (written by) and
Cornell Christianson (written by)

Release Date:

6 February 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Horror | Short

Tagline:

For sale: Craftsman style house, three bedrooms, two baths, fireplace, hardwood floors... haunted.

Plot:

A real estate agent shows a house to a woman who is more than she seems.

Plot Keywords:

Realtor | Vacant House | Ghost Story | Urban Legend | Lie

Awards:

1 win

Cast

JoBeth Williams	...	Tina Martin
Juliet Landau	...	Alison Labatte
Richard Irving	...	Jack Riley

Runtime:

USA:8 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Webicide Inc.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The noose around Alison's neck in the bathroom scene is not tightened (the knot is several inches from her neck, and there is space in the loop), making it unlikely to be a successful method of suicide. In the longer shots, Alison appears to be suspended about three feet below the shower curtain rod, yet the cutaways show her feet to be dangling a foot or two off the floor. Even if the curtain rod were affixed eight feet above the floor, she would have to be no more than three or four feet tall to be suspended in this way, yet she appears elsewhere in the film to be slightly taller than Tina, who is of normal height.

Yawn

An 8-minute short that feels like 20 minutes, "Repossessed" (a horrible pun) features good cinematography and smart directing, as well as above-average performances from Juliet Landau and Jo Beth Williams, but is ultimately mired in a weak story. The movie takes 3 or 4 minutes to really get started, which isn't a good idea for an 8-minute movie, and once it does get into the story, it immediately falls apart, as the surprise is telegraphed minutes before it occurs, and the movie makes the same mistake as many other horror movies ... namely, in drawing out scenes, it aims for suspense, but only produces boredom. Juliet Landau looks wonderful, and does what she can with some silly dialogue, but she can't salvage this.