FILM

USA 2011 92 mins Dir: Jim Sheridan Starring: Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Marton Csokas

Crikey - the director of 'My Left Foot' and 'In the Name of the Father' bags an A-list cast, including James Bond himself. This you've got to see, right? Oh dear, it's a schlocky, preposterous psychological/supernatural potboiler, whose main twist is not only heavily telegraphed but given away explicitly in the trailer. If you're familiar with a certain enjoyably noirish recent blockbuster from a big-name director, with a global superstar in the lead role, you'll know exactly what's going on here.

Will Atenton (Craig) quits his big city publishing job to spend more time with his family - lovely spouse Libby (Weisz) and two perfect daughters - in their snow-covered chocolate box dream house in the country. Thankfully, the genre means that something nasty is going to happen before we all have the uncontrollable urge to vomit. The couple soon find evidence of a family who lived here before them, but all the locals seem shifty and unhelpful, especially neighbour Ann Patterson (Watts). It then emerges that their beautiful abode was the scene of an 'orrible murder, when a hubby slaughtered his wife and kids. What's more, he's just got out of the nuthouse!

The Bloody Obvious Twist follows 40 minutes in, after which the film has nothing left to do but get sillier and sillier until we're left with Craig, ghosts and bad guys running round hysterically in a burning house. There's an awful lot of slumming talent on display here, though one fears that by invoking 'The Shining' (Atenton is an aspiring author) writer David Loucka imagined he was creating something classy. Weisz and Craig got a marriage out of this, which was nice. But it's hard to imagine anyone else finding it quite so memorable. (Robin Askew)

Website www.dreamhousemovie.net/

Opens: November 25

Copyright Robin Askew 2011