One of the stars of this, Glynis Johns, just turned 100. I believe she's also the oldest actor/actress to have an Oscar nomination (her best-known role is probably that of the mother in Mary Poppins). I think Eva Marie Saint is the oldest Oscar-winning actor or actress, at 99.
That centennial and the fact that The Halfway House had an interesting premise made me want to check it out. If anything, it sounded a bit like The Hateful Eight on paper, just not violent and not a western, given this follows a bunch of strangers who all end up at an inn where everyone feels uneasy.
There's not a great deal beyond the premise. I feel like it was all a bit limited and underwritten, with intriguing ideas and an ambitious premise, but not much beyond that to make it great. You can get some enjoyment out of the acting, and when it gets a little more fantastical or mysterious, it can feel like it's going somewhere... but it never really takes off, and might just be too restrained.
Anyway, compared to some of the horror movies I've been watching lately, at least this was watchable. Maybe not good exactly, but watchable. It's an old, dry British film, but it's still kind of cool that one of its stars is still living.
That centennial and the fact that The Halfway House had an interesting premise made me want to check it out. If anything, it sounded a bit like The Hateful Eight on paper, just not violent and not a western, given this follows a bunch of strangers who all end up at an inn where everyone feels uneasy.
There's not a great deal beyond the premise. I feel like it was all a bit limited and underwritten, with intriguing ideas and an ambitious premise, but not much beyond that to make it great. You can get some enjoyment out of the acting, and when it gets a little more fantastical or mysterious, it can feel like it's going somewhere... but it never really takes off, and might just be too restrained.
Anyway, compared to some of the horror movies I've been watching lately, at least this was watchable. Maybe not good exactly, but watchable. It's an old, dry British film, but it's still kind of cool that one of its stars is still living.