Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Michael Kleen (makleen2) A young couple moves into an old farmhouse, only to experience a series of strange events. Is the ghost of a missing child reaching out for help from beyond the grave? In capable hands, Grindstone Road (2008), written by Paul Germann and directed by Melanie Orr, had the potential to be an entertaining (if not very original) horror film. Unfortunately, it doesn't even rise to the level of a made-for-TV movie.Melanie Orr is a script supervisor (oversees a film's continuity) who has directed episodes for a number of television shows. Grindstone Road was her sophomore effort. Paul Germann is a sound effects editor who has written a grand total of one film. Grindstone Road must have been so bad he never got another script optioned. It was like he had a weird dream and decided to make a movie out of it.Somehow they tricked Fairuza Balk into starring in their clichéd and mediocre Canadian horror film. Balk appeared in some popular movies in the '90s, including The Craft (1996), American History X (1998), and The Waterboy (1998), then dropped off the public's radar. She always embraced "alternative" roles, and wears a goth-ish outfit for one scene in this movie, but otherwise plays a conventional housewife. That's like asking Jackson Pollock to paint an idyllic country cottage. It's just not right.As bad as Grindstone Road is, at least it has an interesting story. Wracked with guilt over a car accident that left her son Daniel (Felix Pennell) in a deep coma, Hannah (Fairuza Balk) begins having strange experiences in her new home. Her husband, Graham (Greg Bryk), is oblivious and blames the antidepressants she takes to help ease the pain. Their neighbors, an elderly couple named Ted (Walter Learning) and Linda (Joan Gregson), alert them to the possibility their house is haunted.Hannah discovers a young boy, also named Daniel (Dylan Authors), disappeared while living in the house and may have been abused by his parents. John Dodson (Zachary Bennett), a mysterious man who only Hannah can see, serves as a red herring to deflect attention from the real villains. Since there are only a handful of characters, you can probably guess who they are. It was refreshing to see elderly antagonists, although the religious motivation behind their crimes is eye-rolling.With a budget of $1.5 million, there's really no excuse for the film to be this bad. Daniel's character looks like they slapped flour and black lipstick on his face. There are plenty of examples of decent horror movies with ghosts that look like regular people. They could have used context clues, lighting, or even an interesting costume to indicate he was a ghost, anything but this awful makeup. John Dodson is also a ghost, but goes makeup-free. I guess that's to trick the audience into thinking he's a living, breathing character.There is one captivating scene in which Hannah struggles to get out of a noose while hanging from the basement rafter. It looks real and it looks like Fairuza Balk did the scene herself.Filmmakers treat the horror genre as an excuse to make low quality films, and this check-the-box ghost story is no exception. Despite veteran leads (Greg Bryk also appeared in A History of Violence, Shoot 'Em Up, and a number of TV shows), Grindstone Road is the Halloween equivalent of a Hallmark Channel Christmas story. It currently has an 18 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and you can watch it for free on YouTube.

Leofwine_draca Another cheap haunted house movie that comes to us from Canada. This is a cookie-cutter filmmaking experience with dark and gloomy cinematography and a cast who feel that their hearts aren't really in it. Fairuza Balk (THE CRAFT), unrecognisably aged, plays a grieving housewife whose son has been left in a coma after a car accident. She's heavily medicated and starts experiencing weird visions.You can guess the rest from here. It's another is-she-going-out-of-her-mind-or-isn't-she? type plot of the kind which has been done to death over and over again throughout the years. This low budget tale brings nothing new to the table. Balk is dull and the rest of the cast even duller. The scenes of her being menaced by a CGI-faced kid are laughable. The director throws in some clichéd jump scares to startle the viewer and the story finishes with the silliest twist ever. GRINDSTONE ROAD? A grind to watch, more like.

Morbius Fitzgerald Okay, I understand that this movie has problems. I wont deny that. However in terms of your standard low budget ghost house flick...this is above average.I think at this point its important to note that I am a huge fan of Fairuza Balk. Her acting in this was actually pretty believable and it did provide the film with the best performance. I should mention that because I'm a fan of her, the rating was never altered in any way just because she's in it.Hannah was in a car crash with her 11 year old son, Daniel. She made it out okay but Daniel is in a coma. A year later Daniel is still in a coma but Hannah hasn't lost any hope that he'll wake up. She moves to a house with her husband, Graham (played by Greg Bryk). Suffering from feelings of extreme guilt, Hannah takes antidepressants and sleeping pills. She then begins to see things in the house. Graham believes that the medication is just producing a side effect and she discovers from one of her neighbors that a boy went missing (also aged 11 and also named Daniel) and she begins to look for the clues that might point her to what happened to him.As I said before, I am aware that this movie has problems. I mean the scariest jump scares in the movie are a little boy chanting, water and pipes rattling. However some of this set up, you have to admit, is pretty damn well done. Firstly, the kid in the car crash adds depth to the character of Hannah. She has prayed and never given up hope that her son will wake up. The use of her medication is also pretty well done because it does leave the door open to "this could all be some nervous breakdown" and Fairuza pulls this off brilliantly. This is the only thing about the film that is even remotely creepy, (the Is it psychological? Is it real? type thing)I think I should mention some of the bad aspects too. The jump scares in this film are AWFUL and overused (you have a great psychological scare set up and you don't rely on that?), the third act is rushed and clichéd (and almost ruined an otherwise pretty well done film) and this one can kind of be blamed on nitpicking but the house on the cover isn't the house they're in. The house on the cover is wooden, rectangular and more like a cabin. The house in the movie is brick, 2 stories high rounded and actually looks like a decent enough place to live in. Take this however you want to. I mean I like that it didn't go for the traditional haunted house look but at the same time...they couldn't get a photo of it to put on the cover of their movie?In terms of what I liked...the acting is pretty well done from most performers. At some points Greg Bryk left a lot to be desired as did Joan Gregson but as a whole their performances were okay. The cinematography is actually quite well put together (it is by far the most visually stunning haunted house film in years), the sets were well done.So see this how you will. Its not a great horror movie but I don't think it was trying to be. At least, unlike your average Paranormal Activity film, there is some effort. The set up could've made way for an excellent film it just needed more time in the writers lap to correct mistakes. If you want to see a film that attempts jump scares but is actually more effective at psychological scares and creating mood, I'd say check it out. It might have a few bad things about it but its not as bad as what the other reviewers make it out to be.

Paul Andrews Grindstone Rd. starts as Hannah Sloan (Fairuza Balk) visits her comatose son Daniel (Felix Pennall) in hospital, Daniel has been in a coma for about a year after a car accident in which Hannah was driving & as a result she blames herself for his condition. Hannah drives out to her childhood town of Evansville where an large old house on Grindstone Road is for sale, it's rundown & needs attention but Hannah falls in love with it & together with her psychiatrist husband Graham (Greg Bryk) moves in. Standing in the middle of a wood the Sloan's nearest neighbour's are elderly old couple Linda (Joan Gregson) & Ted Jenkins (Walter Learning) who seem friendly enough, however they seem nervous when inside the Sloan's house & Hannah soon discovers that many years ago a young boy named Daniel who lived there went missing & that the man who was accused of killing him committed suicide in the basement. Soon Hannah starts to experience supernatural visions & happenings as the house appears haunted by Daniel who seems to be trying to communicate with Hannah, if only someone would believe her...This Canadian production was directed by Melanie Orr & is a pretty dull supernatural drama thriller with little to recommend it, films like Grindstone Rd. are a dime a dozen & this dreary effort adds nothing new to the clichés & routine formula. The script is strictly by the numbers, someone with emotional issues moves into a big old creepy house & starts to experience supernatural visions & happenings as a ghost who suffered in life tries to communicate with said new owner & right the wrongs that they suffered, Grindstone Rd. is totally predictable & I saw the so-called twist ending coming a mile off since I have seen so many of these lacklustre rip-offs before & know the deal. Grindstone Rd. starts off alright, it introduces our character's in a semi mysterious way with various flashbacks & quickly cut scenes that don't seem to go anywhere (Hannah walking into a hospital room & then suddenly cutting to another scene for instance) that I suppose was meant to create some suspense but once the script switches to the old house & the plot starts to be revealed things go downhill fast. Virtually nothing happens, sure Hannah hears voices, sees a few ghostly images & rather randomly decides to investigate the disappearance of Daniel but it plods along at a Snail's pace & becomes extremely boring. The character's are dull, the events of the film are dull, the basic mystery surrounding the supernatural occurrences is dull & I found the 90 minute running time pretty hard to get through. I suppose if you like ghost stories in particular then you may like Grindstone Rd. as it's competent if forgettable but I just found the whole thing a predictable bore with a really annoying happier than happy ending.The low body count doesn't help either, in fact there isn't a body count as no-one is killed except the evil doers who the ghost wants revenge on & even then it's more in a self defence scenario rather than pure hate driven revenge. There's zero gore, there's a bath scene with no nudity & the scares are pretty tame. There are one or two nice shots here but overall Grindstone Rd. is forgettable on all levels. To call Grindstone Rd. a horror film is stretching things to be honest, even though it has a ghost in it I'd say it's more of a psychological thriller. Quite why Hannah feels she can solve the decades old mystery of Daniel disappearing when all the cops at the time couldn't I don't know & why did the killers who murdered Daniel all those years ago move out of the house & literally a few hundred feet down the road?Filmed in Hamilton in Ontario in Canada this has decent enough production values is is reasonably well made although it's fairly basic & not much to look at visually. The acting is alright, Balk is quite good I suppose if I want to be positive.Grindstone Rd. is a really dull ghost story, it's predictable & at 90 minutes long it takes forever to go nowhere in particular. There are better ways to waste an hour & a half, also what's up with the DVD cover? Sure it's great with dripping blood & an eerie looking house in a misty setting but doesn't represent the film at all, it's like they say though 'never judge a book by it's cover'.