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.

Story: A couple moves to get over a family tragedy in this case an accident that leaves their son in a coma. The wife feels guiltier as she was driving and struggles with her own sanity. The husband is trying to get on with life and support his wife but is getting tired of it. Everything has been built up for a basic drama but this is a horror. As the wife is more vulnerable she starts getting visited by a ghost child, which does the usual scares her first but in reality wants her help to discover what happened to him. The story tries to throw in a few twists and turns but with very limited characters introduced it struggles to really surprise us. It is a simple ghost story that is easy to watch but really isn't anything standing out. (5/10)Actor ReviewFairuza Balk: Hannah who has been involved in an accident leaving her son in a coma, she is stuck suffering for what happened but she starts getting visited by a ghostly figure of a young boy. Once she realizes the house they moved into might be haunted she tries to figure out about its history only to discover the boy was murdered in the house. Good performance in the simple investigator role. (6/10)Greg Bryk: Graham husband to Hannah who is trying to put the life back together and accepting their son will not wake up from his coma. He struggles to cope with everything that is happening with his wife but tries to support the best he can. Simple supporting performance. (4/10)Walter Learning: Ted a neighbour who helps with the renovation of the house, but reluctant to tell much about the history of the house. Basic supporting performance. (5/10)Joan Gregson: Linda partner of the neighbour who tries to make them all feel welcome, but also reluctant to talk about the houses history. Another basic supporting performance. (5/10)Director Review: Melanie Orr – Simple ghost story created with the ABC moments for the character to go through. (5/10)Horror: No real scares used at all, but the basic ghost story told. (4/10)Settings: New house good setting for ghost story but otherwise nothing used that is that special. (7/10)Suggestion: If you are bored and this is on one night give it a try otherwise this isn't one to be going out of your way to see. (Late Night TV)Best Part: Creepy Toy?Worst Part: No real thrills of scares.Believability: No (0/10)Chances of Tears: No (0/10)Chances of Sequel: NoPost Credits Scene: NoOscar Chances: NoRuntime: 1 Hour 33 MinutesTagline: There goes the neighbourhoodOverall: Ghost Story without scaresCheck out more reviews at http://moviesreview101.com/

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'.

Bad writing, bad direction, bad editing, bad acting. It has it all. Frankly, I enjoy a good low budget feature, but I can't tolerate a strung-together series of the most clichéd scenes imaginable. Wandering into a dark basement alone at night? Make-you-jump loud sounds, in lieu of true scares? A husband who doesn't believe his stressed-out wife? The ol' disappearing "evil water" routine? And that in just the first thirty minutes.And, what's with the fade-to-black between scenes? It's amateurish and distracting.The set-dressing is horrible. It calls attention to itself in almost every location.Frankly, I couldn't finish the film. A "script supervisor" position is obviously not the best experience for direction, just as a "sound editor" most likely has no business jumping into writing screenplays.There's a reason this waste of time went directly to video, although I assume that was the intention from the beginning.