Treehouse

Recently we all experienced Halloween weekend, a time of family dinner, trick or treat visits, kitchen knifes in your neighbours back, yes a wonderful time indeed. This weekend is becoming bigger in Sweden, everyone seems to be dressing up as your favourite killer character, or as Edward Blom, this guy is simply fantastic. At the Halloween weekend, i was actually watching Rob Zombie´s remake on Halloween, while it was showing on tv. There is nothing more cozy than some brutal kills, and corpses to make the evening feel splendid. Since this was over a month ago, i keep on checking out horror releases, since this time of year often have some nice treats. Recently i really enjoyed The Babadook, a horror film from Australia, that should find an audience. I usually try and look outside the big studio releases also, just for fun, since many horror films turn out to be better as independent releases. Not always of course, but there are good examples like Holy Ghost People. Hopefully this film will get a wider release on dvd, you can buy it on dvd from Usa, and Germany. About 3 weeks ago i stumbled across a trailer on Treehouse, a new horror film by director Michael G. Bartlett, you might have seen his previous films The Zombie Diaries, and World Of The Dead: The Zombie Diaries. Treehouse seems to be his most serious film so far, taking on a different path in the horror genre. I can´t say i enjoyed these zombie films very much, since they were typical very low budget. But when i read about his latest film Treehouse, i got curious because it seemed to be different towards his earlier work. Is this the best film so far by director Michael G. Bartlett, or does he have a long way to go Before he can become a good director ?

Killiam ( J. Michael Trautmann ) is a bully victim, who constantly get beat up. Thankfully his older brother Crawford ( Daniel Fredrick ) looks out after him, showing his bullies that no one messes with his little brother. Crawford plans to take Killiam out to the forest, so they can spend more time together, shooting fireworks. As they find a location, they notice that there is a big Treehouse up in some trees. Crawford decide to climb up to check it out, as Killiam go after. Inside the Treehouse they find a girl, her name is Elizabeth (  Dana Melanie ). Killiam recognize her face from tv, since she have been one of the missing teenagers that news channels constantly report of. She claims that there is something out there who took her brother. Crawford decide to go back to town and get help, and ask Killiam to wait in the Treehouse until he get back. Killiam try to find out what happened to Elizabeth and her brother, as he begin to see that something strange is happening in the forest. Who is behind all of this and is there a reason why teenagers are missing ?

Treehouse is really a transformation for director Michael G. Bartlett. This is a more well made film than any of his previous films, and you can tell he have worked harder to develope characters, and a script. It may not be very original, or have an important purpose, but being the best work of Bartlett, i am at least happy to see that he have tried to improve himself as a director. The best part of Treehouse is the story of the brothers Killian and Crawford, especially because Killian is a bully victim and his brother is always there for him. As they discover the girl in the Treehouse, the film takes a different turn. If you are hoping for jump scares every 5 minutes or monsters attacking, this is not the film for you. Treehouse is instead a deeper story, about making choices in life and discovering a different side of yourself. Lead actor J. Michael Trautmann is the only actor here that you can relate too, especially since i was a bully victim myself in my youth.  Dana Melanie does a good performance as the missing girl Elizabeth. The biggest problem with Treehouse is not the limited budget, but the acting from some of the actors are not good. This is such a shame, because within this story there is potential, but for some reason director Michael G: Bartlett does not try hard enough to make the film more interesting. One of the scenes i see no point in, is a scene where Killian scream out to whoever is killing people in the forest, and is attacked with flying small rocks. It looks pretty silly to be honest. Treehouse could have been a good horror thriller, if details were improved. As it stands right now, we are left with a film that feels only average. I will still say that i like that director Michael G. Bartlett is trying to do more serious projects. The truth is that he still have a long way left to deliver quality, if he really want to prove his potential as a film maker. Maybe in his next film we might see a change, let´s at least hope so.

Rating: DD