''The Attic'' is a 2007 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Mary Lambert and starring

Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...

, Jason Lewis,

Tom Malloy Thomas John Malloy (born December 8, 1974) is an American actor and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California. Career Malloy wrote, produced and acted in ''The Alphabet Killer'', a psychological thriller directed by Rob Schmidt and starring El ...

, and

Catherine Mary Stewart Catherine Mary Stewart (; born 22 April 1959) is a Canadian actress. Her film roles include '' The Apple'', ''The Last Starfighter'' and ''Weekend at Bernie's''. She was also the original Kayla Brady in '' Days of our Lives''. Early life Stewar ...

Plot

Emma (

) has a strong aversion towards her family's new house, especially the attic. After moving in, she becomes miserable and reclusive. The rest of her family also seems unhappy and unsettled. The situation escalates one day when Emma is in the attic alone. All of a sudden someone who looks exactly like Emma attacks her viciously. Emma is convinced that someone or something is haunting her, and she refuses to leave her house until she can piece the puzzle together, with the assistance of John Trevor ( Jason Lewis), a sympathetic detective. Eventually, Emma suspects her parents of hiding skeletons in the closet from the family's past and practicing magical rituals using

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...

symbols seemingly stolen from

satanism Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on Satan. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the atheistic Church of Satan by Anton LaVey in the United States in 1966, although a few hi ...

. As the clues pile up, she discovers that she once had a sister named Beth ( Lynn Marie Stetson), who died twelve days after Emma was born. Emma realizes that this identical apparition may actually be Beth returning to life. Emma witnesses Beth kill her brother, and the police suspect it was really Emma. John Trevor comes to the rescue when Beth is trying to strangle Emma to death, and leaves Emma with a gun. She suspects that her father was to blame and murders both her parents. When the police arrive, Emma threatens "John Trevor", who now claims to be a paramedic, with the gun he gave her. As she points the gun at Trevor, she is really pointing the gun at herself, and when she pulls the trigger, she kills herself. The police later discuss the incident, and Emma's former psychologist explains that Beth and Trevor were only in her mind. Another officer mentions that the previous owner of the house, Ava Strauss (

Alexandra Daddario Alexandra Anna Daddario (born March 16, 1986) is an American actress who had her breakthrough portraying Annabeth Chase in the ''Percy Jackson'' film series (2010–2013). In 2021, she starred in the first season of the HBO series ''The White L ...

), mysteriously died. The psychologist says that houses do not kill people, but in this case it did. The film ends as a new family looks to buy the house. As a young girl about Emma's age explores the attic, "John Trevor", now a real estate agent called Ron, appears behind her and says they will be seeing a lot of each other.

Cast

Release

The film was released on DVD in Germany in 2007. Allumination FilmWorks released it on DVD in the US on January 15, 2008.

Reception

Joshua Siebalt of

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

awarded it one out of a possible five stars and wrote, "''The Attic'' is not the Mary Lambert comeback fans, myself included, were likely hoping for. Instead it’s just another predictable psychological horror movie posing as a ghost story and very much not worth your time." Justin Felix of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated it 1.5/5 stars and wrote, "''The Attic'' is fairly transparent and you'll figure out the answers long before the heroine does." Jim Thomas of

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...

wrote, "This is a bad movie. Avoid it at all costs."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Attic, The 2007 films 2007 horror films 2000s psychological horror films American haunted house films American psychological horror films Films shot in New Jersey Films directed by Mary Lambert 2000s English-language films 2000s American films