Spoilers will get the vacuum cleaner.

Some horror films have one or two concepts. This one has several. Actually perhaps a bit too much, which is what I’m going to get into a few lines below. The original concept and casting is solid – initially. I wish the filmmakers would have had the vision of sticking to a simpler premise rather than… Well, we’ll have to talk about it. Pull up a chair, dust yourself up and pour yourself some pumpkin soup.

(Credit: Lionsgate)

Cobweb (2023) was directed by Samuel Bodin and written by Chris Thomas Devlin. Young Peter (Woody Norman) is a shy and withdrawn kid that has a hyperactive imagination. Or at least that’s what his nervous mother Carol (Lizzy Caplan) and stern father Mark (Antony Starr) tell him when the kid thinks he’s hearing things behind the wall. Meanwhile at school, Peter has issues fitting in and of course the kids will pick on him. Things don’t get easier when substitute teach Miss Devine (Cleopatra Coleman) gets worried and visits the family out of the blue. Or when Peter realizes he can hear someone speaking behind the wall.

So, there’s something wrong with Peter’s parents. Lizzy Caplan makes a solid performance as Carol. So does Antony Starr as Mark. But as we get past the midpoint we’re going to shift things and that’s when the premise and the antagonists change. We’re going to throw in a creature Ju-On style. We’re going to have a house invasion premise that will be short-lived. We’re also get chase scenes and jump scares galore. We’ll even have a finale followed by a… dream? Not sure.

Lightly recommended for a rainy night with reservations. I wish this movie would have had a plan in which it stick to one thing rather than borrow premises from 3-5 different horror sub-genres. I still think the idea of the scary parents was working enough without having to resort to throwing different subplots and diluting it overall. Worth a watch for horror audiences for a slow night.

That will do for now.