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Marion (Glenda Morgan Brown) is by no means a helpless wreck on her
death bed, but a lonely old lady whose health starts to fail, so her son
(Bryant Watts) is getting her a caretaker, Rebecca (Rachel Alig), just to
see that she's looked after properly. Marion is dead-set against it, but
Rebecca makes every effort in the book to win the old lady over - and
ultimately succeeds, and the two women actually start having fun together.
Then, for fun, Rebecca suggests to register on the website MyFreeBed.com,
a website where they would offer travelers a free bed for the night, just
so they have a little company, plus Marion's house is big enough. She's a
bit timid at first, but soon Marion starts to enjoy this ... even if she's
disappointed that most guests leave in the morning before breakfast and
without saying good-bye. But of course, they are not really leaving, they
are killed by Rebecca, who has a hatred against people using their
cellphones to avoid talking to one another - a hatred that includes
murder. As a rule, Marion and Rebecca offer abode only to singles, but
then Rebecca receives a request of a couple that seems really nice, Ted
(Les Mahoney) and Linda (Laura Lee) who seem really nice - and when they
arrive, Rebecca falls head over heels in love with Ted while Linda seems
to be addicted to her phone. Ted also feels attracted to Rebecca, so it's
easy for her to persuade him to help her kill his wife. Once that's done,
Ted decides to stick around, playing the heartbroken husband who needs to
be consoled by Rebecca - and he even helps her in subsequent murders of
houseguests. Marion is less than pleased about Ted's presence, but since
Rebecca's truly in love with him she puts up with it. But then Boarstag
(Bill Oberst jr), a detective trailing Linda, shows up on their doorstep,
and against all odds, Marion is lying through her teeth to protect Ted -
but ultimately Ted and Rebecca feel the need to kill Boarstag. And rather
than to call on them, Marion helps them covering up the whole thing, and
lets on that she knows a lot more about their killings than they suspected
her to ... as now she knows that gives her the upper hand over Ted. And
that's when things only start to turn wicked ... Now I have to admit, At Granny's House
is not a movie without any plotholes, and some character motivations might
be a bit on the skeletal side - and at the same time it's a superbly
written film, because none of this matters much, it's well-structured, has
one empathize with the lead characters (even if some of them are psycho
killers), and suspense and shocks are just at the right places. And add to
that a subtle and refreshingly old-fashioned directorial effort and a
great ensemble cast to carry the movie, and you've got a really
entertaining piece of genre cinema!
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