From the outset, it’s clear that this film is in the feelgood area of entertainment rather than horror or thriller … even the title is suggestive of HARRY POTTER AND THE … or PERCY JACKSON AND THE … but as far as I know Max Winslow did not start life as a book.
The basic premise is fairly good: five ‘troubled’ teens are invited to spend the night at a high tech mansion owned by Elon Musk-like Atticus Virtue (Chad Michael Murray). The one who solves the most of the house’s ‘puzzles’ will win the house itself! It’s all a bit Willie Wonka in execution, though the premise was handled much, much better in straight horror films like The House on Haunted Hill and The Haunted House of Horror. The opening of the film feels like a standard high school piece, with characters straight out of central casting, but once they get into the house, it starts to get more dark.
The voice of the AI which controls the house is provided by Marina Sirtis and she adopts a cut glass English accent for it. It often feels like she’s just reading the lines though, and the AI never really gels as a tangible threat, though this is what the film is driving at all along … The kids have to solve a number of puzzles which range from the ‘that’s not a puzzle’ – putting on a pair of sunglasses – to the stupidly impossible. The first main puzzle they are faced with is to enter a six digit code to escape from a room – they get three attempts and if they don’t manage it then the door never opens … what, never? How are they going to explain that to all the parents, to the school and the authorities! The answer lies in a table full of treats – Max (Sydne Mikelle) realises that they have to count how many jelly beans and sweets there are in three jars to get the code (two numbers per jar). But how does she know which order they should be in? And also on the table is a plate of cookies – why aren’t they part of the count? It’s so random and stupid as to be ridiculous, but of course they randomly get the right code and the door opens.
The puzzles are also daft – one lad ends up wearing a VR helmet which he then finds he cannot remove (for unknown reasons), he then has to traverse the house in VR, killing monsters and dragons and the like … it’s not clear what happens if he doesn’t succeed. At the end he falls into a well of lava but is fine. Likewise there are robot knights who act as servants, but they also attack the kids … but of course everyone except the knights escape unscathed.
Of course Max is the plucky heroine geek and so she wins out in the end – but the film gets bogged down in VR recreations of her own angst-filled moment when her father left her family … It’s all a bit boring to be honest, with no real threat as the kids can’t be killed or tortured in Saw-like scenarios … The end comes when Virtue is found sitting in the basement of the house (very Michael Gough in The Legend of Hell House) and he passes ownership of it to Max … All the kids have learned from their experiences inside and are all better people the end.
Overall it’s an expensive-looking film, with some good cinematography and effects, although some of the VR stuff is a little clunky. I think it’s meant to be, though, as it’s referencing that sort of Knightmare esque game scenarios. It’s not a horror film though, and owes more to daft Nickelodeon teen series than to any film genre. It’s Spy Kids and Scooby-Doo rather than Houses of Horror. But it passes a diverting 98 minutes.
Spy Kids and Scooby Doo rather than Houses of Horror!
Movie title: Max Winslow and the House of Secrets
Movie description: Five teens compete to win a mansion owned by an eccentric billionaire. The night takes a dark turn when they become trapped and are forced to face off against a supercomputer who has gone rogue.
Date published: October 23, 2020
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 38min
Director(s): Sean Olson
Actor(s): Sydne Mikelle, Chad Michael Murray, Marina Sirtis, Jade Chynoweth
Genre: Family, Sci-Fi, Thriller
David J Howe, is the author and co-author of numerous books about the TV Show “Doctor Who”, as well as being a freelance writer and Editorial Director of Telos Publishing Ltd.
