He's Out There--My take on the movie with spoilers!

PLOT SUMMARY: A mother and her two daughters must survive an attack by a psychopath at their lakehouse. 

You’d think by now people would have stopped indulging in weekend getaways to far away, desolate areas. But nope.

No matter how many horror movies have served as warnings to their audiences, there will still be some who think it is a fantastic idea to take their kids and go to a lake where forget there aren’t any grocery stores or restaurants, there are no hospitals or police stations around. Not for miles.

It’s like horror movies like Sleepaway Camp and Friday the 13^th never happened. If there is one thing that should be avoided, it is the lake. Apparently, people who drown in lakes, don’t actually die but come back pissed off and become psychotic killers.

Such is the case of He’s Out There. The movie will have you slapping your head more than give you a fright.

HE'S OUT THERE Movie Plot 

The movie begins with Laura driving off with her two daughters to the lake for a getaway. Her husband promises to meet her up later as he has work to do. You’ve seen enough movies to know the husband’s fate. He’s not going to make it because obviously, he’s going to reach when the horror has begun. And since he’s unaware of the happenings, he’s not going to be prepared to face the onslaught of the psycho killer.

Laura’s daughters are at the age where they are obsessed with tea parties and taking things that don’t belong to them. The family who used to live at the lake house before had a son who disappeared. His name was John and of all the things to leave behind, he kept his weird, creepy storybook for the kids to find.

The girls have it in their possession and the entire storybook is a riddle to which the answer is a shadow. John doesn’t think so.

When the family, sans dad, reach the lake house, the girls run to the swings while the mother sets up the house. The house is clean as ever and I wondered if they hired a maid beforehand to get it cleaned. Or was it Owen, the man who opens the gate for them? Whoever cleaned the house was apparently not killed by John because we don’t see a body anywhere.

We see a scene of the girls scamper away to the woods where they find a small, decorated table set for tea. When they return, Laura sees one of her daughters put away something in the drawers. Her daughter replies it is a surprise for her father.

Laura no longer inspects or is curious after receiving that reply. As she reads to the girls later that night, she finds a childish drawing of the girls on the swings. No one thinks anything of it. When one of the girls falls sick and vomits a ribbon with the words ‘Hello’ written on it, Laura realizes then that something is wrong. She rushes upstairs to search for the surprise gift and finds a cupcake which she crumbles in her hand. She finds another ribbon in the disgusting green centre: Goodbye.

John knew exactly which girl would throw up first. Imagine if goodbye would have come up first, then hello. Would that have been better? More creepy?

Laura grabs her daughters and rushes to her car because, yes, the landline is dead and for some reason, she isn’t one of those people who obsessively carry their cell phones with them at all times. In fact, Laura leaves it in her car and doesn’t bother to retrieve it until it’s night.

At this point, I’m wondering if the killer had slashed the tires. Nope. Instead, he let Laura drive a little before the wheels fall off. This should have been an edge of the seat moment, but all you end up doing is chuckle. It is kind of funny to watch the wheels roll away.

The girls in the meantime are whiny and don’t listen to their mother at all who is doing whatever she can to pull herself together. Plan B is to take them back home, grab some pills from the medicine cabinet and give it to her sick daughter.

John makes an appearance and shows her a photograph of the family where everyone’s faces are scratched off except for Laura’s.

Laura’s husband finally arrives at the gate and instead of walking around it to go home, he heads into the woods where he is immediately killed by John. His body is dragged and hung over the roof to lure Laura out. She does so and freaks out when she sees his hollowed-out eyes.

She grabs his keys, goes back inside and lies to her daughters about him not being their father. Owen finally makes an appearance so he too can be of no help and be killed by John.

Laura is next to be pulled out through the window. Of course, she’s not dead. She’s the protagonist. She’s in the posters.

HE'S OUT THERE Ending Explained with Spoilers! 

The girls hide under the bed and John has seen enough movies to know that is exactly where people hide first. He tells them his book isn’t about shadows. The darkness is…him. He thrusts the bed up and the girls screech. He places what is assumed to be chloroform on them.

When the girls come to in the morning, they find John arranging a table for tea. John loves his tea parties, though he can find no guests. So he makes them himself with real body parts. Laura is shown stuffed in a trunk with an axe sticking out of her side. She’s still moving. Obviously.

The girls pretend to be unconscious and just as John is about to attack the girls, Laura lunges at John. They fight for a while, Laura gaining the upper hand at every turn. Finally, she uses the axe on John and runs to her husband’s car.

The movie ends with the obvious cliffhanger: John’s body has disappeared.

The sequel would probably be called ‘He’s still out there’.

The movie could have been frightening but somehow, the combination of the whining girls, the comical incident with the car wheels and the husband’s quick disposal, takes the edge out of it.

Yes, the actress is the only one who tries to pull the movie together. Had she been inept at that, the movie would have fallen apart completely.

It’s an okay movie to watch on a boring afternoon.

Scare scale: 

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