PLOT SUMMARY: Jessica and John go on a vacation with their daughter Anna to save their troubled marriage. But then they meet a local boy, Isaac and find themselves in grave danger.
We need to talk.
The very words strike fear in people in relationships those four words clearly aren't used to deliver good news. It's used to point out cracks in a relationship and it leads to a breakup. Usually.
Not in the case of Jessica though, who has the patience to endure a lot, apparently.
A HOUSE ON THE BAYOU Movie Plot
Jessica is waiting patiently for her husband John to arrive. After informing him they need to talk, John expects the worst and it is the worst.
His affair with Vivienne has been found out. He begins pleading but Jessica doesn't want to listen to his lame excuses. She puts his fears to rest. She isn't divorcing him but she insists they go to a family vacation. John has no choice but to agree. If doesn't matter if any one has any work or other commitments. Nope. John cheated and now they have to go on vacation to heal.
Jessica has already chosen a vacation home and along the way, Anna and John make remarks about how boring the place is. Jessica throws daggers at John. He cheated on her and now he has to be agreeable. He shuts up immediately.
To get Anna excited, Jessica tells her about a pool. Anna's idea of enjoying the pool is by just sitting on a float and drifting.
Jessica says she wants to cook a nice dinner and that John should get veal cutlets from the nearby grocery. John makes a face. He tells her Anna and he would rather have burgers. Jessica glares at him and tells him, nope and that it's veal cutlets or nothing.
John goes off reluctantly and takes Anna with him.
At the grocery store, John looks at the veal cutlets, makes a face because he absolutely hates veal. He then heads out to get burger meat.
Meanwhile, a young man called Isaac flirts with Anna and tells her she reminds her of his old girlfriend. That makes Anna happy because if he thinks she reminds him of his old girlfriend then she thinks she's the type of girl he might be interested in. It's supposed to be a compliment for some reason, the perfect way to impress a girl: You remind me of my old girlfriend.
Anyway, John heads out to the cashier where an old man gives him an odd look when Anna asks about the veal and John lies about it. But he doesn't say anything except scribble on the receipt that the devil is watching him. John thinks the locals are being weird with him.
At the house, they find Jessica trying to open a locked door. She tells them the door is not in the blueprints and wonders what is behind it. John tries to show off by making an attempt but fails too. Then when she asks about the veal, John lies about the grocery having run out of it. Jessica throws more mean stares at him.
There's a knock on the door and Jessica hurries to open it not pausing to wonder who could know they are staying at this house and come look for them.
It's Isaac. He gives his most charming smile and invites Jessica to their home as part of welcoming them to the bayou. Jessica finds it weird some random guy is coming over and starts to make excuses when he mentions his grandfather who works at the grocery store, is cooking veal cutlets. Jessica immediately accepts the invitation and goes up to inform John. They get into a tiff with Jessica getting ready to go over while John tells her to stop making a point.
Anna is listening to her parents fighting and learns about the affair. Suddenly her nose starts to bleed.
The parents get together to take care of her and John tells Jessica to cancel the dinner plans only to be told that she doesn't have a number to call and cancel. John says he will just go the next morning to apologise.
Another knock on the door and again the family go rushing down, excited to have some visitors.
It's Isaac telling them their oven isn't working and he was wondering if they could cook at their place. Jessica is having second thoughts but Isaac offers to wash the dishes too. Jessica is sold on the idea and invites Isaac and Grandpappy into their home.
They begin cooking and John asks about the note. Grandpappy says he wrote it as a warning. According to him when people do bad things, they open a doorway to let evil in. John thinks Grandpappy is eccentric and leaves.
During dinner, Jessica is enjoying her veal cutlets. Isaac asks about putting on candles. Jessica notices Isaac eyeing her daughter and touching her. She takes John to the kitchen on the pretext of looking for candles and tells him to get the guests out. This time it is John who isn't too keen on throwing them out but he has to do as Jessica says because the threat of divorce hangs over his head.
They go back and find Isaac has already found the candles, knew which drawer they were in and has already lit them. Anna gushes about Isaac knowing a magic trick that lit the candles.
Jessica is beginning to have doubts. She tells Isaac he must leave after dinner. But what about the dishes? Apparently, Jessica doesn't care about the mess. She just wants the creepy locals out of her house.
Isaac, at first pretends to misunderstand and gets himself invited to stay the night. And then when Jessica informs him she isn't as generous, he takes offence.
Anna takes that time to get a nosebleed and plop her head on her dinner. Her parents take her to rest and clean her up. Isaac comes over snd they are near the locked room. Isaac somehow manages to get their family cat, Toby, inside. They hear growls and the cat screeching in fear. Anna screams. Jessica wants to leave the cat and just get her guests out.
All sounds stop. Anna despairs that her cat is dead. Grandpappy makes a comment about coyotes running amok and somehow getting in. Isaac takes John out to see what that strange figure was that everyone saw through the window.
Once outside, John's devious plans are revealed. He had hired Isaac and Grandpappy to stage a robbery and then kill Jessica in the process. He warns Isaac not to portray himself as supernatural. Isaac smirks and lets John back in.
Anna is still weepy about her cat but Isaac is suddenly holding Toby. He remarks about John always being a cheater and Jessica knowing about it but ignoring it. Jessica claims she didn't know about the affairs.
Granpappy insists on playing some music so he can reveal something about his grandson. The first truth: Isaac is not his grandson. The second is the truth playing on the record. It's a conversation between John and Vivienne. Apparently, they are not broken up and John promises her that he would divorce his wife. Jessica is heartbroken John doesn't want to try and save their marriage.
Isaac opens the locked room and tells the family to get in. John is first and he doesn't like the idea too much but plays along because he now knows the next step is Jessica dying.
But then Isaac closes the door behind him and John realizes he's been betrayed.
There's another knock on the door and Jessica is told to open it. She finds Vivienne outside who didn't realize that Jessica was here. She tells her that John told her to come here. Jessica is pissed but there's something else more important, like saving her daughter and herself. She tells Vivienne her family is being held at gunpoint and to call the police. Vivienne tries the phone but it doesn't work of course. She gets in her car but it doesn't start.
Jessica knows something supernatural is going on. She yells at Vivienne to keep trying but now Grandpappy comes out, holding Anna at gunpoint. In Anna's hands is a canister of gasoline.
A HOUSE ON THE BAYOU Ending Explained with Spoilers!
Anna is told to douse the car with gasoline. Jessica takes it from her daughter telling Grandpappy not to get her daughter involved. After dousing the car from which Vivienne can't come out, Grandpappy lights a fire and tosses it at the car. Jessica uses the distraction to knock out Grandpappy and bash his head in, killing him.
She tells Anna to run but, of course, she doesn't. Jessica makes a half-hearted attempt to save Vivienne but the car explodes.
Jessica heads inside and tells Anna to hold the shotgun and kill Isaac if he comes out. She doesn't want to save John but knows her daughter will hate her if she doesn't at least try.
She finds the door open and sees the coyote has eaten part of John's stomach. In his last dying breath, he tells his wife to tell his girlfriend that he loves her because Jessica lied about Vivienne being alive.
Depressed, Jessica closes the door as the coyote finishes his dinner.
Outside, Isaac has managed to charm Anna into dropping the gun by proposing to her. When she hesitates, he knocks her unconscious and puts her in a boat.
Jessica reaches on time. Anna wakes up and uses the mace on Isaac. Jessica takes hold of the gun and shoots Isaac. They get the keys and make it straight to the police station.
Of course, the cop doesn't believe her and points out that there never was a house where she claims it to be. Leaving Anna at the station, Jessica insists on being driven there.
Apart from the fountain, the house, just like the cop said, doesn't exist. Jessica feels bewildered and asks to be taken back to the station.
On the drive over Jessica sees a truck following them. She sees its Grandpappy and Isaac very much alive. The cop explains that they owe it to Isaac and Grandpappy to keep their bayou free from evil. People who have sinned are inexplicably drawn to the house where they are punished in the locked room by a coyote?
Jessica says she is wicked but the cop tells her she's been given a second chance and needs to make good use of it. Jessica goes to the station, hugs her daughter and they both drive far away from the bayou.
The movie had some interesting parts and the twist about John being in cahoots with the locals was interesting. It doesn't do much to explain how Jessica was wicked. Was it because she intentionally let Vivienne burn? Or left John as the coyote's dinner?
He was already munched on and didn't look like he had a chance of survival. It perhaps Jessica was wrong to give John, a sinner, another chance when he clearly didn't deserve it.
Or maybe it was because she insisted on veal cutlets knowing her husband and daughter hated it.
Scare scale: 3.5/5
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