Woodyanders Review of A House in the Hills

A House in the Hills (1993)

An excellent and unjustly overlooked thriller

[8/10 · 7 November 2006]

Lovely, willowy, under-appreciated straw-blonde knockout Helen "Supergirl" Slater gives a characteristically strong and winning performance as a struggling, out of work Los Angeles actress who's hired by a rich couple to take care of their stately countryside mansion while the hoity-toity twosome are away on vacation. Michael Madsen, who was terrifyingly on the money as the blithely malevolent Mr. Blonde in "Reservoir Dogs," is equally impressive here as a cagey, fearsome prowler who breaks into the opulent abode and takes poor Helen hostage. Suspenseful, handsomely made and absorbing, this nifty little straight-to-video thriller boasts an intelligently wrought, very clever and enthralling twist-ridden script, a funny, engaging turn by the always delightful Jeffrey Tambor (Garry Shandling's meek, bumbling sidekick on the superb cable TV series "The Larry Saunders Show") as a gregarious, but meddlesome neighbor, and laudably solid direction from the often lackluster Ken Weiderhorn, who makes belated amends here for having written and directed the appallingly awful zombie horror "comedy" dud "Return of the Living Dead Part II." Overall, it's a modest, but totally up to speed winner.