For Sale
For Sale
For Sale is a unique blend of comedy and horror. For Mason McGinness (Andrew Roth, The Wire), the protagonist in the film, nothing comes more lightly than a sale, as he is ready to go the extra mile to get a customer on board. Mason’s world takes a different turn when out of sheer greed he loses both his job and his house. The world offers Mason a last chance to redeem himself if he manages to handle a property filled with unfortunate history and even more unwanted customers.
One of the biggest debates in the industry focuses on the effectiveness of practical effects as opposed to CGI. Unless the film industry reaches a stage where there are no fans who cherish the traditional ways of doing things, this strife will carry on. For Sale has its set of unique special effects, and while they have plenty of merit, they do not seek to add anything to that particular debate. Rather, it stands as an illustration of how less can sometimes be far more.
Of course, a movie called For Sale hasn’t left out ghosts, unusual occurrences and all kinds of paranormal phenomena. Sure nothing is as spectacular as savage time and the film is limited by budgetary constraints, nothing massive when it comes to computer special effects, but the film does well in injecting meaningful frightening moments into subtle actions. There are some good jump scares and the best moments are shadowed. The evil spirits who terrorize the residents of the haunted house appear at various intervals and entertain with cartoonish designs that fit in with the narration of that particular part of the story.
Perhaps the film’s greatest asset is the charm that it exudes. Crane ripping out hilarious songs and pulling off nerdy characters is the most entertaining part of For Sale. Roth is especially awful as the unscrupulous real estate agent who is ready to do anything to close a deal. He is present in almost all the episodes and, because of his outrageous character, anyone who comes and watches shall know he’s there and not be bored. Action: in the sense of terror, plot’s viewpoint is more on the growth of the character, more than the actual horror moments.
This may be a problem for some. For Sale most of the time avoids the fright and gruesome aspects of the story. It is only after about an hour of screen time that the action really begins. Everything before it is merely a prelude. This would be alright – and it is very well paced – except a certain ambience is never created. It is not scary enough for horror enthusiasts, but then again it doesn’t deliver non-stop chuckles either. And when the horror does come into the forefront, it’s a dramatic embrace of a complete stop.
The ending is also a bit all over the place. It starts with high hopes where the audience expects to end on a happier note where Mason’s character grows and learns something. This is before some slasher horror turn takes place which is quite odd and ends rather cutely and comedically but feels inconclusive most of the time.
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- Genre: Comedy, horror
- Country: United States
- Director: Christopher Schrack
- Cast: Andrew Roth, Corinne Britti, Rachael Lubarsky
