Secrets of the Summer House (2008 TV Movie) User Reviews (14)

Your Average TV Movie.

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 5/10 · 13 March 2017]

Since this is a television movie the subject matter has been toned down. This would have made a good average budget DVD release movie and could have handled the matter a little more accordingly.

That said, the director, Jean-Claude Lord (who directed Visiting Hours (1982) and Second Chances (2010) - reviewed in my blogs), does an amiable job with the story by John Benjamin Martin and Donald David Martin.

This is a ghost story, but due to lack of horror elements and the amount of time it takes to get to the ghostly action, it is more of a drama. This has so much of a TV movie feel to it. The characters are stereotypical; you can see the twists coming; and the characters relationships are pretty standard and have been done a thousand times before. Nevertheless, the actors and the director do make the film watchable... and at times, enjoyable.

Lindsey Price who plays the lead role of Nikki Wickersham gives a passable rendition of a troubled woman who loses her husband, though it's not played as a tear-jerker. Nikki's friend, Margie Mancuso (played by Sadie LeBlanc) and her handyman boyfriend (Niall Matter) are pretty realistic and believable, to a point - this is a TV Movie, after all.

It's the lack of direction the story takes which is a stalling point for the film. It sits uncomfortably between, drama, thriller, mystery, and horror. This makes it a bland affair, had the writers or the director chosen just one path to take this could have been better. It needed to be spookier with more tension. The mysterious elements could have been heightened and extended upon. Because the cause of the haunting is hateful, terrible, and unpleasant it was required to be much darker than portrayed here.

If there's nothing on the telly and hell has frozen over, then you could do worse than watch this film.

Been there, done that

[p-stepien · 4/10 · 26 March 2009]

What is there to say? It's a predictable ghost story with viewers are miles ahead as far as the plot is concerned. Twists are signalised from a kilometre away and scares are non-existent. So is there anything to redeem this movie? Well... Lindsay Price is sexy and does a bang-up job as a lead in this TV movie. Sure would want to see more of her, as she conveys emotions and really makes her presence felt. Apart from that nothing to really admire, but the movie isn't dumb, is nicely shot and hence deserves a solid 4/10.

You can definitely pass on this movie. Nihil novi. Would definitely benefit from calling in the Ghostbusters.

You Get What You Expect

[rgcustomer · 5/10 · 20 December 2008]

Based on who funded this film (skip to the end and watch the list of logos) you get basically what you expect. It takes an interesting premise, which should be suitable for a horror mystery, and turns it into self-parody. But not intentionally, and that's the problem. The accents weren't believable to me, and seemed to come and go. There were some laugh-out-loud moments, like the various times the local nut tells our heroine to use crystals for answers or protection. That works in many films, but here it was just laughable. Anyway, not to beat a dead horse, but don't waste your time unless you look at it as a MST3K experience.

Waste of time haunted house TV movie effort

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 6 March 2017]

SECRETS OF THE SUMMER HOUSE is another time-wasting television movie with subtle supernatural elements. Yet again it sees a couple visiting an ancestral home in the boondocks only to discover that the building's sinister history means that the past is very much alive.

The problems with this film are too numerous to mention: the predictability of the thing works against it, as does the insipid acting and the weak writing. The dialogue is noticeably cringeworthy, particularly in the way the information is continuously spoonfed to the viewer who is apparently unable to think for him or herself. The best thing about it is Lindsay Price, whose chirpy demeanour adds the only fun and life this film has.

good potential. and nothing more

[Kirpianuscus · 9 March 2018]

The only real problem about this film is its potential. it could be a good horror. but the story is ignored and the decent premises are transformed in a mix of bizarre salad. and that transforms it in a sort of parody, or only too unconvincing movie. something seems fake from the first half of it. but, sure, a painter, her friend, the past of the family of husband and , step by step, revelations. and,after its final credits, the only regret is about the less courage of director to say a decent story.

If we all had to pay for the sins of our ancestors, the price would be too high, for people of EVERY COLOR

[vnssyndrome89 · 1/10 · 25 June 2023]

SECRETS OF THE SUMMER HOUSE\SUMMER HOUSE 2008

BASIC PLOT: An artist, Nikki Wickersham, (Lindsay Price) is recently married, to George Wickersham IV (David Haydn-Jones). He gives her a brooch, a family heirloom, to celebrate her first art show. The next day, George's father dies. The couple goes to Maine for the funeral, and to put his ancestral home up for sale. George's whole attitude about his father, the beautiful house and the island, is perplexing. Nikki learns it's because there's supposed to be a curse on all the Wickersham men. Sure enough, George ends up in a coma, because he decides not to sell the house.

Someone actually went out, and wrote a "ghost story" (with very few ghosts), about present day people getting retribution, because their ancestors owned slaves. FULL STOP!

I am so sick of seeing, reading, and watching this kind of detritus! Hey millennials, you are not smarter than your ancestors! Stop inflicting cancel culture on the rest of us! I'm tired of seeing actors, who's talent I admire, come out and say stupid things because they are afraid (I'm talking to you Viggo Mortenson & Ryan Reynolds).

But back to this rubbish, I swear it was written by a twelve year old. I am the first one to be generous with made-for-tv movies (see my reviews & ratings), but this is beyond the pale. If you are a grown up, or if you're a person that thinks all this white privilege penance, and cancel culture SHOULD BE STOPPED, then definitely, give this a pass.

WHAT WORKS: *This is a nice atmospheric, and the house is a perfect setting.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *One minute, Nikki is terrified of the house, the next, she's determined to stay. It would have been more believable if she was swept up in the beauty of the place from the start.

*Nikki actually talks to the tombstone of one of her husband's ancestors, "What is this legacy of secrets that has my husband so troubled Jedidiah?" Are you kidding me? That line is beyond hackneyed.

*This is supposed to be a ghost story, yet the ghost doesn't show up until the movie is more than half over. When you do see the ghost, it is there for 2 seconds and we don't see it again until the end

*This plot is beyond insipid and banal. At our house, we describe this as a 'Barbie storyline'. This means that I used to come up with better plotlines for my Barbies. (The anthropologist is a ghost expert too!)

*I find it offensive that the Asian wife, has to redeem her white husband's non-transgressions, so her half white baby won't be born under the curse.

TRIVIA: *This movie is loosely based on the false legend of the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana. In that fabrication, the plantation owner, Mr. Woodruff, owned slaves, one of whom was named Chloe. He was supposedly brutal to them (not true, Judge Woodruff never owned slaves), and Chloe took her revenge. The moviemakers even fashioned the ghost to look like a supposed ghost photograph of Chloe, purportedly taken at the plantation.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: As Made-For-TV movies go, this leaves a lot to be desired. There are so many quality Made-For-TV movies, and vintage Movies-of-the-Week out there, there's no need to waste your time on this one.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a Made-For-TV movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.

Lindsay Price

[mr_dark_eyed · 4/10 · 17 July 2009]

that is why I kept watching. Lindsay Price. sexy and cute!! Everything else was so boring, and I knew the 'plot' will be exactly the way it is, from the very beginning. it is the most predictable ghost film. but probably one of very few ghost movies that don't scare or thrill. Rather.. turns you on. Thanks Lindsay Price.

a 7 year old kid would laugh at the silliness and stupidity of the plot, dialogue, and every single detail.

I think that film was only made for one sole purpose.. Lindsay Price. the 3 stars go to Lindsay. since I need one more line to be able to post this, I take the chance to mention how sexy Lindsay is.

Predictable ghost story with some good stuff to it

[slayrrr666 · 7/10 · 25 July 2010]

"Secrets of the Summer House" is a rather enjoyable Lifetime haunted house effort.

**SPOILERS**

Hosting a new exhibit, artist Nikki Wickersham, (Lindsay Price) and her husband George Wickersham, (David Jones) are called out to Maine to sort through his father's belongings after he dies. Arriving there to find they've inherited an island with a large mansion on it, they quickly learn of an old story surrounding the house about it being haunted through the years, yet friends Margie Mancuso, (Sadie LeBlanc) and Peter Hughes, (Niall Matter) convince them to stay there anyway. While working on a special project, a series of strange events around the house has them convinced that the house has indeed a spirit roused by a secret from the past, and they work to rid it from their house before it strikes them as well.

The Good News: There was some decent stuff in here that made it quite enjoyable at times. One of the better elements was that it managed to include a rather sizable amount of hauntings that were far more involved than expected, rather than just flashing a ghost for a second or so. The first night on the island, during the raging thunderstorm where the lights go out, the shutters get blown open and the trouble outside in starting a generator is interrupted by a falling shingle from the window above, dropped almost supernaturally. It's quite an impressive sequence, almost as good as a later scene where one is standing on a ladder to fix the shingle, only for a ghostly presence to appear in that window and cause it to fall, seriously injuring them in the process before disappearing in a flash before they can be spotted. Another strong suspense scene is the longest and most enjoyable of the film, where during a raging thunderstorm outside and the lights going out, a brief reprise in the kitchen makes for a perfect target for supernaturally-hurled furniture and dishes at her, along with the rattling glasses and flying boards, leading to a strong chase around the house trying to find shelter before finding all the doors locked and the only escape coming from a brilliantly-executed escape, all leading into a great scene. The best parts of the film, though, are the several different scenes within the small closet within the house, which are insanely creepy and downright enjoyable, coming across as the best stuff here by a wide margin. The simple set-up the first time around, the rapidly closing door and the shuffling voices wailing all around her and becoming more disorienting as time goes on inside, creates an incredibly intense experience and makes for a great scene. The later one, where the body is found buried beneath the floorboards and the eventual placating of the myth, is punctuated by a strong opening with the doorways opening supernaturally into the desired areas, the rattling of the house and the destruction of the different pieces of furniture around the area, coupled by the strong presence of the skeletal remains and the remnants of the back-story coming into play wonderfully make for a superb scene that is quite enjoyable. The last part that works here is the film's rather strong back-story, which is really unique and quite enjoyable. From the family legend that is the perfect set-up for a ghostly mystery to be unraveled from, the revelations coming from the look-ins on the family members and finally the contents of the sealed lock-box, which contain the most frightening pieces of the puzzle, this is a lot stronger than would be expected in such a simple film and give an effectively spooky backdrop for the events to unfold. These here are the film's good parts.

The Bad News: This one didn't have a whole lot of bad points, and it easily could be said to have only one flaw. The simple fact of the matter is that the film doesn't have any real sense of suspense or fear coming from anything since it has such a long amount of time in between all the different haunting scenes so that it's virtually impossible most of the time to believe it's a horror film. From their constant dealings with the renovation aspect of the house to the bad blood between the loner there and their feelings toward the area, it's got a lot of time that is specifically away from being a horror film, and that's something which can be problematic for some out there. By keeping the attention away from the horror and making full use of a lot of different elements isn't necessarily part of what makes for an enjoyable film. The fact that these are part of the middle section of the film, when it's supposed to be building up after the discovery of the freak accidents there, drops them to focus on drama portions of the plot doesn't allow for very smooth pacing, as it gets into a miniature rhythmic start, only to stop for significant amounts of time to focus on other parts, and it's a real drain for that to occur. That also takes the power away from the ghostly encounters, which are quite a let-down after such a strong start. These here are the film's problems.

The Final Verdict: A lot better than expected, and certainly one of the better Lifetime horror films around, this one turned up with a lot of good parts and a few minor flaws. Definitely recommended to fans of the others Lifetime horror efforts, as well haunted-house fans or of the cast, while those who aren't should heed caution.

Rated PG-13: Violence, Language and a clothed, minor sex scene

Stupid straight through

[cathed · 1/10 · 7 July 2019]

Acting, script, premise - all D-level. Watching paint dry is time better spent. I'm so sorry I gave this one a try.

Restitution

[lavatch · 6/10 · 4 April 2021]

"Secrets of a Summer House" was a "haunted house" film built around the neoliberal agenda in a story about the horrors of slavery in America. Set in an idyllic island in Maine, artist Nikki Wickersham and her stockbroker husband George Wickersham IV pay a visit to the family home after the unfortunate death of his father, George III, who died under suspicious circumstances. Nikki will be challenged to discover the "curse" of the house that has been leveled against the males in the Wickersham clan.

Jebidiah Wickersham built the grand mansion in 1848 prior to the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. He stole a slave, the Princess Kimiki, who refused his advances. Then, in an act of unspeakable horror, he killed her and her baby. The spirit of Kimiki has remained on the premises to enact multi-generational revenge against Jebidiah and the Wickersham men.

Nikki's situation becomes grave when she learns that she is pregnant with a little boy. She instantly recognizes that her baby will also live under the Wickersham curse! In an act of desperation, she seeks to connect spiritually with Kimiki to end the cycle of revenge through an act of "restitution."

The pacing of the film was sluggish, especially after George falls off a ladder and lands in a coma. It will now be up to Nikki and her bestie Margie to discover the legend and end the curse. One of the most interesting characters was the wise old owl, Virginia Roberts, a photographer, who is able to develop the nineteenth-century chrome plate discovered by Nikki and learn about the princess.

The most important prop in the film was the brooch given by George to Nikki as an anniversary present. The brooch was bequeathed to him by Jebidiah, but it belonged to Princess Kimiki. The brooch has magical powers that continue to haunt the Wickershams. When the amulet is returned to Kamiki, the ghost from the past will finally rest in peace, ending the spell and allowing Nikki to welcome into the world a new little bundle of joy: George Wickersham V.

Overall not remarkable

[bdeanarthur · 5/10 · 31 July 2023]

I gotta be honest - I watched this movie only because David Haydn-Jones is in it.

I was warned it wasn't great, but not totally bad either.

Mr. Haydn-Jones is great, as always, and Lindsay Price was good too, although I've never seen her other works so I can't say I can see her microexpressions and details s much as I saw David's. Unfortunately, her character, Nikki, was extremely annyoing. Her husband is filled with grief, crying, desperate, sad for the deat hof his father (and good lord, David DELIVERED)... and Nikki is over there thinking she wants to keep the damn house to use it. Like girl. Support your husband instead... Anyway. I think David and Lindsay did have good chemistry on screen, so that's nice, even though the movie was predictable in all its points.

It's kind of a "classic" haunting story. What I would've appreciated more was Kimmika's POV. We only see her silent, angry, and then one smile. And we only get the ancestor's POV (and jfc his words were so creepy...) Despite the fact the story was predictable, it wasn't badly done overall - i liked many of the shots, the actors were good, so I wouldn't say I totally wasted my time.

Good movie, a lot of suspense..

[jlfrancis1992 · 9/10 · 16 April 2012]

I just recently watched the film and i thought it was very intriguing. Watching as the woman uncovers her husbands family curse was very good at times it was making me feel that i needed to know more. Towards the end as she finds out she is pregnant with a boy and the curse is only for the men of the family that her child was last made it interesting as she was looking for a way to end the curse. What mad me upset was when the ghost of the princess that was kept as a slave until she could love the man's great grandfather, showed the woman where she was buried and that she was strangled and killed along with her infant son. This made me so upset i mean the poor little child and her. Then the curse is gone and its a year on and it ends nice and elegantly. Overall it was a good movie.

What Horror? Where??

[icocleric · 1/10 · 30 June 2023]

The set up of this film has so much wasted potential it actually makes me angry. Almost angry enough to just go and write my own.

An inherited house on an isolated island near Boston, a cursed bloodline, and an artist who is way too found of the place. The families bloodline got cursed because of shady secrets from the past. How did they make this not scary??? It literally has no tension or scary moments.

Like this set up writes itself to any horror fan. But instead we got asking nicely, magic crystals, and everything will be okay. No tension everything is all okay and happy!?? Like did Halmark right this or something happy and bright.

Which I'm sure there's a market for, but not something as a horror fan I remotely want.

Realistic

[sandarce · 8/10 · 23 November 2011]

I found this movie to be very realistic. You can tell right away this isn't another Hollywood fantasy. You can see how spiritism works in the real world. I understand how this may appear as naive picture to someone expecting highly budgeted Hollywood movie, but, on the other hand, to someone grown up in the spiritual world, this may feel like part of reality. I'd say go for it, see the movie. Either if you're looking for fun, either if you're seeking for a deeper meaning of things, it's worth seeing. One other thing I loved about this movie was the way the director cuts a long story short i.e. skips through some unnecessary emotional scenes in moments of tragedy. Although it is only a TV production, I vote it 8 out of 10 for the way it gets and keeps the attention of the viewer.