Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures / The Glass House Poster (Used under Fair Use)
Chapter 1: Introduction to The Glass House
This is where I should have put you from day one. They've got to sleep sometime. Even guardians let down their guard. Ruby, buckle up. You and Red are mine. Welcome back to the 14th annual Halloween special. Tonight we're talking about a movie that I understand most people would not refer to as a Halloween movie. I wouldn't really either, but when it comes to the Halloween special, over the past few years, I have tried to incorporate more thrillers involved that aren't necessarily what you would expect out of spooky season. Like a few years ago, I talked about Joy Ride, also starring Lely Soies. And this year, we're talking about The Glass House. The Glass House was directed by Daniel Sackheim, a director most known for the X-Files and True Detective. He has done tons of great work in television. So,
Chapter 2: Release and personal history
when Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident, their carefree teenage lives are suddenly shattered. Moving to an incredible house in Malibu with The Glasses, Old Friends of the Family seems to be the beginning of a new life for them. This film came out during the perfect weekend at the American box office. It was absolutely poised for success. There was no way it was going to fail. It came out on September 14th, 2001, uh, when everyone in America wanted to go to the movies. This was a massive blockbuster rental for me. I rented it quite often, and I'm glad I waited until then to see it because I would not have been in the right mindset had I seen it on opening weekend. Right around this time, I had just been granted permission to watch PG-13 movies uncut. I had turned 13, and it was a very big deal for me. serent renting movies like The Glass House. Felt like I had entered an entirely new world filled with very hardcore violent entertainment. So, I felt like I was graduating from the types of TV thrillers I had been permitted to watch before. It's tough to describe how special that felt for me at the time, but it really meant something. Before I get into anything about the movie, I
Chapter 3: Specific narrative details
want to talk about a sequence where Ruby's character has to get her brother out of bed in the middle of the night and she has to lie to him to convince him to wake up and get in a car. And this is what she chooses to say. They're giving away free Dragon Ball Z tapes at Blockbuster and we can get in line real early and avoid the rush. Really? When I saw this when I was 13, I thought, "Yeah, that is exactly what would get me out of bed." I mean, that that was written for me. It's crazy how specific that is. Also, young Trevor Morgan is gifted an N64 and a PS1 as his new guardians are trying to endear themselves to him. And that would really work for me. Yeah. Like all of it worked. Like I would be like, "Yeah, man. I don't care. Lock me up. Give me my N64." And now as an adult, it's kind of sad that I look at those games and think, "Oh, wow. Those are in box. I wonder if it has the manual." The collector in me really notices those things. This movie is sometimes referred
Chapter 4: Analyzing the thriller genre
to as like a highbudgeted Lifetime channel movie. And what exactly is wrong with that? This is something I really want to talk about. There are certain sub genres of thrillers or even just thrillers in general that for some reason we tend to turn our noses up at. I think it's just become ingrained in us to look at thrillers like these, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Pacific Heights, Domestic Disturbance, The Glass House, and kind of just assume that they are lesser than. I don't know what it is, but it seems like there's an unspoken rule that films like this are just to be looked down upon because they made the mistake of existing. It also features really terrific actors like Stellin Scarsgard, who's one of the best actors alive, Diane Lane, and Ly Soies was very, very, very good. She just hasn't really acted for a long time. Young Trevor Morgan was showing up in The Six Sense and Jurassic Park 3I. This is a film that has four central very good performances and a very, very good
Chapter 5: Directorial style and lighting
directorial style and a lot of great ideas. I actually listened to the commentary track while I rewatched the movie last night. And they really put a lot of effort into this movie that is sometimes overlooked. Films like The Glass House are the epitome of comfort movies for me. I mean, I'm immediately
Chapter 5: Directorial style and lighting (Continued)
feeling warm and fuzzy just looking at that laptop. I really miss the look of early 2000's Apple technology. I wanted all of it. It looked so inviting and fun. And I really miss transparent electronics. I mean, all of this stuff just looks incredible. Why don't they make that anymore? They were like, "Look what's inside. We're not lying to you. Look, it's electronic. Here you can see all the gears and pieces parts. It's so cool." One of the things that Daniel Sackheim talks about a lot on the commentary is his use of lighting in the movie. Early in the film, when she's with her real parents and her life seems much happier, it's very warm. It feels inviting. You feel safe as she gets to know the glasses. Everything gets cooler. It pushes towards blue. You feel a little more unsafe. But even more interesting, as the movie progresses, the use of lighting changes from what looks more, I guess you could say, realistic into something that feels more theatrical. The shadows get darker and longer. The contrast becomes more heavy as the film progresses and things get scarier and it starts to feel more like a movie. These are really interesting choices because sometimes as a filmmaker you start a movie and you think this is our look for the movie. But this film very subtly changes that look from start to finish to make you go from something that feels more like a straightforward drama into a thriller.
Chapter 6: Commentary and creative choices
One of the things that they also talked about in the commentary that I found very interesting is that the writer actually mentions that modern audiences, meaning 2001 audiences, sometimes are a little impatient. And he mentions especially during the early reels, meaning the beginning of the movie, the physical film reels, which was very, very fun to hear him say. But my friend, my brother in Christ, if you thought modern audiences were impatient in 2001, I've got some news for you, brother. They also mentioned on the commentary that one of the biggest struggles was the studio wanted the movie to announce itself as a thriller a lot sooner. And the writer and director both thought that creating a compelling drama that eventually turns into a thriller was a far more interesting way to do it. Strangely, I feel like I agree with everybody, the studio, the writer, and the director, because I do think there's probably a better paced cut out there where we get to some of the darker elements sooner. But as an audience member, I feel like I'm more emotionally attached to their life as I am experiencing it in what would be considered a realistic way before stuff gets dark. And so, I think that everybody's right. And they found a pretty good meaning of the minds. And I always love when villains have a very clear human motivation for what they're doing. They feel like people, not necessarily bad guys. Something I also really loved hearing on the commentary is there's a sequence where Lely Soi has to write a paper on Hamlet and you do see her laptop screen and the beginning of that paper and the director was concerned that somebody who gets the DVD could pause it and see that it's not actually a paper on Hamlet. And so the writer of the movie actually spent an entire day writing a real report on Hamlet. Now that is some dedication to your craft. And again on this 13-year-old boy being like the most accurate 2001 13-year-old, he has a poster of Darth Maul in his room. This kid was literally me. There's also another really good set design choice and lighting choice with the husband and wife because inside their room when we're in there and they're arguing and everything's coming out on the table and they're telling the truth about what's going on. This is a very bright room with no shadows and everything's clear and everything's lit because this room is filled with truth. And like all the other rooms in the house are filled with lies and so the shadows are long and it's more intense and more theatrical. And I know this is probably the most analytical review you're ever going to see of The Glass House, but this is what I'm here for, people. Movies like this just don't come around
Chapter 7: Legacy and closing thoughts
anymore. Netflix is really one of the only places it's actually putting really big money into films along these lines. Most everywhere else, these types of films end up on TV or on a streaming service that doesn't have the money to make them look like they used to to. It is a goal of mine to try one day to make something that feels like a '90s or a 2000 thriller that has horror elements, a more contemporary
Chapter 7: Legacy and closing thoughts (Continued)
version of it. It really is a goal of mine. I'm trying to do it right now. Actually, films like The Glass House have always been comfort food for me. I'm curious, what are some of your comfort food movies? And do you enjoy watching films that I guess you could say are scary? They're just not filled with monsters or ghosts or demons around Halloween time. Guys, thank you so much as always for watching. Look forward to more videos very soon. And if you like this, you can click right here and get stuckmanized.
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