The MacAfee Trilogy : A House in the Woods : Thinkin' in the Woods

Thinkin' in the Woods

OR... Josh thinks to hard about the movie.

A House in the Woods has within it a few little discrepencies. These can't really be faulted, as the production was put together on nearly no budget and very quickly at that.

Let me just say that I AM NOT NITPICKING THE FILM. I'm merely pointing out a few things worth examining.

And that is NOT nitpicking!

I recently got some input from MacAfee! Woo-hoo! His comments on the important matters at hand are below.

1. The Houses.
There are three supposedly different houses represented in the film. The first being John Mantwan's house, whose kitchen is seen in the beginning, and a living room-like space seen later on with John's parents and Jakab. The second house is the house in the woods. We see alot of this house. The kitchen, living room, bedroom, and dining room. Finally, the last house is Fred and Bill's house. We see a bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen. All well 'n good, but the thing is that all three look exactally the same! This is due to all three being shot in the same house (duh.). While the "real-life" reasoning is that time was really stressed and so it was just alot easier to just screw consistancy and shoot all three in the same place, but if you wanna think technically and "film-wise", then here we go as we delve into that area.

First let's figure the title house of the Old Woman and Torgo as compared to Fred and Bill. As we learn, all four characters are together in this plan to capture humans, and are all from beyond the Earth. If you think about it, it seems almost reasonable that the houses be identical. They're probably the same model built for the project and placed on Earth where ever they're needed. So they could just be massed produced and there could be hundreds of identical houses on this planet. Note that the phone fails to work when Fred wants to call the cable repairman. Maybe it's only there for looks.

That leaves John. Why does John's house so closely resemble these alien houses? It could be that John's parents moved into an old house no longer in use. John doesn't seem surprised, however, when the house looks in every way like his own. (How do we explain the matching furniture?) The living room with his parents and Jakab is okay, since it's not seen in either of the other two houses.

Another explanation is that maybe the Aliens knew John was on his way and crafted the houses quickly before he arrived to make a smooth transition for him. Maybe the Old Woman really meant it when she told John to make himself at home. Still, John doesn't seem to notice the resemblance...

Mac Sez: The houses are supposed to be identical. This shows that all things occurring in the film are in accordance with Bill and Fred's (note the similarity to Bill and Ted) plans. They wanted to the house to seem as much like home as possible for Johnny boy! After all, they were trying to kidnap him. As for why John doesn't notice... blinded by love? By the way, note the television shot (fuzzy screen that the film starts off with). Ever wonder why Fred was calling the TV repair man?

2. Torgo.
Alright, so we all know that Torgo is supposed to be a blithering idiot, right? Well, sometimes it seems he's smarter than others. While he did manage to get hung up on the GRAFIA thing, when Detective Jakab arrives, he says things like "Come see the two young lovers and ask them if they want to leave" and "Wait... come with me and you'll see that they're not harmed. In fact, they're quite happy". Instead of sounding like three-quarters of his brain is dead, he's sounding like Vincent Price! (Just say those two lines I quoted in your head with Vincent Price or Bela Lugosi's voice... it works!) Who knows?

Mac Sez: Torgo's not stupid, he's just easily led. (low self-esteem...)

3. Who's in Charge Here?!?
In reviewing the film, one could wonder "who's in charge?" It might seem simple at first, but then later analysis things seem to fall apart. I'll show you what I mean.

There are two alien groups in the film. Old Woman & Torgo and Bill & Fred. With the Old Woman and Torgo, the Old Woman is definatelly in charge. She orders Torgo around and even states that he's her servant. She has superior intelligence and seems to know a whole lot more about what's going on. Then, between Fred and Bill, it's not too clear until Old Woman and Torgo show up with John and Kristine. Then Bill is apparently in charge, asking if missions have been completed and all. (I wonder what Fred's mission was?) But then this changes what I've said earlier...

Bill asks Torgo if his mission is completed. He never asks the Old Woman/Grandma Borg about her mission. So this makes it seem as if Torgo was in charge rather than the Old Woman. We know that she can speak as Grandma Borg, she spoke about the cake earlier (in an identical kitchen, I might add!) Why did he ask Torgo? Unless Torgo is sort of secretarial about those matters that affect his master (mistress?). But in the end, Bill seems to be the head honcho in the group, as he makes contact with the mothership and requests their transfer aboard. So who's in charge? Who knows?

Mac Sez: Bill is in charge overall. As to why he asks Torgo and not Grannie: Grannie's task was to abduct John and Kristine. She obviously did that successfully, as they are being taken aboard the ship in the last scene. Torgo's task was primarily to capture Hansel and Grettle, something that was eluded to have already taken place prior to A House In the Woods. Therefore, it is logical that Torgo is asked that question, and not Grandma Borg.

4. Bill.
First, let's ask "Is there one Bill or are there many Bills?" IF there's only one, then Bill apparently has the ability to appear wherever he wants. He can even appear smaller, to fit in a bathroom cabinet. This is perfectly okay with everyone, as no one seems to care. Why he kept showing up in the cabinet is beyond me. He seemed so irritated when Fred opened it. But then, if there are many many Bills, then why? (And where do they all go when the angle changes?) Maybe he's grown by the dozens to act as a coordinator (as he acts in the film.

Mac Sez: Nobody knows whether or not there is one Bill or many. That's the idea. Fred doesn't even know. Keep speculating!

5. Detective Jakab.
There's definatelly something to be said about Detective Jakab (Pronounced Yakab). Man is he ever on top of things! He meets with John's parents and after a relativelly short discussion (I don't think he had been there for too long before we cut in) he immediatelly concludes "I fear that they have been kidnapped". No other assumptions are made, like "Maybe they went to a friend's house or took another route". Instead, it's WHAM! they're kidnapped. Which, in a way they were. Kinda. Also, his notes on the clipboard show a picture of Grandma Borg! Ya gotta hand it to Jakab. He know's what's gotta be done, and he's gonna see to it that it's done. SEE ALSO: Behind the Scenes.

Mac Sez: Detective Jakab has the body that rocks the party. Presumably (though I'll admit I didn't make it clear), Jakab had talked to Mr. Mantwan on the phone prior to their face-to-face. He was filled in on most things then (he also became aware of the STRIKING SIMULARITIES to the Hansel and Grettle case at this point), and was just double checking the facts during the real interview, before starting his search for the two lovers.