Suburban Gothic (film)

Synopsis

Unable to find a job that utilizes his new MBA, Raymond (Matthew Gray Gubler) is forced to move back home to live with his parents. His mother Eve (Barbara Niven) is ecstatic about this and can't wait for him to arrive, while his father Donald (Ray Wise) believes Raymond to be a complete and utter disappointment and frequently berates him about this. To make matters worse, it seems that most of his high school classmates stayed in town and none of them are willing to let him forget that he was previously an overweight loser with a belief in the paranormal. Raymond does manage to connect with his former classmate Becca (Kat Dennings), who works as a local bartender. Things take a turn for the strange when the body of a young girl is unearthed in his parents' backyard during some construction, which ends up awakening a spirit intent on harvesting the souls of everyone in the town.

Cast

Reception

Critical reception for Suburban Gothic has been predominantly positive. Frequent elements of praise centered upon the film's acting and script, which Film School Rejects cited as a highlight. Shock Till You Drop gave a predominantly positive review, but commented that they would like to see Bates "drop the humor and go right for the throat with a scary haunted house film or supernatural thriller." The Hollywood Reporter was more negative in their review, criticizing it for "[running] out of steam in its second half" and stating that the romance between Gubler and Dennings was unsatisfying and that "The perfunctory resolution to their would-be romance is no more gratifying than a climax in which both spirit-world drama and Raymond's domestic conflict are wrapped up in a single tidy event."

At Screamfest 2014, Gubler received an award for Best Actor for his performance.