I like to think of myself as a fairly open-minded film-fan and I try to watch movies from many genres and sub-genres. However, I've never been able to get into erotic thrillers. I typically don't find the "erotic" part to be very erotic, and as a horror film fan, the "thriller" part often feels like a watered-down slasher movie. (So when everyone was going crazy over Fatal Attraction, I was watching The Stepfather.) Also, these films seem to a dime-a-dozen and I can only that Cinemax would collapse if they suddenly ceased to exist. But, again, I want to be open-minded, so I decided to give Playing House a shot.

As Playing House opens, we are introduced to Mitch (Craig Welzbacher) and Jen (Sarah Prikryl), a newlywed couple who have just moved into their first house. Mitch is doing his medical residency and Jen is a chef, so they barely have enough money to make the house payments. So, they allow Mitch's best friend, Danny (Matt Lusk), to move in with them, as his rent will help them out greatly. Danny is recently single and is looking to meet someone. One night, he brings a woman named Blair (Mayra Leal) home. Mitch and Jen are surprised to find a scantily-clad woman in their kitchen, but they're happy for Danny. The relationship quickly becomes serious and Jen finds that Blair is in the house a lot. Blair is very open with her flirting with Mitch, and Jen doesn't like the way he looks at Blair. However, none of them suspect that Blair is unstable and will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Playing House marks the feature film debut of Director Tom Vaughan (here credited as T. Vaughan), and he also co-wrote the script with Kristy Dobkin (who has worked in television). While the movie shows some promise in spots, it also displays some rookie mistakes. For example, the editing is clumsy at times, and there are some pauses which don't feel genuine -- they feel as if the actors were waiting for Vaughan to say "Action!". The story shows some flashes of originality (more on that in a moment), but, in the end, Blair's motivations are muddled. The viewer walks away wondering, "Did she want Mitch or Mitch's house?" This isn't very clear. If she solely wanted the house, this would have made for a much more intriguing and original movie. We learn some about Blair's background, and it's implied that she likes nice houses, but again, her desires are never perfectly clear.

For this genre, the movie does offer some believable characters, and the acting is pretty good. Mitch and Jen are both convincing in their roles, and while they aren't the most appealing characters ever, I can't see anyone not liking them, and this is very crucial to the story. Welzbacher and Prikryl both bring humanity to their performances and the acting is pretty transparent. Matt Lusk is very good as Danny (I guess Seth Rogen wasn't available.). This kind of character could have been very annoying, but Lusk makes Danny goofy, but never a total ass. The weak link here is Blair. Leal isn't a very good actress (she seems to have that Tom Cruise issue of not knowing what to do with her hands) and she's never scary.

Those issues aside, the movie does a good job of attempting to stay realistic and it does have some nice subtle touches. For example, when Jen, a chef, first meets Blair, Blair is using the kitchen to make breakfast. Talk about pissing in someone else's territory! However, the movie never goes out of its way to point this moment out and that's something I liked about it. Erotic thrillers have a tendency to quickly go over-the-top, but Playing House remains pretty even-keeled throughout. Blair's attempts to wedge herself in-between Mitch and Jen build slowly and her attempt to seduce Mitch works in an organic way. Of course, the fact that Jen would allow Blair to stay in the house is incredibly far-fetched, but otherwise, this part works.

Given its flaws, low-budget nature, and the fact that I don't like the genre, Playing House wasn't half-bad. Of course, the reasons why I liked it will probably be the reasons that fans of erotic thrillers will hate it -- there isn't much nudity or violence and no one goes completely bonkers. The movie seems more interested in exploring the relationships, and that's fine with me.

Playing House offers a great cameo appearance by PlayStation 3 on DVD courtesy of Maya Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, showing very little grain and no defects from the source material. I don't know how the movie was shot, but the image has a nice HD look to it. The colors look good, but the image is a bit dark at times. The skintones look good and I didn't notice any overt artifacting or pixellation. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are pretty good, most notably during the crowd scenes in the restaurant. These same scenes offer some decent surround sound effects. I didn't note much in the way of subwoofer effects.

The Playing House DVD contains no special features.