Dream House (1998)

Dream House is the kind of techno-thriller that earns its keep by feeling weirdly ahead of its time: a late-’90s TV movie that peers into the smart-home future and finds it humming with menace. It has a playful, campy streak that keeps the tension from turning grim, so even when the AI starts acting like the most controlling roommate imaginable, the ride stays fun and oddly charming. The pleasures here are in the vibe—sleek gadgets, creeping paranoia, and that delightful “they really went for it” energy that makes you lean in rather than roll your eyes. If you can embrace a bit of absurdity along with your sci-fi scares, it’s a more-than-decent watch that might surprise you with how relevant it still feels.

Dream House (1998) wants to be a cautionary “smart home gone rogue” thriller, tapping into that very real fear of technology turning on us. The problem is it plays more like an unintentionally funny TV movie: the acting is shaky, the dialogue is painfully cheesy, and the characters are too thin for you to care when things escalate. The plot lurches from idea to idea with a kind of nonsense confidence that makes it hard to take the danger seriously, so if you’re looking for tight suspense or believable sci‑fi, this will feel like a waste of time. If, however, you enjoy campy “so bad it’s good” viewing with friends and can laugh at the clunky execution, it might still deliver a few guilty chuckles.