Some of your universe's critics fail to see the power and innovation of Granny. For example, reviewer pizowell writes, rather rudely, "Take my advice and steer clear of that dirty old hag The Granny." Reviewer bigpappa1--2 says the film "has some of the dumbest characters and situations to ever grace a television screen." And reviewer trevhurt writes, "This film is truly execrable in all departments. Script, acting, plot, direction and editing are all uniformly awful."
Read on for the truth about Granny...
The film begins eerily with a closeup of a man’s face. The man, Jason, stares directly into the camera and admits, “I killed my grandmother. I took her to a cemetery. I took her to the cemetery where I wanted to lay her to rest, but before I buried her six feet under, I cut her into pieces. Some of the organs I brought to the session this evening. This was a brain.”
The shot widens and we see a group of young adults playing a Halloween game. Their eyes are closed as they fondle the “brain.” After some quips, Jason passes around his grandmother’s “hand,” and then the “bowel.” Finally, he passes around her “heart.” When it is over, he admits the materials are pig guts. Of course, everyone runs for the sink to wash their hands.
Afterwards, the friends have a serious discussion about gender roles. A bespectacled man in a white t-shirt named Vic expounds, “Natalie, I know you’re a serious feminist, but leave men alone. A man discovered America, Caesar was a man, the Pope is a man, Jesus Christ was a man, the President of the United States is not a woman either. And do you know who discovered the light bulb? A man. Men are the leading forces of life, family, and, uh, golf.” The other men in the room clap, appropriately.
Natalie responds, “You know, Vic, you’re a really nice boy, but if there weren’t women, then you wouldn’t exist and you wouldn’t be able to bless us with your ever-so-stimulating comments.”
The conversation turns to sex. Natalie asks, “When was the last time you guys had a really good sexual experience? I mean, sweating and going nuts.”
Oddly, nobody actually tells a story and the conversation moves on. The friends welcome Michelle, the newest member of the group, who recently moved from Seattle to Chicago.
The discussion continues with quips and deep observations about sexual politics. Michelle admits she is a little afraid of sex because she isn’t very experienced. This admission results in some support for Michelle, but more importantly it moves the conversation on to the next topic: fear and paranoia. Pete asks Jason what scares him, so Jason replies quickly, “I’m scared…when I kill a spider. I’m afraid thousands of his spider friends will revenge their fellow spider’s death by devouring me.”
Other fears include subconsciously being a serial killer (this one is quickly ignored) and being in a house alone. Finally, Kristine admits she is paranoid that her boyfriend Tom might cheat on her, though he tells her he would never do so. Tom, in turn, stands up to confess his fear, but instead of telling his friends what it is, he asks them to leave so he can show them fears. “I will create a paranoia for everyone. A horror skit. A really short skit. I need you all to leave the house for an hour so I can set everything up. Once you come back, I will show you my paranoia right here.”
Of course, the friends agree this is a great idea. Everyone but Tom leaves. When they are gone, Tom stands creepily in a window and makes a big sign of the cross with his arm. Then he turns to his mysterious work.
The film cuts to one hour later, as the friends return (we never find out where they went) only to find a note on the front door telling them Tom had to leave. They enter the house and take their seats in the living room. Suddenly, they hear the sound of someone crying. Jason volunteers to check out the basement alone to see if that is where the noise is coming from. “So long, my friends,” he says. “I’m going to reunite with my grandmother.”
Jason explores the basement and sees someone dressed as an old woman crying in a corner.
Despite the fact the person is clearly wearing a rubber mask and wig, Jason asks, “Granny? What are you doing here?”
Suddenly, Granny picks up an axe and murders Jason in silhouette.
Next, Monica goes to the bathroom to fix her makeup (a real-time shot that takes approximately five minutes). She opens the door to the toilet, sees nothing, and then closes it, but seconds later the murderous Granny appears from behind the same door with a knife. Monica screams. Granny stabs her repeatedly, killing her. Then, in a humorous twist, Granny grabs a roll of toilet paper and retreats to the toilet.
Meanwhile, the other friends go down to the basement en masse and find Jason’s body. At first, they are skeptical that Jason is tricking them, but they soon verify that he is in fact dead. They quickly find Monica’s body upstairs as well. Michelle, quite rightly, says, “What sick game is this? We’re all gonna die. What kind of games do you guys play?”
Everyone runs downstairs. They find Tom on the couch and accuse him of multiple murders, but he says he was at the store getting chips and beer. They see Granny peering down at them from the top of the staircases so Tom and Pete rush upstairs to investigate. Tom is quickly assaulted (non-fatally) by Granny with a baseball bat while Pete is stuck in a room whose door slams shut supernaturally. Then Granny strangles Pete and throws him out the window.
They call the police, but the next one to wander away is Kristine, who has walked outside to get help. Although the house is in a suburban neighborhood, she finds herself in the middle of a dark forest. Granny suddenly appears behind her and strangles her with a rope. Then Granny breaks her neck before wandering into the woods.
Back at the house, Michelle is surprised to see Granny both outside and sitting in a chair in the living room. She runs upstairs and finds Vic, who has found a handgun. Shockingly, Vic tells her she has to do exactly what he says, and then he kisses her, which she appears to enjoy. However, Granny appears behind Vic and stabs him in the eyes with knitting needles.
Michelle and Natalie run out of the house to get in Natalie’s car, but she is quickly asphyxiated by Granny, who has been hiding in the back seat with a plastic bag. Michelle, instead of helping her friend, jumps out of the car and runs back to the house, where she finds Tom spitting blood on the back deck. Granny grabs him and drags him away, leaving Michelle time to retrieve the handgun and stalk the house, looking for the killer. She finds Granny in the garage and manages to shoot the killer. Then Michelle opens the garage door and runs outside. She makes it back to her own house all by herself, but in a surprising climax she falls down, victim of a heart attack even though she is now safe.
The film cuts to three days later at the local cemetery, where Michelle’s funeral is underway. Surprisingly, all of Granny’s victims stand around the casket. It was all a prank — a prank that ended tragically with Michelle’s heart attack. The friends argue about their actions and how they took things too far. Helpfully, Tom explains that his brother dressed up as Granny and all the deaths were fake. Kristine, crying, says, “We took on a power that wasn’t ours to take. And that just isn’t right.”
I will not spoil the ending, which might or might not be a twist and might or might not involve someone who might or might not be Michelle driving a car past the cemetery.
The End
Some viewers will find Granny outlandish and unrealistic, but I believe it is all in service of its point that all human relationships are merely illusions. The conversation about sexual roles and politics in the living room is a clever setup for the slasher action as the young adults merely talk past each other, none of them agreeing with anyone else or even understanding the points that are made. This leads into talk of fear and paranoia. After Tom sets up his "short skit," which is revealed at the end to be a ruse to scare Michelle (to death, it turns out, a la 1986's April Fool's Day), most of the young people are violently murdered -- in front of the camera, but not in front of Michelle, who observes only a couple of the deaths. The elaborate murders are staged not for Michelle but for the viewers. The fact that all of this is impossible (not least because Granny exhibits supernatural strength) is the point of the film. The audience's outrage at being "cheated" exposes the fact that they are watching a film, and they should know that none of it is real. That is the true genius of Granny: It questions not only whether an audience can suspend its disbelief, but why it should. The answer is within each of us as cinemagoers. Should we suspend our disbelief? Yes, of course we should, even when it is nearly impossible. Otherwise, why would we watch movies at all?