08/21/2026

Jeff Lichtenstein

Aug 21, 2026

Best House

Best Movies Involving Homes

Cancel Netflix today. No, it’s not for a political agenda. Or because I’m a goody two-shoes who scowls that the kids need to play outside and do their homework. It is because it’s a ripoff.

See, longtime reader and friend of the Journal, Stella Farber, said, “Why don’t I do a story on the best movies involving homes?” Trying to be open-minded to reader suggestions, I agreed to oblige. Plus, it sounded like lots of fun. However, it might be the last time I give credence to a reader. I’ll explain.

For this venture, I’ve been watching one movie after another, and some of them are dumb, bad, and boring. I felt compelled to watch The Last House. This movie is #1 and the best Netflix has to offer. Not saying much when this year offers amazing movies like the The Odyssey, Spider-Man, and Disclosure Day. The Last House says it’s a sci-fi survival thriller about a married couple trapped inside their suburban home with their children when a mysterious global phenomenon seals every exit shut.

Spoiler alert: Some ocean creatures with tentacles who look like a supposedly terrifying Squidward from SpongeBob attack the world and utilize heavy rainfall as an extended nervous system to manipulate pressure fields to keep houses locked tight. And, of course, love will save the day.

That was the final straw to produce this article, even though I’m not really at full term to do so. I just can’t watch any more movies about homes.

Ranking movies about a “home” theme isn’t so easy. First, you have a lot of genres. Comedy, romance, sci-fi, horror, etc. Also, every movie has a house involved. What qualifies? Then there are movies about homes like The Big Short but not focused on a home. Psycho’s home is iconic, but was it about the house or insanity? Then, should this be extended to TV homes like the Brady Bunch home, Little House on the Prairie, or 704 Hauser Street? I finally realized how many movies I need to watch. It’s never-ending.

Ground rules needed to be set up. #1 — TV doesn’t count. #2 — Not much before the late ’70s, as going back to watch originals and everything before then would delay this piece by a number of years. If you have something I left out, email me and I’ll do an update of this by the end of the year to get more concrete.

After much thought, I do have a Top 15, but there are also honorable mentions of those that did not make the cut. We will start with those first.

Best Prozac Movie House

House of Sand and Fog. Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly. Roger Ebert gave this 2003 movie 5 stars. It explored profound questions on faith, lust, power, love, the pursuit of happiness, and greed. You say, sounds pretty good. Don’t tell me any more, as I want to see this one. If you are expecting a nice heads-up spoiler alert — don’t — as this movie review is not a safe space! Here is why I must tell all. We had a house by ours growing up with unspeakable energy. It had an over-garage second-floor addition that made it look like something out of The Amityville Horror. A divorce, suicide (not in the house), and loss of a job gave us the willies each time we drove by. But that was Pleasantville compared to the house in House of Sand and Fog. Double suicides, job loss, broken marriage, arrest, and the killing of a teen. Jennifer Connelly started smoking and drinking again and basically went insane. All over a house. Instead, they could have called ECHO and we would have found them something nice without all the homicides.

Best Romance Home

Howards End. It also qualifies as the worst romance about a house since it’s the only one I saw about a house. My wife fell asleep halfway through, and I was more interested in internet phone scrolling.

Best Horror Home Hotel

Some say The Shining is the best horror movie about a house. The Torrance family was using the hotel as a home. But it’s still a resort hotel. Still my favorite in this category. Jack’s best performance. My dad was so frightened by the previews, he still has never watched it.

Best Supporting Superhero House

Batman has Wayne Manor and a secret Batcave. Superman has the Fortress of Solitude. Wonder Woman has an island but not really a house. Iron Man’s place was just sleek and cool. All nice bachelor and bachelorette pads, but not really the theme of the story. My dad would vote for the Fortress of Solitude. A bit chilly for my taste, but I’ll concur.

Best Supporting Garage

Ferris Bueller’s — Cameron’s home. “I’m gonna take a stand.”

Best Cabin

Cabin in the Woods. Not sure if there were any other good cabin movies.

Best Tourist Home

Mrs. Doubtfire’s home. It’s funny that plenty took place in the house and the kitchen scene was iconic. However, was the inside of the house really a main character? Much happened outside the house, and wasn’t it all Robin Williams with a great story about divorced families anyway? What is memorable is the curb appeal. When you go on a tour in San Francisco, it’s a favorite that everyone wants to see.

Best Rental Investment Home

Pacific Heights. Another San Fran home, Victorian in style. I always warn you that you never know who you are going to get with rentals. Hopefully, it’s not Michael Keaton taking on your own identity. Melanie Griffith and the namesake of Jiminy Glick’s twins, Matthew Modine.

Best House Needing Staging

The Odd Couple apartment. At least half of it.

Best Supporting Tear-Down Home

Jenny’s house in Forrest Gump. The house was in the movie a few times. Jenny running away. Jenny and Forrest throwing rocks. And it being bulldozed. Not all homes are a happy place.

Best Supposed Movie About a House I Couldn’t Get Into

Grey Gardens. The 1970s one was kind of a documentary. The 2003 one starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange was another one my wife got bored with. If you are more of the well-to-do part of society, it’s probably me (not you) and my 5th-grade sophistication.

Best Musical House

The Sound of Music. My daughter, Jade, took a tour of this in Salzburg. She said they used two different homes. One for the front and one for the backyard. The Hills are Alllllllive!

Best Expat Fixer-Upper

Under the Tuscan Sun. The remake I saw was with Diane Lane in 2003. 55% of the population is divorced. Starting over is sometimes needed. With more and more people living abroad, this is a nice, light romantic comedy. The villa plays a starring role.

Now, the Top 15

15. The War of the Roses

Best Divorce Home. Danny DeVito, Kathleen Turner, and Michael Douglas. Best divorce house fight for certain!

14. Panic Room

Best Panic Room. Great movie that puts you on the edge of your seat. Jodie Foster is amazing, as always.

13. Beetlejuice

Best Funny Horror. If you ever want to list, buy, or sell, just say ECHO ECHO ECHO and we will come a-running.

12. Crimson Peak

Best Gore: Guillermo del Toro creates a gothic horror delight for your visual senses. Great story. Rated Gory.

11. Cable Guy

Best Vendor House Movie. Jim Carrey terrorizes Matthew Broderick. It’s the story of every weirdo who you are scared to let into your home.

10. Neighbors

Best Neighbor House Movie. I saw this as a kid, starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. I liked it, although most didn’t. Everyone has those oddball neighbors on the block.

9. Demon Seed

Best Sci-Fi House. This is basically an AI movie of today. It’s a smart house that does everything for you. But then it starts to hallucinate and has a hard crush on the wife, Julie Christie.

8. Mouse Hunt

Best Pest control. Another comedy that just made me crack up the whole time. The house, the mouse, and the cheese were the stars.

7. Glengarry Glen Ross

Best of Scumbag Real Estate Schemes. This is not the way real estate salespeople should be. Incredible cast.

6. The Money Pit

Best Fixer-Upper Movie.

5. The Big Short

Biographical Drama. No house involved, but “House” is front and center. I had a hard time watching it. It was very accurate. South Florida was a real depression in housing. It was like your hours were cut from 40 to 10 and wages boulderized by 35%. We kept ours, which was a big win. If you were in the building business, you were out of business for half a decade. I learned how to do short sales. And saw families torn apart. The current housing shortage and political divide in the country have some carry-down from the greed and fraud of this period. I never thought about it before, but it should be in the Library of Congress United States Registry for being historically significant.

4. Here

Best Drama. I loved this 2024 fantasy drama movie with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. It showcases everyone who lived on the land and different periods of time. From William Franklin (Ben’s son) to modern day. The perfect story for “if these walls could talk.”

3. UP

Best Animation for me. Ed Asner playing Mr. Grant in this lovable romantic classic. I’ve seen the house, which is no different than some of those rapidly disappearing lookalike ones in downtown West Palm Beach and historic Delray Beach being torn down.

2. Poltergeist

Best Haunted House. My dad could handle this one and scared me half to death in the theater by whispering “boo” and patting my back at some point. “What’s happening?” as the house crumbles is classic.

1. Home Alone

Best Comedy. Filmed near my hometown, as John Hughes loved to shoot there. Macaulay Culkin’s feature film after his debut in Uncle Buck. Every aspect of the house, from the basement to the treehouse, played a role.

Honorable Mentions

Best House Honorable Mentions / I Didn’t Get To / I Can’t Remember What Happened

Some of these should be in the Top 15, but eh, like I said, it’s never-ending.

Cheaper by the Dozen. Cute, but too many cheap jokes. However, it’s a good family movie with little kids.

The Addams Family house is still more TV show in my mind than movie. However, the house definitely deserves an honorable mention.

Half the horror movies involve a scary home. The Addams Family, Goonies, Monster House, The Haunting, Parasite, Hereditary, The Amityville Horror, The Last House on the Left, and Evil Dead.

Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat is a good one for staging a house to get it ready to show. However, it was such an established children’s book that the movie feels secondary. The movie, House, fitted both horror, fantasy and comedy. There were sequels as well but too cheesy.

The Lake House, Father of the Bride, and all the way back to the 1940s — Mrs. Muir — were considered.

Like in the movies, credits do roll. Special thanks to my buddy Judd who has worked in the movie industry and can quote from about any movie. And from a Streetcart Named Desire, STELLLA!!!. This may not be the last of this article. If this Jeff’s Journal gets good reviews, like in the movies, this house article will get a sequel addition.