HERE'S a novel concept - a thriller with no thrills and only a modicum of common sense.

The Glass House is bargain basement hokum, fuelled by outrageous twists and a splatter of far-fetched violence.

David and Grace Baker (O'Keefe, Wilson) are killed in a car crash, and their will states their children Ruby (Sobieski) and Rhett (Morgan) should live with wealthy former neighbours Terry and Erin Glass (Skarsgard, Lane).

At first the move seems like just what the two children need, and the location - swanky, sun-drenched Malibu - is idyllic.

But both siblings have trouble fitting in at school, and the Glass's interest in their well-being verges on emotional suffocation.

During the tentative first few weeks, Ruby begins to suspect her new guardians are not the ideal surrogate parents everyone believes.

Rhett is too engrossed in his new video games system to heed his sister's warnings, while the Baker family lawyer Mr Begleiter (Dern) seems unwilling to act.

The only person who takes any notice is Uncle Jack (Noth), but he lives on the other side of the country.

So are Ruby's suspicions justified or is she merely feeling the loss of her parents?

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, but the film makers responsible for this formulaic thriller deserve a few rotten tomatoes.

The plot signposts every twist well in advance - all two of them - and Skarsgard's surrogate father is so creepily nice that you wonder why anyone of sound mind would place the children in his care.

Sobieski and Morgan are appealing, without being too winsome, and the final showdown is an unintentional hoot.