NOVELIST Alex (Ben Stiller) and journalist wife Nancy(Drew Barrymore) think they've found the perfect first home.

The one setback with the beautiful property is it has a tenant who cannot be moved on - a cantankerous, scheming old witch who makes the lovely couple's lives a misery and refuses to lay down and die, despite continually acting as though she were at death's door.

This is a funny film which at times will have you clenching your fists and screaming at the injustice of it all, particularly when the old hag contacts the police, claiming the couple have mistreated her.

Our House, directed by Danny Devito, is one of those films where you can feel the tension mounting to fever-pitch and you just wonder if there is anything else which can possibly go wrong.

It has similar attributes to the excellent War of the Roses, also directed by Danny Devito, but unfortunately does not have so much of the black comedy which made the late 80s classic such a hit.

The pairing of Stiller and Barrymore was wonderful and as much as I hated everything about the character, the actress Eileen Essell does a superb job as Mrs Connelly, the housemate from hell.