Film Review: HOUSE (2008)

To say that the horror genre has been lacking this year is an understatement as the few that have performed well at the box office or have actually connected with audiences is few and far in between (the few being THE ORPHANAGE, PROM NIGHT, THE STRANGERS, and SAW V, to name a few) while others has simply gone ignored (i.e. THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY, MIRRORS, ONE MISSED CALL, THE EYE, and the list goes on). This new horror hodge-podge HOUSE (2008) is no different as it tries to present the complex ideas of the original Ted Dekker & Frank Peretti novel.

Screenplay by Rob Green, HOUSE is the story of two couples who after an automobile accident find themselves trapped in a nearby home that’s run by a delusion family with nefarious deeds on the mind. The film is filled with a cast of unknowns but is cluttered with B-movie horror starlets from Michael Madsen, Leslie Easterbrook, and Bill Moseley. Even they can’t help this muddled mess of a film. Although the film does a lamentable job of trying to stay in tune with the dying “torture porn” film movement it is too much too late as everything presented feels like it’s been done to death and with a characters that are less then interesting the film is at times a labor to seat through due to the abundance of clichés.

One of the film’s saving graces is Marcin Koszalka’s cinematography which gives the film the perfect horror film ambiance, which is probably why it was given a theatrical release instead of heading straight to the DVD waste bin (as most of this film’s B-movie starlets other films). There are some that will enjoy the “torture porn” aspects of the film but the lack of a coherent story (and characters that drive that story) will ultimately leave audiences empty.