House Movie Review

*Repost from 11/08/2008

Directed by Robbie Henson

Starring Michael Madsen, Bill Moseley, Reynaldo Rosales, Leslie Easterbrook, Julie Ann Emery

Based on a novel by Christian fiction horror authors Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker

Availability now on dvd April 7, 2009.

Ill start right off the bat and say im partly biased on this review. I love Frank Peretti and his Christian horror novels. Ive never read House but ive read several of his other ones. He's definitely up there on par with King, Koontz and some of the others but with a Christian flavor to it. To be honest I dont think most people that see this are going to actually "get" that this is a Christian movie. The references are sometimes ambiguous and the word Jesus is never uttered. Now the only other movie I have seen from Robbie Henson was Three, which I thought was a decent thriller. I can say without a doubt this is a huge step forward in direction. The production, acting, music, cinematography were all top notch.

The story is about a young married couple lost on their way out of state to the wife's recording session for her new cd. They encounter a wreck and the sheriff (Madsen) tells them a shortcut back to the highway. While driving down the country road they run over some scrap metal and blow the tires out while narrowly avoiding another car that suffered the same fate. They walk to a bed and breakfast motel looking for a phone to use. While there, they encounter another young couple whose car they almost hit. The tenants that run the motel are a creepy old lady, her mentally challenged son and some crazy w.t. guy. When they try to leave they open the door theres a menacing figure named tin man with a shotgun that traps them in the house. Tin Man climbs on the roof and drops a can down the chimney with his 3 rules on them. Rule #3 is they must kill someone before sunrise if they hope to escape. While all this chaos ensues, they get split up and they start living out some of their greatest fears and memories. The married couple had a young daughter that died and they have to confront that fear while the other couple each have their own twisted issues they have to deal with.

Ill start with the positives. The atmosphere, music and direction were spot on for this type of movie. I think it had a great balance of supernatural and slasher elements. While there wasnt any true gore It didnt really take away from the experience. All the actors were very good and Madsen was awesome in his small role.

Now for the negatives. While the story was solid and dialogue for the most part was good, it still wasnt the most original story. The ending was a common recent cliched ending for modern horror movies but with a minor twist. While the minor twist did help it some I still was hoping for something more original or grand. I think a less subtle approach on the material would have pissed the average fan off but I would have liked a little bit more of a Christian flavor to it. But I hope the film is pretty successful cuz I think if Robbie keeps growing and he picks a little bit better source material (older Peretti novels), he could knock a movie out of the park. While not everyones cup of soda (its better than tea), I still thought it was refreshing to see a different take on the horror genre. On a scale of 1-10 I give it a 'black smoke of evil leaking out of wounds' 6.9 out of 10.

Trailer (minor spoilers)