The Night House

“The concept of the film might seem basic enough in a blurb, but it’s the method behind both the literal and figurative madness that vaults this picture into worthy discussion of the year’s scariest films despite seeming like a standard haunted house film in any passing hype review of the film.

“What’s inside is a slow burn narrative that teases with plenty of unexplained incidents so that the mystery of what’s actually going on flutters about. A teacher named Beth (Rebecca Hall) closes out the school year with the traumatic experience of having found out her husband has committed suicide out on a boat by their lake house without any previous signs of unhappiness, mental turmoil, or emotional imbalance. The film doesn’t just nosedive into the premise of messages, spooks, or visitations from beyond the grave; instead, it takes its time to establish the inner struggle of protagonist Beth. From there, the film dabbles in the mysterious, using preconceptions the audience might have from this frequently visited subgenre of horror and slowly removing the notions the audience is most familiar with and has been conditioned to expect.

“At the center of the re-invention of this type of film, the first instinct for someone like me is to immediately dismiss the tired and worn out trope of introducing a dark moment or intense scare only to have it interrupted by the victim waking up from a dream. However, in this case, the film does not just burn the viewer with this previously overused premise and rest on its ‘gotcha’ formula like so many other studio horror yawners; the film actually uses the familiar concept to dive into the mysticism of dreams and out-of-body experiences in a way not quite depicted the same way in any other films.

“Because the film tampers with familiarity at first, viewers might be tempted to check their phone and wriggle a bit in their seats, figuring that they know what’s coming, but patience and attention to detail reveal quickly enough that this is not the same ol’, same ol’ by any means. To its benefit, it is also not a horror film that is just building toward one final climactic scare as its entire gimmick. The journey and unveiling along the way is very much as intense as any revelations the film offers as it continues toward the end.

“Barring spoilers, the revelation of the facts behind the mysterious death take on a unique lore that is not beyond the stretches of what we know or think we know about the afterlife, and it still manages to ground any such notion of the supernatural in our own mental/emotional neuroses, struggles, and traumas. Visually, the way the film unites these two is stellar. Films that allow audiences to fill in the blanks often make for the most effective scares. When we face our own realities or concocted delusions, that’s when the real frights spawn. What’s more, the director’s use of ‘negative space’ in the composition of certain shots is among the best I’ve ever seen. There are very creative moments that create their own scares if you observe closely enough not to what you see, but to what you’re not seeing … at first. 4 cats

“Recommended for fans of psychological horror

“Recommended for fans of unique sound design/soundtracks used to create scares (cello and assorted strings music fans especially)

“Not recommended for audiences who don’t like to ‘work’ for their scares; there is some work you have to do on your own in this one to complete all the frights and overall narrative”