Director: Brendan Dulworthy
Year: 2022
Country: Ireland
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Arriving at a house in Ireland, a strained family trying to get through the move is disturbed when their daughter disappears inside the house, and when the investigation into what happened unearths a terrifying secret inside the cellar must race to stop it from destroying the family.
Review:
Overall, this was a solid if somewhat formulaic genre effort. When this one works well is due to the rather impressive atmosphere this features beings around the house. The creaky floors and Gothic layout look suitably creepy that something is going to happen which is all enhanced by the early scenes of the house going dark in a blackout caused by a supernatural force. The setup to the sequence and the payoff with the phone-call help to enhance the atmosphere greatly leading to the rather chilling disappearance that takes over the rest of the first half as they search the house and the rest of the area to find her. This is all played extremely effectively to wring the emotional weight for all it’s worth.
There’s a lot to like here as well when they attempt to track down the clues surrounding the disappearance and the connection to the house. The gradual discovery and unraveling of the clues about the houses’ origins and past history are incredibly chilling and far more involved than expected as the inclusion of occult practices into the matter. Not only is this incredibly fun to see play out in practice but also sets the stage for a series of fun encounters that also focus on offering a great conclusion to the setup provided. The finale offers quite a lot of unexpected encounters and setpieces that bring about some chilling focus away from the haunted house work that’s been in focus until then, getting this to end on a high note and really has a lot to like.
This one does have some minor drawbacks that hold this back. The majority of the issues here stem from the overly familiar and hardly original storyline at work here. It’s yet another in a long line of haunted houses involving an unlucky family moving into it unaware of a dark history inside which is done countless times in these kinds of films as the first half is way too familiar. The other minor issue here is a rather troublesome and expected part of the genre in their highly controversial decision to remain in the house for as long as they do, as the disappearance and series of accidents that take place are more than enough to get them out early on yet the decision to stay makes no sense. These are the few issues that hold this one down.
Overview: ****/5
Somewhat familiar at points but still has a lot to like about it, this one manages to be far better than expected which holds this one up over its generally uninvolved if still present flaws. Those who can appreciate what this one has to offer or appreciate this kind of slickly-made haunted house/supernatural effort will have a lot to like here while those who don’t appreciate this kind of feature will be somewhat turned off and heed caution with this one.
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