Director: Emily Hagins
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
After breaking up with his girlfriend, a man takes up an offer to move into a house for a new start, but after spending time there comes to believe the house is haunted by a demonic entity intent on getting close to him and enlists the help of some friends who believe him to contain the dark force.
Review:
This was a pretty enjoyable if somewhat flawed genre effort. Among the better elements of this one is the rather immersive atmosphere present with this one as it features a rather unique take on the subject matter. Focusing on the idea of the house clearly being haunted but him too clueless to pick on the overt qualities due to his naive charm and good-hearted nature, there's a lot to like here as the film runs through the clear stages of it being haunted. While it's known from the beginning that there's something wrong within the house due to the initial possession, that these scenes aren't more of a clue-in to what's going on earlier serves to nicely build the setup of the film quite nicely.
Once that's in place, the film does quite a nice job of bringing together the group to try to figure out what's happening to him as the longer he stays there the more obvious it is that the place is haunted. Initially built incredibly well off his nonchalant attitude making him blind and oblivious to things like the cake decorations that magically appear, voices talking to him through the TV or the radio, and objects going missing throughout the house, these soon grow to the point of possessing loved ones to psychologically torment him that provides the means through which the main purpose of the film is gradually revealed. This causes the highly engrossing and engaging finale bringing these together for a lot to like here at points.
There are some flaws to be had with this one. One of the main factors against this one is the highly uneven tone present that wants us to think this is funny but tends to fall flat more often than not. The main thing here is the central relationship which is written to be a way for us to identify with his underdog persona but she is entirely in the wrong for breaking up with him when he's rightfully putting more focus on work. That carries over into his attitude about the house being haunted as everything that's going on clearly shows it's haunted but him writing these away as something else entirely doesn't make any of this funny but instead makes it somewhat hard to care what's going on if it's hard to care about him.
That becomes even bigger once the relationship is rekindled and they get back together as not only is the relationship generally cliched to begin with but also causes the rapidly shifting tone to feel even more troublesome. The added intrigue of trying to save someone he cares for is sapped away by the same comically lackadaisical nature of his treatment towards a demonic being and his attempts at settling what's going on only result in a wildly varying and over-the-top series of scenes that are meant to be scary or thrilling but are so hamstrung by its lackluster presentation that it ends up somewhat lacking. Combined with an overlong running time that could’ve ended a lot earlier, these factors are what brings this one down.
Overview: **.5/5
An uneven but still likable genre effort, that it’s unfortunately got most of its issues surrounding the supposed comedy makes this a troublesome effort for those looking for this type of effort. If you’re comfortable with the type of material here or are a fan of the creative crew will have the most to like here while most others that are turned off by its flaws or don’t like the factors present here should heed caution here.
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