Director: Brett Bentman
Year: 2026
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Arriving at a woman’s house, a group of college students looks to make a documentary feature on the reclusive owner of the house for school, but when they’re stranded at the house during a storm, they find her mysterious past hides a murderous killing streak that has now turned toward them.
Review:
This was a generally decent, if overall problematic, genre effort. One of the better factors here is the somewhat intriguing backstory, which provides the kind of setup that allows for a lot of effective elements to be used to build up quite nicely. The main storyline about the group arriving at the house as a means of looking to do a story on the mysterious owner, who’s a notorious recluse about her past, and looking to help tell her story about her life, is a wholly flimsy enough pretext to get started, but as it gets them to the house and listening to her stories, it serves well enough. Those scenes are fun enough as well, with the strange answers she gives and the revelations that surface during several readings of her journal, leading them to a straightforward, obvious answer about how vicious and deadly she actually is.
When it comes to the stalking and slashing scenes featured here, it’s all decent enough, but not as impactful as it could’ve been. This is mostly apparent with the cold open, where the stalking of the police officer coming to check on the house comes about due to some immensely brutal and graphic sequences of toying with the officer before delivering the final series of strikes, getting this off to a strong start. The atmosphere of the house, especially with the old-school Gothic horror manor and raging thunderstorm taking place outside, is quite fun as the constant fear of her unhinged personality coming to the forefront makes everything have a tinge of unease that’s immensely effective. The finale is also enjoyable, where she takes her anger and frustration out on her friends in a series of graphic and bloody fashion, giving this a wild and over-the-top finish that’s enough to hold this one up overall.
There are a few major problems here that bring this one down. The biggest drawback here is the absolutely obnoxious idea behind why they’re at the house, as the whole series of action within here about why they’re still there is troubling. There are more than enough hints that she’s psychotic and unhinged, from her behavior and just plain outlandish outbursts to the history she has with the house, that she’s immensely off-putting and quite dangerous the more they stay there, so it makes the group all the more idiotic for staying at the house, especially once they learn what kind of person she used to be. The lackluster amount of kills with such a low body count and a low-budget approach that never has the chance to do much of anything also shows up to kill this one off as well, keeping this one down.
Overview: **/5
A watchable at best low-budget slasher, there’s enough to like with this one that it contains some worthwhile factors to it, but the big drawbacks on display are what manage to lower this one overall. Those with an appreciation for this style or approach will have the most to like here, while most others out there should heed extreme caution.
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