She Lives in THE NIGHT HOUSE

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from director David Bruckner and Searchlight Pictures comes the story of grief and mystery in THE NIGHT HOUSE.

Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a young woman dealing with the death of her husband Owen (Evan Jonigkeit). Keeping an eye on her is neighbor Mel (Vondie Curtis-Hall) and friend Claire (Sarah Goldberg) as they see she is not doing well.

Drinking a bit heavy, Beth starts to notice bizarre sounds and happenings around the house Owen built for them. On his cell phone she notices a photograph but is not sure if it is a picture of her and begins to question things Owen may be have been doing. As she starts packing up his books and clothes, she finds odd books about the occult.

She also notices something odd on the other side of the lake only to discover that there is more to Owen’s life than she knew. That’s when message begin to appear and a voice that clearly reaches out to her.

Now she must decide what is real and what is due to the pain of losing her love.

Hall as Beth is dealing with her husbands’ death her own way which includes alcohol and an attitude. Not sure what she wants to do from day to day, it is those moments of loneliness that what is in the house reaches out to her. Hall is awesome when she is at her most sarcastic and even better when she tackles what you can not see in front of her.

Curtis-Hall as neighbor Mel just wants to look out for Beth in any way he can. That’s difficult to do at times as Beth is becoming darker as the days go by. It is fantastic to see Curtis-Hall on the screen again. Goldberg as friend Claire tries to get Beth out of the house but as her friend tells her what is going on in the house, Claire seems more willing to believe that its alcohol than anything else.

Other cast include Stacy Martin as Madelyn, David Abeles as Gary, Christina Jackson as Heather, Patrick Klein as Rob, and Samantha Buck as Becky.

Searchlight Pictures is responsible for such films as SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, THE SHAPE OF WATER and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI. They have an extensive film library as well as documentaries, scripted series, and limited series. For more information, please visit www.searchlightpictures.com.

THE NIGHT HOUSE is a creepy film that will keep you staring at the screen wondering ‘did I see what I think I saw?’. The storyline reminds me a bit of the 1999 film STIR OF ECHOES, the 2002 film WHAT LIES BENEATH and a dash of the 2002 film DRAGONFLY.

There are some pretty awesome effects in the film that keep the creepy factor on high alert. For me, the problem becomes the last ten minutes of the film. It had the potential to take us to a higher height but instead it seemed like director Bruckner took a safe and predictable route.

Now, that being said, I did enjoy the film and Hall takes it all the way home. From start to finish she gives us all the motions someone who loses a love would go through. I suppose my favorite scene is in the classroom (that’s all you get) because I was a cheer leader to Hall’s attitude the whole way.

Shout out to Jonigkeit as Owen because even though his role was ‘small’, it is important in piecing together what Hall’s character is going through. As the story between Beth and Owen starts to click together, it also makes Beth’s life fall apart even more. Well done to both actors!

In the end – the mystery is going deeper than she could ever have imagined!

 

 

GHOST STORIES Brings Jumps and Twists Just the Way We Love Our Scares!

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to select theatres and currently available on VOD from writer/directors Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman and IFC Films are stories that will tingle spines with GHOST STORIES.

Professor Phillip Goodman (Andy Nyman) has made a life out of uncovering psychics who are frauds on his television show Psychic Cheats. He receives a package from Charles Cameron (Leonard Byrne), a man Goodman saw as an example of how to find phonies and frauds, and he wants to meet with him.

Thrilled to meet someone he thought long dead, Goodman is shocked to discover that things haven’t been easy for him. He only wants one thing from Goodman, to investigate three cases for which he has no answer for.

The first person affected is a night watchman Tony Matthews (Paul Whitehouse) who is the security guard in an asylum long since abandoned. Lights blinking and doors slamming have him investigating every nook and in the dark things have a way of catching up with you, as it does him.

The second person affected is Simon Rifkind (Alex Lawther), a young boy who finds himself on a deserted road in the woods and distracted by his father screaming at him on the phone. Hitting an object, what he sees is horrifying and has put his life into a world of absolute fear.

The third person he speaks with is Mike Priddle (Martin Freeman) who doesn’t seem at all moved by the story he has to tell. A wealthy man, he has a beautiful home and recently he and wife Maria (Emily Carding) have created a beautiful nursery for their unborn child. While Marie is in the hospital, something happens in the home nursery that is beyond reason.

What do these three men have in common is what Professor Goodman is about to find out.

Nyman as Professor Goodman is a man with a past that brings him to calling out those who fraud the public about being psychic. What he doesn’t expect is that the man who he considers the reason for his line of work would pop up out of no where to solve these cases. Nyman’s character is a skeptic yet there are moments where he begins to question his own non-beliefs.

Matthews as Whitehouse is the first man affected and he absolutely starts the creepy trail rolling.  I give him points for keeping his fear in check because I would have lost it completely. Lawther as Simon is a young man locked inside his own fears and with absolutely every reason to be. Lawther has the unique ability to ooze fear out of every pour of his being and he does so with ease.

Freeman as Priddle calmly walks into the story and steals it from Nyman briefly. He is cold, intense, affected, a judge and nothing expected. Of course I am thrilled to see Freeman because he is such an amazing actor who seems to chose roles that he manipulates into absolute stunning works of art. This is such an interesting role because of the twists and turns but Freeman walks away with a giggle.

Other cast include Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Father Emery, Deborah Wastell as Mrs. Goodman, Daniel Hill as Mr. Goodman, Christine Dalby as Beth Hooper, Maggie McCarthy as Jean Hooper, Joe Osborne as Mr. Rifkind, and Maria Major as Mrs. Rifkind.

GHOST STORIES is what I absolutely adore about this genre – absolute twists, turns, not covered in gore and out of control cgi. Instead, we are given a thriller that embodies that word – it thrills from beginning to end. This isn’t a story that is easy to figure out or even easy to digest but in fact a story that is going to keep people talking.

This film is cleverly written, beautifully put on film with a cast that give stellar performances that had me from go. Filled with eerie creaks, flashing lights, and things that go bump in the night, GHOST STORIES is everything and a bag of spooky that I watched in the dark and would do so again.

In the end – the brain sees what it wants to see!