The Night House (2021)
Directed by David Bruckner
Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. Soon she begins to uncover her recently deceased husband's disturbing secrets.
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What critics say influenced The Night House
With definite nods to Suspiria (1977), The Entity (1982), and What Lies Beneath (2000), The Night House is a creepy suspense thriller that is ultimately too twisty for its own good.
She turns in a solid performance with this twisty, topsy turvy psychological thriller that only will have you recall Elisabeth Moss in “Invisible Man” and Michelle Pfeiffer in “What Lies Beneath.”
During the most crucial summer for studio theatrical releases in film history, The Night House (coming to a theatre near you from Fox Searchlight) is a thing that Hollywood rarely makes any more: a terrifying and emotionally moving horror movie for adults, recalling a time when a film like What Lies Beneath could be a summer blockbuster.
It might not add up to a satisfying conclusion – with the trashy twists harking back to What Lies Beneath – but, in the moment, it makes for suspenseful, if occasionally ridiculous viewing.
Invoking fond memories of watching “What Lies Beneath,” David Bruckner’s atmospheric thriller “The Night House” sees an excellent Rebecca Hall playing a widower searching for answers and unearthing shocking discoveries about why her late husband decided to take his own life.
With definite nods to Suspiria (1977), The Entity (1982), and What Lies Beneath (2000), The Night House is a creepy suspense thriller that is ultimately too twisty for its own good.
Her arc from distraught widow to survivalist detective grounds the film's more confusing parts in a stark, emotional reality, especially when Beth experiences an encounter with an invisible partner, a daring, jarringly sensual segment recalling Barbara Hershey's sexually abusive phantasm in 1982's "The Entity."
With a bit of It Follows, a dash of The Babadook, and a hint of The Entity, herein lies a thriller that dares to personify depression itself, giving form to concept that isn’t just a metaphor.
For now, her talents will remain in horror’s pantheon of stellar performances next to The Changeling ‘s George C. Scott and The Entity ‘s Barbara Hershey.
Much in the same way The Babadook invoked themes of anxiety, or It Follows used the terror of pending adulthood to fuel its frights, The Night House successfully builds a complicated, complex, and scary fable of grief.
With a bit of It Follows, a dash of The Babadook, and a hint of The Entity, herein lies a thriller that dares to personify depression itself, giving form to concept that isn’t just a metaphor.
Beth is such a fascinating character to follow through her grieving process, and reminded me favorably to the lead character in The Babadook.
In being a female-led horror film-slash-haunted house pic that’s really (slight sigh) about grief, “The Night House” follows in the mysterious disembodied footsteps of Jennifer Kent’s “The Babadook” and Ari Aster’s “Hereditary.“
There’s space for it on the same shelf as Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook, even if Bruckner plays to the gallery a little more than those filmmakers.
Literalizing this particular concept is always tricky; one of the reasons The Babadook gets away with it is because the real-life consequences of the depression-monster in the film are minimal.
The exploration of grief through the horror genre isn’t exactly a new concept — examples can be found as far back as 1973’s Don’t Look Now — but the trend has become increasingly prevalent in recent years.
It’s more in line with something like Nicolas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now” than Tobe Hooper’s “Poltergeist.”
The other feel is that The Night House is a throwback to late 1970’s horror films such as The Amityville Horror , The Changeling , or Don’t Look Now , which all deal with couples or characters haunted by loss.
La exploración del duelo a través del género de terror no es exactamente un concepto nuevo -se pueden encontrar ejemplos desde Don't Look Now, de 1973-, pero la tendencia se ha vuelto cada vez más frecuente en los últimos años.
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The story of Possession, which is perhaps Adjani’s greatest cinematic achievement, mirrors The Night House in the same way the film’s home reflects the insanity within.
It reminded me of Hereditary from the psychological side, where the theme of grief and loss can create the perfect character to follow, someone who’s own mental state is open to an entity to take them over.
In what very well may be the scariest horror movie since Hereditary, The Night House deals with human-level horrors – the impossibility of loss, discovering your spouse’s deepest, darkest secrets, losing the will to live – as well as some ethereal unknowable mythic horrors – where a kaleidoscopic and labyrinth mirror world awaits to snatch souls and drive them to human sacrifice.
In being a female-led horror film-slash-haunted house pic that’s really (slight sigh) about grief, “The Night House” follows in the mysterious disembodied footsteps of Jennifer Kent’s “The Babadook” and Ari Aster’s “Hereditary.“
As explored in an array of horror films from the past few years — take Ari Aster's 2018 Hereditary or Natalie Erika James's 2020 Relic — family trauma can be just as blood-curdling as the clearly supernatural.
There’s space for it on the same shelf as Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook, even if Bruckner plays to the gallery a little more than those filmmakers.
In any other film, such adventurous and artistically varied acting would warrant awards recognition, but even if such plaudits don’t arise, Hall will make for a fine addition to the assortment of actresses overlooked for outstanding work in horror fare, alongside Hereditary ’s Toni Collette and Us ’ Lupita Nyong’o.
It doesn’t hurt that the latest film from David Bruckner ( The Ritual and the forthcoming Hulu remake of Hellraiser ) has a masterful handle on the material.
Interestingly, the writers and director are currently in production of a reboot of Hellraiser, and while many wish they wouldn’t, with the right script and cast, these folks may be the one to pull it off — with Clive Barker’s blessing, of course.
Later, when Beth finds evidence that Owen was dabbling in the occult, bringing to mind the obsessed antiheroes of Clive Barker (not for nothing is Bruckner slated to helm the upcoming Hellraiser reboot).
Bruckner is an avid genre addict, having debuted with the Nordic noir The Ritual at Toronto’s Midnight Madness sidebar in 2017 and now conjuring a remake of Hellraiser .
Bruckner -- who directed a segment of the horror cheapie "V/H/S" and who will give us the "Hellraiser" reboot in 2022 -- has crafted an absorbing, atmospheric thriller, but his executive producer/star Hall proves to be his greatest asset.
With definite nods to Suspiria (1977), The Entity (1982), and What Lies Beneath (2000), The Night House is a creepy suspense thriller that is ultimately too twisty for its own good.
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For now, her talents will remain in horror’s pantheon of stellar performances next to The Changeling ‘s George C. Scott and The Entity ‘s Barbara Hershey.
The other feel is that The Night House is a throwback to late 1970’s horror films such as The Amityville Horror , The Changeling , or Don’t Look Now , which all deal with couples or characters haunted by loss.
Much in the same way The Babadook invoked themes of anxiety, or It Follows used the terror of pending adulthood to fuel its frights, The Night House successfully builds a complicated, complex, and scary fable of grief.
With a bit of It Follows, a dash of The Babadook, and a hint of The Entity, herein lies a thriller that dares to personify depression itself, giving form to concept that isn’t just a metaphor.