Indie-Pictures-Blog, for the duration of the quarantine, will review the catalog of the new indie horror/suspense channel, Terror TV. http://www.terrortv.com
Review by Amy M. Frateo
I don’t watch a lot of horror movies. They err on the side of gratuitous sex, violence, and bad language to get a point across. So, I came to this assignment with a strong level of trepidation. I was happily surprised. The House is not a “what’s behind that door” type of haunted house/ghost movie. Here, the ghosts are the haunted ones.
Wall Street investment banker, Jean (played with appropriate millennial angst by Natalie Skye) quits her $$$ job and goes on a worldwide vacation of soul searching. Considering whether to go back to her old ways, she encounters a house filled with tormented spirits. A cynical college professor, played with academic aplomb by Alex Zahara; his bitter-over-life sister and her loving husband (great chemistry between Emilie Ullerup and David Richmond-Peck), a remorseful cabbie whose plot could be a parable for every immigrant. Zahf Paroo knew how to supply the right level of gravity for this role and (ready?) a drifter who ends up being her love interest. Zak Santiago gave us an excellent blend of tormented soul and ne’er-do-well for our money.
Desiree Lim offers up one of the most unique haunted house films in years. She allows the dead to counsel the living as you’d expect and then visa-versa in this psychological dark drama that – in some ways and from the right angle – is a 21st century riff on A Christmas Carol.
Living in seclusion as most are doing right now, this film hits a few more nerves than even Ms. Lim intended.
Amy M. Frateo is former artistic director of the Womyn’s Arts Foundation and Collaborative. She also served as facilitator for Drama-Queens: A Study of the Evolving Role of Female-centric Art of Stage & Screen.
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