The Night House Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: After her husband commits suicide, a woman experiences supernatural events connected to the husband's hidden life.

Review: "The Night House" has great tension and buildup, but, ultimately, the final reveal and explanation is nonsensical and stupid. I wouldn't go quite as far as to call it wasted potential since it's really only the ending that falters. Unfortunately, endings like this are deal-breakers for me since my time has been wasted for like the millionth time. I mean, for fuck's sake the main chick discovers she's up against...the "Nothing?" Uh, should Falcor be swooping in? This ain't "The NeverEnding Story" here.

On the positive side of things, Rebecca Hall plays the lead, Beth, with utmost conviction; she felt believable in her grief and general mannerisms. Keeping the cast small helped to put the emphasis on Beth all the more as we see her grieve and try to figure out what her shady husband was up to. Speaking of which...the mystery that shrouds the husband is intriguing and engages the audience. He was building an exact duplicate of the family home in the middle of the woods except including creepy totems around. Hmmmm. I loved the red moon inclusion and this idea of two worlds or seeing something when in the right state of mind. More so, there are plenty of good ideas strewn about that leave you guessing where this story is heading. Complementing this aspect is the general tension that is created by the filmmakers. Gotta give credit where credit is due.

Where things go off the rails is when we finally discover the truth of what is happening. I'm like expecting some next level "Hellraiser" shit with the husband creating a gateway to hell or another dimension. Instead, he's a serial killer with a heart of gold that is tricking some kind of supernatural force to prevent it from killing Beth...called the Nothing. Wait, what?! Soooo...Beth almost died and met this supernatural being that for some reason didn't just take her at the edge of death but is trying to go "Final Destination" on her ass later? Why? And the only way to stop this is to build a replica house and kill chicks that look like Beth to trick the Nothing? AND somehow the husband was also prodded to do this on behalf of the Nothing...yet...this did trick the Nothing? Whaaaat? What the fuck am I even hearing? Let's just say this made sense for a second--why was Beth seeing the ghosts of the previous victims or whatever those girls running around were? What was the husband doing while constructing the house to keep this being at bay? If the husband was hearing whispers in his ear right after meeting Beth, would he really have stayed with her and lived a normal life or would he go crazy and ditch Beth since he knew she was haunted? Argh. Needless to say, there are numerous holes in this reveal and it's lame regardless. In fact, had this really been some kind of "Hellraiser" reboot it might have actually worked wonders with the replica house being it's own version of the Lament Configuration.

All things considered, I do still think "The Night House" is worth a view but expectations should to be tempered. The acting is good and the mystery is serviceable, however, where the story takes you isn't exactly the best. Although, I'm sure there will be those that find this reveal scary or might like this direction regardless.

Notable Moment: When Beth is bound by the "Nothing" and the red light is over head. This is great imagery and use of cinematography.

Final Rating: 5.5/10