Review of The Night House (2021) by Theredsky — 02 Sep 2021

I didn’t go into this with high expectations but I was very impressed with what I saw. This is the kind of horror I wish we would get more of. Some effective and creative jumpscares with interesting stories, characters and a lot of unsettling themes.

This film deals with issues like suicide, depression, and mental illness and I think it makes use of them very efficiently to make you feel sympathetic and scared at the same time. There is a lot of ambiguity about what the monster is but in the end it’s nothing and I don’t mean there is nothing there but it deals with the idea that nothing is something.

It sounds confusing but it makes sense with the film. I’ve never been a big fan of jumpscares but I think it’s super effective most of the time here. Most crappy horror film jumpscares get you for a second but you forget about them after they happened and this didn’t happen here.

The scares stuck with me long after I saw them. David Bruckner’s directoral style helps give the film a sense if uneasiness and I think it works brilliantly for this story. Rebecca Hall gave a career best here.

Her performance is pretty fantastic at points and her character is the best part of the movie. She feels relatable while having a fun personality that feels realistic. The film’s use of color and lighting at points also helps this uneasy atmosphere and the cinematography was super effective at some of these scares.

I would highly recommend checking this out. It’s one of the more unique and interesting horror films I have seen in a while.