Direction: Neil LaBute
Country: USA
Neil LaBute, the mind behind In the Company of Men (1997) and Nurse Betty (2000), wrote and directed House of Darkness, an insipidly chatty comedy horror film whose effect is more mildly irritating than genuinely disconcerting.
In the manner of a joke without a punchline, the story takes place in an old, dark and secluded house full of memories. This house belongs to Mina (Kate Bosworth), a mysterious country woman, who, after incidentally coming across Hap (Justin Long) in a bar, invites him in. Tipsy, nosy and elusive, this middle-class city man keeps hearing noises and seeing things… are they alone in this little castle?
Among naps, kisses and eerie dreams, we start to feel like we're drowning in the atmosphere, but the film just goes around in circles, adding more and more dragging conversation that has nowhere to go. Taking a pathetic direction, the story gives away everything too soon. The actors are better than the predictable parts they play, and we wish that moments like the five-minute gory fiesta that concludes the film had been spread across the film.
Unfortunately, LaBute sacrificed the narrative and characters in the name of a few formal coups, making House of Darkness a painfully unnecessary experience.
