everyday is halloween

the haunting of the murder house [2022]

holy shit!  if you are looking for a fun movie to waste an hour or so of your time this Spooky Season this film ain't it!  i just watched the movie so you don't have to.  i had a couple of beers as i watched & i know i need a couple more to wipe away my memory!  is this film that bad?  well, i'm all for plucky DIY indie artists.  i love found footage movies too.  so when this flick popped up i thought at a runtime of 118 minutes what hell hath be brought forth?

the set-up: a group of paranormal ghosthunters decide to crash the house of a known serial killer named lester.  for our pains this group, called The Otherside, livestream their action in the month of October, of course, led by harper, played by a plucky sarah tyson, this group sets up shop in all the rooms of the house adding GoPro cameras.  they then are chained into their environment for eight hours by their director who sits in a van.  i mean by chained is that the director, played by filmmaker kellan rudnicki, literally chains the front door closed so that our group can't get out if they wanted to.  

does lester show up?  fuck yeah!  does he cause harm?  this is a horror movie!  of course he causes all kinds of shit to get fucked up!  do i need to say more about it?  well, the other filmmaker, brendan rudnicki, the director & co-author of this opus, must've spent a pretty 1 cent penny on making this flick.  the murder house is a rather standard suburban home.  the photography is so flat that even dracula's castle would appear to be a dull place to live.  the writing sucks.  & the direction, well, it ain't all that bad, certainly telegraphs every kill.  

& yet, i liked sarah tyson as harper.  she possessed the kind of Final Girl strength of vision & determination that is hallowed in my beloved genre of horror.  the villain, lester, clad in a generic clown mask, was unremarkable.  even the gore was cheaper than cheap.  but hell, i stayed with the film all the way to the sad, bitter end credits where the song, that seemed to sum up the proceeding mayhem played over the usual list of cast & crew.

hoo-boy!  i've seen some silly movies.  i love me some silly movies but this flick was something special.  i'd say avoid it at all costs but if you are the kind of movie lover like me you might just seek this out just for the Spooky Season.  but don't say i didn't warn you.  

boo!