Dark House (2010)

By -
I am not a huge fan of rating horror movies.  Certain topics are scarier to some people than others, and certain situations (e.g. daytime/night time/crowded room/alone) can increase or decrease the scariness.  "Orphan" for example scared the crap out of some of my friends who think "The Grudge" is the dumbest movie ever; and that is the complete opposite for me.  Dark House is one of those low budget films for the Fangoria Frightfest, and because of this, it is difficult to compare it to the high budget horror movies most people are used to.   

The storyline is pretty simple, but still really interesting.  A class of acting students are offered a job to work for the self proclaimed "King of Horror" who builds haunted houses and theme parks around the country.  He buys out an abandoned orphanage in the suburbs of a small town where a mass murder took place, and sets it up as a haunted house with all sorts of special effects built in for hologram monsters and such.  I am not sure what year this movie takes place in, but the operating system used for these special effects looks like it came from the early 70's, while the effects themselves look like they are from 20 years in the future.  Anyhow, a ghost virus is let loose and the hologram monsters come to life.

There are some huge twists in this movie that my short description doesn't really cover, and that really set it apart.  Usually horror movies are known for their twists, but they are for the most part corny and feel tacked on.  Dark House manages to pull off it's twist beautifully, and maintain its creepy atmosphere at the same time.

For the budget it was built on, this movie doesn't disappoint.  It wasn't too scary, some of the monsters are almost comical looking, but I think if certain factors are met (with friends, at night), then the movie would be a great choice for a Halloween marathon.

Dark House gets 3/5 for being the grown-up version of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?".

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book of Eli (2010)

By -
Image
It's not very often that a good post apocalyptic film shows up.  After having to deal with crap like The Road,  it's refreshing to see a quality one like Book of Eli.  The movie takes place in the year 2042, and something unmentioned has managed to completely decimate the world.  Eli is crossing the wasteland on a religious journey to deliver one of the last remaining bibles to someone way over on the west coast.  Along the way he runs into gangs, madmen, starvation, and all sorts of other nastyness. A man named Carnegie, the leader of a small settlement of brigands and thieves, discovers what Eli is carrying, and lets lose the hounds.  This leads to some awesome action sequences.  Eli must have been trained by Les Stroud himself, because even after being shot, he still manages to find a way to continue. Fans of the Fallout series will feel at home here.  The director really did an awesome job of portraying the wasteland as a horrifically dangrous place where only the mo
Read more

City Island (2009)

By -
Image
Another movie I thought would be lame when I first saw it; but just like with books, you can't judge a movie by it's DVD box.  City Island was one of the few drama movies that really keeps the story flowing. The film is all about the convoluted, lie-filled lives of the Rizzos.  Every single family member has a massive secret that no one else knows about.   The daughter is a professional stripper, the dad goes to acting lessons under the guise of playing poker games; and everyone secretly smokes whenever no one else is looking.  When the father discovers that a new in-mate at the jail he works at is his 24 year old son from a wife he ran away from years ago, everything spirals into complete and utter chaos.  The movie is primarily drama, but the director did such a good job with pacing it really keeps the ball rolling.  Every 10 minutes another twist or lie is built up or knocked down.  It really is a fascinating look at how quickly lies can overwhelm even a small group of p
Read more