By Paul Hall
Ghosts, creepy houses and unexplained occurrences make up many of the best horror films. So when a film combines those elements with a psychological tweak, the hairs on my arm start to stand on end, and while experiencing The Night House, in theaters now, they did just that.
Beth (Rebecca Hall) just had her life flipped upside down. A high school teacher, she lives in a beautiful house on the lake with her husband Owen (Evan Jonigkeit). In fact, it was a house that her husband built and had his presence in every corner.
Unfortunately Owen’s presence is all that remains for Beth as tragedy has left her a widow and unexplained things start happening at every turn. It seems although Owen is gone, he hasn’t left her.
As the grieving process continues for Beth, she begins digging into Owen’s life and quickly discovers there is much she didn’t know about her beloved late husband. But what is really at the root of everything that is going on? As the investigative side of Beth takes over, the discoveries are not all pleasant and the creepiness only intensifies.
What scares you? At the core of so many moments, we are scared by the unknown, the unexpected and what comes next. The Night House scared me at my core. As Beth navigates her new life, there are the things that scare us all — from the obvious (ghosts, creepy houses, the unexplained) to the subtle (relationships, her husband’s mystery past, uncertainty). But just having these elements does not alone guarantee to frighten.
In the case of The Night House, the film relies on the performance of Hall. As the primary onscreen character throughout the film, if her performance isn’t effective, the scares don’t resonate. The good news is, Hall’s casting is a home run and I felt every moment of her performance and every moment relied on that feeling. Hall shows her immense versatility in this role and that is truly exciting. Fear can come from so many different places, and the fear in this film comes from deep within.
Although Hall’s performance is off-the-charts good, the story that is so brilliantly executed for most of the film stumbles a bit as we reach the closing scenes. A film that plays on fears that we bury deep within gets slightly muddled and despite that remains brilliantly unsettling.
Thanks to Hall’s performance, The Night House scared me. It didn’t need jump scares, blood or monsters to frighten me. It took its aim at my inner being, and that is the scariest film of all, as the fear within each of us is the most frightening.
Oh, by the way, I really don’t need a house on a lake any time soon after this, really.
Paul’s Grade: B+
The Night House
Rated R
Stars: Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Evan Jonigkeit
Director: David Bruckner