Sick Product of a Sick System

How sad is this?

Best movie ever!

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I noticed this film received a lot of negativity. So I was slightly apprehensive about it, as I am with a lot of low budget horrors. But I can honestly say this is probably one of the best low budget horrors I've ever seen. I was entertained from beginning to end, I never took my eyes off the screen. The lead actor I thought was brilliant. He is a great actor and even though this is a supernatural film, he made his role believable. Hats off to him. The supporting cast were good, especially the girlfriend and best friend characters. I have never seen a film like this, it was a refreshing take on the haunted house genre. The only thing I don't really like is the title though. Not very imaginative. And the twist in the middle of the film I never saw coming it was fantastic. The only reason I have not rated this film a 10 is because I was slightly confused by the end. Wasn't exactly sure what happened. But I will definitely be watching it again, and once I'm clued up, I'm sure I'll be increasing my score to a 10. I've also seen from the director, Jeepers Creepers which is brilliant, (another original film), Rosewood Lane which had a brilliant twist and the episode In Sickness and In Health from the TV show Fear, Itself; again another fabulous twist.

I think "Dark House" aka "Haunted" is a questionable case. Both movie titles certainly won't get a price for originality. They could have called the movie "Dark Forest" since almost the entire movie is situated in a forest. Victor Salva, the director of the acclaimed "Jeepers Creepers" saga, lost all orientation in the creation of this film, because it's become a hodgepodge of different horror genres. A lot of clichés of the horror genre are also thrown together here. Ultimately it's a variant of "Rosemary's baby" mixed with "End of Days" and on top of that some elements of the slasher genre and a bit of supernatural phenomena. A cocktail of horror genres. Not always successful, but overall it was still enjoyable to watch and dosed correctly.Nick Santo (Luke Klein Tank) just turned 23 years old and visits his mother in an institution who's been there since he was young. Nick has a special gift. He can look in the future and see how someone is killed, just by touching that person. He never knew his father but hopes to find the truth after his visit and finally get some answers to the question of whether his father is possibly responsible for this gift. Eventually, the visit didn't progress as he expected. His mother loses her life in a mysterious fire and Nick inherits a house. Not just a house, but the house he has been drawing since his childhood. Together with his good friend Ryan (Anthony Rey Perez) and his pregnant girlfriend Eve (Alex McKenna), he goes on a search for the house, hoping for some answers.You actually expect anyone with a little common sense to recommend the pregnant girlfriend to stay at home. But no, she merrily goes with them on an adventure. The search leads them to a secluded area where they are told that the house was washed away during a massive flood. Mind you , a full house , including the basement. Who would have thought ? Along the way they almost hit some land surveyors who obviously offer their help to locate the floating house. "Dark House" isn't really exciting or terrifying at any time. Even if they throw in Tobin Bell, the crazy Jigsaw from the "Saw" movies , as the creepy caretaker . That ridiculous wig he's wearing doesn't contribute to creating some suspense . Finally we have a cursed house, in a dark and menacing forest and a bunch of chimpanzees with dangerous looking axes. The group is urged to leave and never return. But despite all the efforts they always end up back at the cursed house .Ultimately, it all becomes clear a bit and the whole setup unfolds itself and it degenerates into a fight between good and evil. Despite the total lack of scares and a thrilling intense atmosphere, the movie keeps you in its grip and you can feel the oppressive and threatening atmosphere. We have again an obvious situation with a group of young people in a dark wood and an old ominous building that contains the key to unravel the mystery. But the chases, the swirling hard hitting axes and the different twists make this still an enjoyable film.The acting was nothing to write home about, but afterwards proved not to be terribly annoying. Luke Kleintank was perfect for the role of Nick. A future young father who is looking for his roots. The moments that he had flashbacks about the eventual death of some people, I found fairly successful. McKenna and Perez did what you could expect. And Bell did what he does best : playing an old eerie mysterious person. The portions gore were portrayed in a quite entertaining way. However, it wasn't very original. Another "split by an ax" head. The only thing that really annoyed me and made me shake my head out of disbelief was the fact that there's always someone who's so ultra-horny, he can't even resist to start humping around with a female member of the group , even while they are surrounded by bloodthirsty cavemen with axes . Even a box of Viagra wouldn't help me then.So you can't really call this movie ingenious. Everything has been used before somewhere in another movie. They have stuffed it all into one movie. A shortage of ideas was not really a problem. The oversupply was a problem. But the real horror fans will probably appreciate this. I would even say that this is a horror that is suitable for those who are not really a fan of the genre. Because it's not really a horror anyway. As I read somewhere: "Talking heating vents are not scary - nor is anything else in the Dark House".More reviews at http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be/

This movie could have been something. The plot is pretty cool, well written and dynamic. The acting is the average for an horror movie. But what makes this not get a 6 or even a 7 to me, is the directing. The director is pretty lame connecting scenes, creating the atmosphere, making the things work. At some point i was thinking to myself: "Dude,this movie is not SO low budget." Cause some of the locations really seemed to cost a little money, the actors are know of the public and even have the Jigsaw on it. Someone paid for this and i really hope that it has been the director cause he's the reason this movie is bad. Anyway, if you don't have nothing to do some random night, give this one a try. It may not amuze you the way it should but can give you some laughs. The sound track is almost inexistent, you can barely hear something there. I don't know what else to say. I watched it just because we are in that period of the year thats the releases are just a little few.

Ding ding ding ding, JackPot!! WoW, was I impressed or what. I knew Victor Salva was on this one, and his work usually managed to stand tall, but man, if this movie came just a few years sooner it could have been somewhat of a pioneer. The character complexity is lovely, to actually see people with many faces, not even knowing which one is the real one, the plot, well, it is a movie about a guy that inherits a house and believe it or not, it's actually so much more to it, the tension provided by the sound is quite good, especially considering the fact that they did not use fancy bands or anything, simple and effective, I mean, I actually graded this a 7. Because it works as a horror, it didn't even show nudity, when it could, cause it preferred to rely on something more, and considering this is not a slasher, I have to say, Bravo!!Look, words will get you psyched on, and I don't wanna send you to somewhere expecting a masterpiece, but in my honest opinion, this is the best "house in the woods" movie I've seen in a long time. Evil Dead the remake was all about gore, Dark House is all about plot. Scares will come, tension will build around you, and question marks will pop all around. Dark House, thank you for keeping the hope of good horror still alive!