not as good as all the hype

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Undermined by murky lighting (it is hard to be spellbound, captivated, awestruck, creeped-out, anxious, or the like if you can't *see* what is supposed to terrify and overwhelm you) and a real lack of scares within the first hour, "The Haunted House Project" (I watched this under the title, Deserted House), a Korean found footage version of The Grudge, isn't able to build or sustain momentum. The pixelation and distortion in the photographic shooting inside the house and its effects on the film, obscured and warped by what was possessing the place are attempts to tell us that something was *off* in this house, that what was born in it thanks to a murder that set off a nasty curse never to be lifted can misshapen anything that comes in contact with it. A film crew (well, a main crew and a small trio of "ghost explorers" (basic kids from high school, clueless but enthusiastic, if a bit unlearned), with a second unit of two taking a look at the place, prior to the arrival of the main crew, falling prey themselves to something wrong in the place) take on their next project: a house which featured a murdered cookie factory magnate and his family, supposedly slaughtered by the ghost of the secretary the magnate was having an affair with (and perhaps murdered, her tomb a big mudhole puddle near his factory; an attempt to use a machine to dig up her body resulted in the vehicle collapsing and the operator dying). They soon encounter a manifestation that attacks them, using members of their own group as hosts as weapons for a terrible late night offensive. The majority of the film has the crew investigating and searching out the place. The music accompaniment, used for dramatic effect, seems desperate. Not being able to identify what was going on a lot of the time left me rather tired and burdened. I wanted to like this, I did. That house--with it falling apart at the seams, garbage and trash all over the place, as the walls, floors, ceiling, and windows (the basic working structure of the house, what represents the house's look and identity) are all disheveled and mangled--is a horror fan's dream. It is the perfect place for a ghost to haunt...and cause painful and murderous mischief if so inclined. Those involved in this wanted to give an authenticity. I do admire that desire, and the attempt to make it look like discovered footage yet to be refined, edited into a cohesive package for proper viewing by the public. But sometimes those involved in a film such as this--built to unsettle and be impactful on numerous levels--can lose sight of one important fact: we need to be able to see what is supposed to effect us.

A team of ghost hunters is followed by a film crew to an abandoned cookie factory to investigate some supposed paranormal occurrences after some murders years earlier.After they arrive, a lot of time is spent exploring the factory and surrounding buildings, and not much happens for a while. This is the build-up stage of these types of found footage horror movies where usually some suspense is created, but not really in this case.Eventually it gets dark and things start to happen but it falls in the too little too late category, and I think it falls a little flat as the conclusion is not as scary as the filmmakers intend it to be. Another complaint I have is that once things start to go down, a creepy musical track is added to the mix, which detracts from the found footage experience.While not a terrible movie, I feel it could have been done much better.

This was the first horror movie I saw this year (2011), Now this year almost gone. I am review it 11 months late! (Because i have total forgot about it)I was looking forward to this movie when I saw the trailer. made it look really creepy and scary! but it either of them!The plot: Over the course of 42 years, 6 went missing, 8 had accidents and 11 were murdered! Three haunted house club members and three camera crew decide to look into this infamously haunted house, known to be possessed by real ghosts. Ignoring all signs from the other world, they enter this haunted house and disappear without a trace. A video footage of what they shot during their visit was since recovered, which may reveal why and how they disappeared.This build up for this movie was really dull, nothing really happens until 50min mark of the movie.When the strange things start to happen, some scene are so dark, I could not make out what the hell was going on!I did not like the ending at all, it did not make any sense at all! This movie is a waste of Time, there is not one good think i can say about this movie!

When I put the DVD in my player, I didn't expect too much, but I hoped for at least an amusing ghost story with enough scares to keep me interested. Yes, I was prepared for a Blair Which rip-off, and with that in mind it started out not even that bad. I liked the interviews with the locals, and I have to admit I loved the location of the haunted house. What a 'charming' pile of mess, with all that garbage everywhere. But within about 15 minutes, the story started to really bore me, and halfway I found myself totally drifting away from it. So little happened that I thought about everything except the movie itself.Unfortunately, I just cannot find too many good things to say about Deserted House. The acting was uninteresting and dull. The plot was lousy. There were hardly any good scares, and the ending, after what happened what we already knew was going to happen (the movie gave a mayor spoiler itself within the first minutes), was IMO totally unnecessary. It was also illogical, because who was doing the filming? Don't tell me it was the ghost. :) Simply said, I can not say anything else than that this movie was a complete waste of my time.