Ever since Disney acquired Twentieth Century Fox, it has been releasing some quality fantasy and horror movies in an untimely manner in the last 16 months. The untimeliness is now a source of dismay for film lovers and industry people. David Prior’s The Empty Man should have come out before it eventually did, and the same goes for The Night House. It is not easy to sell the ideas of these two movies, as they have the sort of terror that cuts into their present competition and are also R-rated movies. The movies, being R-rated, plays around with the audience’s emotions and stays with them long after the screening.
It is not easy to determine what movie audiences are seeking in this coronavirus world. At the same time, many viewers who have braved the epidemic and the so-called Delta variant have been fortunate to witness some mind-blowing films in theaters. The finest horror films in the pandemic period effectively explore liminal states in which there are fuzzy barriers between the dead and alive. Alienation and isolation are the rules according to which almost everyone chooses to live these days. At the same time, they wonder what filmmakers can give them. In David Bruckner’s movie, Rebecca Hall’s Beth is attempting to withdraw from the sheer chaos that comes after the tragic demise of Owen, her husband.
Slipping more into the murky zone that comes with buried secrets, Hall’s character sleepwalks into a state that defies conventional analysis. It is a state of grief with profoundly suppressed remains of old Tennessee trauma. Then again, it is beyond just letting Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud theories struggle for supremacy in the black lake waters around the house in the film.
We do not wish to explain the specific details of the plot, because there is much procedural pleasure in the movie that is best enjoyed in a cinema hall. Any movie where a character takes their time to go to a family-owned bookstore to seek some information about unspeakable text probably deserves our attention and appreciation. Likewise, a movie that offers a sequence as good as the scene where an entitled parent attempts to come into intellectual competition with Beth will deserve serious consideration going forward. The attempt of Beth to spend a night outside of her home with others is a superbly executed piece of menace, which plays out as an ungodly collaboration between Sam Peckinpah and Pina Bausch.
Director Bruckner is known for works such as Southbound, The Signal, V/H/S, and The Ritual. Bruckner finds the perfect tone to work for this horror material – almost able to hide in decent thriller drag and Wine Mom Book Club stuff. Moreover, the film has something upsetting and expansive at every turn, the sort of presence that defines absence as well as the dread that raises our heart rates.
What is equally impressive is the performance of actor Rebecca Hall. It is a turn that pulls no punches as well as that is relatable, jagged and nervy. Hall has already impressed us in films such as The Gift and Christine, and this is not her first horror film. She has already put in a decent performance in Nick Murphy’s 2011 film entitled ‘The Awakening’. When watching Bruckner’s movie, you might remember passages from films such as the European version of Balaguero’s Darkness, Panic Room, and Dreamcatcher.
The Night House has a moment or two where you can get an idea about the discontent in the senior people in Disney. Sometimes, that moment is one with an information dump before the movie’s final reel, whereas other times, it is a reshot sequence clanging with a tonal difference. Nevertheless, as an audience member, you may feel that the movie is attempting to change itself. This happens in The Night House, but it returns from the said moment into some terrifying and imaginative visual mode. Think of it as the horror film equivalent of an autotune deception in Brandon Richard Flowers’ song entitled ‘Lonely Town’. It is a big feat to take an American movie that is so near along that artistic precipice while sticking the landing, so to speak.
It is also a pretty special achievement, especially for a psychological horror movie. With the Delta variant of coronavirus still refusing to go away, it would be understandable if you are nervous about being in public. When you are vaccinated, however, keep in mind that this is among the finest cinematic experiences in Nashville cinema halls. The Night House will haunt you and bind you so much to its universe that you might come out of a screening wondering whether you are still in that space. You may watch it in select AMC or Regal theater locations in Nashville City.
