Struggling couple Jack and Stephanie's car breaks down, leaving them stranded at an old inn with another couple. There's something strange about the family that lives there, but strange turns to terrifying as a masked killer known as the Tin Man vows to kill them unless they produce one dead body before dawn. The supernatural begins to emerge as the house itself turns on the two couples. Based on the novel by Christian horror/thriller authors Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker.
First of all, the book wasn't even that good. It was fast, it was freaky, but it was one series of cliches strung together in a row. That fact is made even more clear in the film.
It's seriously Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Silent Hill. There are creepy Southerners, a guy in a mask, a disappearing/reappearing little girl. There are sudden thunderstorms, strange water, turning handles, screaming women, and frightening one-liners like, "I'm home." Hello? That was already done, much better I might add, in The Shining. Also copied: sheets of paper shoot out of a printer all with the same words written on it. Wow.
The acting is not good. The first three minutes were super awkward and things only got better when all our heroes had to do was scream. That's not that hard to do.
The one thing about the book that makes this movie slightly better than a lot of others, is that it's based in Christianity, so the concept of sin and redemption are strong throughout, more so in the book, but copied vaguely in the movie. It becomes kind of like Dante's Inferno, where one's punishment is tied to the sin, making it ironic. Also, oddly enough, as the film on, it starts to resonate. After all, we all have a house. We all are tortured by the things we've done wrong, it's an internal prison. And light will destroy darkness. House stands out as one of the few horror movies (though not the most well-done) in which good triumphs over evil.
It's seriously Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Silent Hill. There are creepy Southerners, a guy in a mask, a disappearing/reappearing little girl. There are sudden thunderstorms, strange water, turning handles, screaming women, and frightening one-liners like, "I'm home." Hello? That was already done, much better I might add, in The Shining. Also copied: sheets of paper shoot out of a printer all with the same words written on it. Wow.
The acting is not good. The first three minutes were super awkward and things only got better when all our heroes had to do was scream. That's not that hard to do.
The one thing about the book that makes this movie slightly better than a lot of others, is that it's based in Christianity, so the concept of sin and redemption are strong throughout, more so in the book, but copied vaguely in the movie. It becomes kind of like Dante's Inferno, where one's punishment is tied to the sin, making it ironic. Also, oddly enough, as the film on, it starts to resonate. After all, we all have a house. We all are tortured by the things we've done wrong, it's an internal prison. And light will destroy darkness. House stands out as one of the few horror movies (though not the most well-done) in which good triumphs over evil.
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