The House

The House – A strange house sees a range of frightening, bizarre and dramatic happenings throughout time and those involved will never be the same again,

The House (2022) – Directors: Paloma Baeza, Emma De Swaef, Niki Lindrof von Bahr, Marc James Roels

By https://epic-pictures.com/film/benny-loves-you, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69838427

Rating: 12

Running Length: 97 mins

Starring: Matthew Goode, Susan Wokoma, Jarvis Cocker

Genre: Anthology, Horror, Thriller, Drama

REVIEW: ‘THE HOUSE’

Clearly wanting to try its hand at various different mediums on the small screen, Netflix has decided to dabble with stop-motion to produce the disquieting and unusual anthology, ‘The House’. The eponymous house being the focal point of each of the three stories – none of which tie into each other in any other way and with the exception of the first, all involve anthropomorphic animals.

The first story: ‘And heard within, a lie is spun’ follows a family circa the Victorian period, England. While drunk, patriarch, Raymond is promised a way out of poverty – all he and his family have to do is move into a new house. What follows is a genuinely spooky story about madness and the supernatural and is by far the best of the trio. The second: ‘Then lost is truth that can’t be won’ sees a rat developer who is in charge of selling the house for a high price – an opportunity that could change his fortunes for the better, if only he could rid the place of some pesky insects. And finally: ‘Listen again and seek the sun’ is about Rosa, a cat landlady who wants tenants who pay so she that could fulfil her dream of owning a sought-after living space (sadly the current tenants only pay in fish, if at all). This time, the area where the house sits has been flooded, it being the only habitable building although the rising waters (which Rosa does her best to ignore) show that it’s only a matter of time before it too will be lost to the flood.

All of these stories focus on poverty, desperation and the mental heath issues that may come from the strain these things can put on a person. Unfortunately by the third part, the story is beginning to run out of steam and is feeling somewhat repetitive. The switch from human to animal is jarring, it works for the plot of the second part but doesn’t add anything to the third. It’s hard to recommend ‘The House’ to anyone other than a hardcore stop-motion fan as it is so unusual without being massively entertaining but it is definitely something to watch when you have time to spare and are itching for something a bit different.

CONTENT: IS ‘THE HOUSE’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A man is visibly drunk and leans against a tree to urinate. He is seen from behind so nothing graphic is shown although the stream is clearly seen. A carriage with an eerie glow stops near him and a face from within pushes against the curtain. The man enters the carriage and the accompanying music is very spooky.

The man is then seen in his home at the dinner table at night, he falls asleep with his face in his meal. The scene cuts to daytime and a silhouetted figure stands behind him, outside, staring at him.

When the family move into a new house, eldest daughter, Mabel, begins to see and hear strange and frightening things. She hears banging noises but when she looks in the rooms, she sees handymen standing still and staring at her. A distressed man talks to himself and paces about a room and the stairs are taken away while she and her sister are trapped upstairs.

The girls go down to the house’s basement and are watched by an man hiding in the shadows.

A woman pushes cloth through a sewing machine but has her head down, not needing to see what she is doing.

Characters are killed in a fire although due to the circumstances they are in, the close-up of their faces isn’t visually graphic.

A character discovers that the house is infested with ‘fur beetles’ and larvae. When one scuttles across a cooker, he squashes it with his hand.

The character returns home with a strange couple who have made his life very difficult. When he walks through the door, he finds the house is full of this couple’s family. They all clap to welcome him home but then suddenly stop and turn silently around in unison.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘THE HOUSE’ FOR KIDS?

While there have been some excellent horror movies which are predominantly aimed at kids, ‘The House’, despite it’s animation and many talking animals, is definitely not one of them. The content is creepy, for sure, but the overall feel of the film is decidedly adult in tone and is unlikely to be enjoyed by kids. Therefore we recommend this movie for kids aged 12 and above,

Violence: 1/5
Emotional Distress: 3/5
Fear Factor: 4/5 (most of the scary moments are found in part one)
Sexual Content: 0/5
Bad Language: 3/5 (infrequent mild and moderate cursing)
Dialogue: 0/5
Other Notes: Deals with themes of poverty, desperation, obsession, and manipulation.

Words by Laura Record