This Supernatural Psychological Thriller Is a Twisted Descent Into Horror

The big picture

• The House of the Night
  it basically came out of a reject
  Hellraiser
  reset tone
• Rebecca Hall's portrayal in the film explores grief and supernatural themes.
• The film turns into a terrifying and unexpected twist on the concept of grief in horror.

Every once in a while, you see a performance in a horror movie so riveting that you start to believe that maybe this is the year the genre gets recognized with an Oscar nomination. Toni Collette certainly fell into that category with Ari Aster's Hereditary in 2018, but the Academy did not recognize his talent. A couple of years later came another horror performance that was just as excellent. Rebecca Hall starring David BruckneR The House of the Nightbut despite his acting prowess, he also did not get any recognition. Both excellent films take a deep and terrifying look at grief, but the latter has the biggest twist.. It was initially conceived as a Hellraiser reboot, but instead of being swallowed up by a franchise that had sunk long ago, it was allowed to be its own monster, a crippling fear-fest with an ending you won't see coming.

“The Night House” was born out of a failed “Hellraiser” reboot.

The House of the Night was written by Ben Collins i Luke Piotrowskiand, who at the time had also written the spin-off of V/H/S“Night of fans”, mermaid, Super dark timesi Stephanie. Their next project was going to be a big one as they tried to bring Hellraiser back from stagnation. The original Clive Barker The film is a horror classic, but after a few lackluster sequels, the franchise finally went straight to DVD, with Doug Bradley giving up the role of Pinhead, and a forgettable sequel even starring a young man Henry Cavill.

Collins and Piotrowski tried to pitch a reboot idea, which would have recreated that original film, a story about a diabolical woman named Julia (Claire Higgins) who will kill for his lover when he is resurrected, and although much of the film focuses on them, we find our hero in the teenage Kirsty (Ashley Laurence), who must escape Pinhead's wrath. In an interview with bloody disgustingthe writers said so theirs Hellraiser The reboot would have made Julia and not Kirsty the main character because it's her story.

“We set ourselves the task of finding if you could retell this story with Julia as a sympathetic figure who is drawn to this hidden world because of the pain of losing her husband. And to bring him back, she starts to relate to these dark things and goes to these dark places through pain until it's that
black swan
style, nice story about this character.”

Unfortunately, however, they explained how the studios “didn't want to hear art house, dreamy or pretty per Hellraiser.“When their pitch was rejected, they decided to see if they could still make a script they liked, explaining, “We still wanted to tell a story about someone who goes to dark places and finds secrets that someone left behind. In some of the broad basic features, much of the genesis of The House of the Night it came from not being able to do it Hellraiser.” During the filming of The House of the Night came the ultimate irony, when they learned that the producer, David S. Goyerwas working on the production of a new one Hellraiser movie They cornered him and let Goyer know they wanted a shot. it has worked After the success of The House of the Nightdirector David Bruckner was reunited Collins and Piotrowski for a restart of Hellraiser which brought the franchise back to its terrifying roots.

'The Night House' is a horror film focused on the pain of a woman

The House of the Night has an intriguing concept, but one that also sounds familiar on paper. Rebecca Hall stars as Beth Parchin, a grieving widow trying to understand why her husband, Owen (Evan Jonigkeit), he killed himself. He left behind a confusing note that read: “You were right. There's nothing. Nothing's after you. You're safe now.” What was Owen trying to tell him in the last minutes of his life? Beth can't let it go, and the obsession with the stranger only grows when Beth goes through Owen's phone and finds a picture of a woman who looks so much like her. Her pain is now compounded by the knowledge that her husband was probably cheating on her. Beth can barely hold on, crying over a man who didn't even love her anymore.

Beth blames herself because, years before, she died for a few minutes after a car accident, and when she regained consciousness, she told her husband that she could not see any further., and that there was nothing at all. Owen believed in an afterlife and tried to get Beth to believe as well, but soon after went into his own state of depression. Now, when Beth starts seeing unexplained phenomena around her house, she finds a reverse copy of her house in the woods. She sees the ghosts of Owen and other women as her grief is combined with the pain of finding out her husband no longer wanted her.

The House of the Night deepens the idea of ​​a double life by showing us a double of the house which is like the reflection of the first, together with features of two moons, and shadows in the house that must be twice something else. The house at night is isolated, just like Beth now in her life. Beth's life when Owen was alive wasn't what it seemed, but what she's seeing now is what it seems, isn't it? The House of the Night It spends the first two acts telling you that you are watching a movie about death, as evidenced by Beth's near-death experience, Owen's actual death, the death of his love for Beth, and so many images scary ghosts We think this is all symbolism for Beth trying to overcome death. This has been done before, and done well, but how does a movie about grief begin as a Hellraiser reboot?

There's a reason grief is a popular theme in horror movies

Grief is one of the most common themes in horror films, regardless of subgenre. The newest Halloween trilogyand from David Gordon Green treat it like Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is unable to overcome the pain Michael Myers caused him. He killed not only his friends but his innocent life. It's not just slashers, but deeper films that have it. The Babadook it is about the loss of a spouse, with the pain in the form of a monster. Ari Asterthe monitoring of Hereditary, Midsummeralso deals with grief, like Dani (Florence Pugh) tries to cope with the loss of his parents and sister. A new horror movie to watch out for, The Devil's Bath, focuses on the pain of not having the life you wanted. There's a simple reason why it's so easy to use for horror. Grief is the most powerful feeling, one that is all encompassing and controlling all our thoughts and actions, owning us as an entity. It's also something that any audience member can relate to. Maybe you've never encountered a masked killer or a murderous cult, but we've all experienced loss in some form and can understand how a protagonist feels.

Many scenes a The House of the Night they are relatable for this reason. Beth can spend one scene active, working, talking to people, full of energy, trying to uncover her husband's past, then she's in bed barely able to move or on the verge of going crazy. She is going through the stages of grief, wrapped up in a twisted ghost story. “Nothing” seems to represent this emptiness and pain, and we think we have it all figured out, but just as pain can't be so easily understood, it becomes much darker and more shocking when it comes to the end and what's really going on. . what to wear The House of the Night aside is that this movie about grief becomes something else in this last act.

Things are not what they seem, both for Beth and the viewer, as the “nothing” Owen talks about becomes more understood. It's not just grief and loss that Beth has to deal withbut a force outside of her that wants her as badly as her inner turmoil. The House of the Night it shows us that the only thing more powerful than overwhelming pain is the incomprehensible supernatural. It takes a creation in a work of fiction to equal the worst of what we can experience in reality. With this, Bruckner's film transcends its limitations and raises new questions as powerful as those about grief. What would you do for the person you love? How far would you go to protect them? The twist is so unexpected and terrifying that you can immediately understand how it started as a Hellraiser movie, but be glad it isn't. If you think Pinhead is a nightmare, you haven't seen anything yet.

The House of the Night is available to watch on Prime Video in the US

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