The Night House is very much a formulaic horror movie. However, movie formulas become a thing, because, you know, they work. All you have to do is tweak the formula with something – a great acting performance, an insane twist, terrific spooky scares…something – and you’re bound to enjoy an arm clenching good time at the movies. The Night House’s something is Rebecca Hall, who finally gets a chance to show her prodigious talents by making Night House a…bright house? light house? I’ll find it eventually…
Hall plays Beth, a once happily married woman to Owen (Evan Jonigkeit). Owen unexpectedly committed suicide right as the movie opens, turning Beth into a giant emotional mess. Despite her friend Claire (Sarah Goldberg) trying to cheer her up, Beth wallows in despair in the beautiful secluded house Owen and her built. While putting away Owen’s belongings, Beth finds some strange items in Owen’s possession, and her nighttime becomes filled with these vivid dreams where she really feels like she’s talking to her late husband. Those dreams start to blur Beth’s reality, as she becomes more and more convinced her husband didn’t die, but did…something? Shrieks and scares ensue…
Ah, no horror movie ever got past a secluded sterile, glass exteriored house. Seriously, do none of these designers watch horror movies? But props to David Bruckner the director, who found a fantastic house. Why? The shadows game and weird design puts Rebecca Hall through a living nightmare of seeing things that may or may not be present. The constant open views everywhere allow Bruckner to use Gatsby like lights across an eerily still river that get Hall’s attention too, in the most malevolent way possible. But Bruckner’s not done, no. On top of this ornate, overly clean house, he’s got a 2nd, Blair Witch like house Hall discovers as well. By the time we find that house, I full on expected the Blair Witch to come out and start the killing. We all know something’s wrong with the house, so at least Night House leans into that ridiculous scenario and pushes it to the most extreme version of creepy houses in recent memory.
But those houses are especially creepy because of Rebecca Hall, who elevates this movie above its formulaic base. Other than The Town, Hall has been pretty misused by Hollywood, relegating her to supporting status underutilizing her talents. But like many a scream queen before her, Hall uses this horror vehicle to show her range. Hall’s volatility is riveting to watch, as she goes from depressed, to angry, to numb, to euphoric, sometimes across the same scene. In between her acting tour de force she also shows she could have been a killer scream queen in her younger years, doing the requisite wide eyed fear look and hand covered scream necessary to make the horror movie sufficiently scary.
Stick to the basics: that’s Night House’s raison d’etre. Make a creepy house, cast a great actor to sell your insane mythology, and deliver the scares at a regular clip. No need to overthink it. In fact, if you try to for Night House, you might end up as crazy as Beth gets right before she goes to bed every night, and start making your own reverse house. GOT IT….The RIGHT HOUSE! Nailed it!