Artsploitation Films continues their upward trend of great horror fare.
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| "'Hello. Care for a shag?" |
Falling somewhere between the found-footage serial
killer shockers August Underground
and the still yet-to-be-released The
Poughkeepsie Tapes is The House with
100 Eyes, a flawed but surprisingly effective little flick that packs quite
the unexpected punch in the third act.
Opening on a Blair Witch Project set
of title cards informing the viewer what we’re about to see was found before
being edited into what we’re about to see, the film follows a well-to-do
married couple, Ed (Jim Roff) and Susan (Shannon Malone), living happily in a
quiet suburban home whose favorite pastime is to practice murder in front of
the camera and sell it off as snuff.
Going into The
House with 100 Eyes, my expectations weren’t very high as we’ve seen this
story done to death both in standard features and the new lowbrow found footage
trend. One of the most distracting
shortcomings of the found footage film outside of the shaky camera is the
distortion of the footage. Why is it
that so many found footage flicks shot in this era of DVD/Blu-Ray have to use
VHS wobbling or suddenly have scratchy sound in key dramatic moments? It was a huge problem with Grave Encounters and is likely the
reason The Poughkeepsie Tapes remains
without a distributor. It almost feels
like the aesthetic is trying too hard to make the film edgier and it’s simply
disengaging every time it occurs, which is a shame because when The House with 100 Eyes isn’t veering
into overused clichés of the subgenre including but not limited to the surgical
mask and doctor’s outfit, it’s an otherwise taut and unexpected little gem with
some really exciting detours.
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| "Is that comfy?" |
For one, the performances by the sociopathic couple
are really good for how ordinary they seem.
Take for instance a scene where Jim Roff explains to the camera what
tools he intends to use for his bloodletting. Equally
strong, if not stronger, is Shannon Malone whose polite and friendly demeanor
mask her deadlier intentions. Scenes of
Shannon standing completely silent and still behind her victims for long
periods of time can’t help but unnerve, looking not unlike a demonically
possessed person. Most surprising are
the film’s moments of extreme violence, which are achieved so realistically
they rival some of the more disturbing moments of August Underground: Mordum or even the outright nastiness of Murder-Set-Pieces. The makeup department must have been working
overtime to create the dismemberments and copious bloodletting which ensues.
While not all of it works and there are some
continuity errors you can’t look around, overall The House with 100 Eyes has enough surprises and elements in it
that work so well you find yourself not caring once the roller coaster ride
begins. Yes the found footage tropes
drove me crazy and the story itself is genre fodder and it wears its influences
all over its sleeve, but in the end there was enough here that took me
completely by surprise and for those reasons I have to recommend it. What could have been another forgettable
genre flick bore its fangs and took chances as it went for the kill in the
third act. Gore-hounds and fans of
extreme underground horror most certainly will not be disappointed!
-Andrew Kotwicki
