New Horror Releases: Housewife (2018) Reviewed




On October 2nd of 2018, a new Turkish horror vision will be arriving home to please cultists and those that enjoy the Giallo visual style. At a meager 82 minutes, actress Clémentine Poidatz offers up one of the best genre performances of the year by abandoning all sense of self as she throws herself headlong into a bloody abyss of death and tentacles. 

Cued by a confused plot that centers on a childhood murder and its long term after effects, Housewife is a perfect specimen for those that loved the curiosities of Beyond the Black Rainbow, The Void, or anything Lovecraftian. Nothing is straight forward with a narrative that's cloaked in darkness and unadulterated sensuality. Playing into the current retro trend that people seem to enjoy, Housewife maintains an old school cinematic feel with tons of gradient textures and tons of film grain, with transfixing lighting and coloration. 







From the mind's eye of modern master Can Evrenol comes a bleak but beautiful film that revels in mystery and a terrorizing dream like state. This highly imaginative but slightly unfocused foray into new realms that cross over multiple layers and dimensions is not going to satisfy many, with several early reviews completely trashing the film. However, Evrenol seems to find solace in making his audience think about what's happening. Housewife is not comfort food. It's not your typical slasher fare. And it's not the follow up you'd expect. 

Breaking from the hellacious spirit of his last film (Baskin), Evrenrol shifts gears from graphic and vile to a strange storyline that pits one woman against her past and her adult relationships that seem to be part of an empty existence. She seeks more. She wants closure. While she looks for those things, a doorway is opened when she visits Umbrella of Love and Mind. From there, her journey becomes one of survival against an unnatural evil that will assist her descent into madness. 


Again, many will not enjoy Housewife. Much like the Artsploitation release of Horsehead, things are left unsaid. Our thought process is allowed to run rampant. We're transported into an otherworldly snowglobe where nothing is what it seems. As art, Evrenol's latest is a must see, especially for devout horror fans. 

-CG