**Potential Spoilers**
Another horror movie, another review: another tired cliche of a plot. This is House of Evil (2017) and the most evil thing about it was the utter boredom it induced. This boredom was not only in part due to the plot, it was perhaps more importantly the way the plot was executed that made me think: "I could be watching something much better than this drivel" You might think I didnt like this movie, you are wrong, my feelings are much stronger!
The plot is the tired old story of the hunted house, with a bit of Rosemary's Baby thrown into the mix. The movie is set in the 1970s and revolves around a couple, John a photographer and his partner Kate an artist. They come into possession of an old house, I can't recall how, and they move in, with their pet dog. What are the survivability chances for this poor dog? Hmmm... Anyways, whilst at first things seem to be going well things soon take a sinister twist. John becomes more and more isolated innhis dark room, whilst Kate has visions of ghosts. As you can imagine things escalate and before long we find out ghosts aren't the only thing inhabiting this house. I will say no more, but anyone who watches horror movies will know what to expect next and the ending will offer up no surprises.
On a technical level the movie is unfortunately not that good. The acting is rather wooden, particularly the descent of John into apparent madness or "demon possession" depending on your interpretation of the movie. The dialogue is passable, if somewhat uninteresting. The cinematography is adequate but adds little to any sense of "horror" we might be inclined to experience. The special effects do not help either, indeed there is little of them, and they never give me the impression of anything other than a man in a mask.
All in all a movie to avoid, there is not even unintentional humour, the closest we get to humour are Johns giant Wolverine style sideburns.
1 out of 10
Summary: tired cliched plot poorly executed, avoid.