Some of the best horror stories are those that don’t have to be ultra-gory in order to create the type of tension and dread that people look forward to when they decide to watch such a movie. The Night House is one that plays upon fears that some people couldn’t possibly name since the whole plot of a husband building a lakeside home for himself and his wife before killing himself is something that sounds as though it might not have enough to it to really entice anyone. But taking a look at the trailer makes it evident that a July release isn’t quite soon enough for us since this is something that will likely be in the back of our minds for a while as the wife, Beth, played by Rebecca Hall, will essentially be on her own when it comes to divining just what secrets her husband was keeping when it came to their home, and to the strange, backward home that appears in the movie, a mirror image of the home he built that no doubt contains a very haunting secret. Already it feels that the big reveal near the end, or at the end, will be something that we should see coming at some point in the movie. That kind of a twist is pretty interesting since it might feel a little too opportunistic to some people, but it’s kind of a ‘gotcha’ that some people enjoy.
The apparent trick to the haunting that occurs in this story, and the reason for the title obviously, is that in daylight, the haunting stops and there’s no evidence of it whatsoever. It’s an interesting play on a horror movie since as many people might want to agree, things are typically scarier in the dark, when actual night has fallen. The horror genre has played on this quite a bit over the course of cinematic history. While daytime horror is a definite possibility and has been used in a very useful manner, the inherent relationship between horror and darkness is difficult if not impossible to separate since the two are a perfect fit since humanity has feared the dark since who knows when, and to this day many people are still able to feel the tingle of dread when the sun goes down, since the darkness is considered to be far more terrifying on a regular basis than daylight could ever be, for a number of reasons. But in this instance, the fact that the haunting of this home only takes place during the night is even worse since there’s a way to get away from it, and true to form the protagonist is going to stick around because she wants answers as to why her husband killed himself, and then why he would create a home identical to their own, but backward.
Scratching your head over the premise of this movie is to be expected since it’s one of those that you can’t help but feel intrigued by and yet still feel that you might need more to go on when it comes to the overall story. To be honest, those types of stories can go either way since if they don’t give enough information and expect the audience to guess what’s happening the entire movie thanks to being too vague, they can fall flat. But if they give too much and end up giving the plot away at some crucial point then it becomes kind of pointless to keep watching since one can pretty much guess what’s going to happen throughout the rest of the movie. So far it appears that the movie has gained a rather positive review since it was released at the Sundance film festival and apparently impressed enough people to earn a decent grade. Normally it’s usually a good idea to ignore what critics say until one gets to see the movie and make up their own mind, especially since when the critics like something it could be horrible, and when they hate it then the movie could be great. But taking a peek at the trailer it does feel as though the critics might have managed to get this one right. The general feel of dread that permeates the darkness in the home, the bloody footprints leading from the water, and the strange, backward home and the odd connection it has to the lakeside home are all factors that are going to come into play in a manner that feels utterly creepy, but also compelling in a manner that one can’t help but admit to despite the fact that it might send chills down their spine.
We’ll be waiting with anticipation for this movie to come out in July, and by that time it’s a big hope that it will be worth the wait.
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