House Of Darkness Blu Ray Review (Shoreline Entertainment)

House of Darkness is a 2022 horror film written and directed by Neil LaBute (Your Friends and Neighbors, In the Company of Men, Nurse Betty, The Shape of Things, Possession, Lakeview Terrace, Death at a Funeral, and The Wicker Man). It was produced by Shaun Sanghani (Barron’s Cove, The Vault, King Cobra, The Informer, Becky, The Birthday Cake, and Savage Salvation). It grossed $8,074 during it’s limited theatrical run. Hap Jackson (played by: Justin Long from Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Jeepers Creepers, Tusk, Coyotes, Weapons, Barbarian, Galaxy Quest, Waiting…, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, and Drag Me to Hell) is a cocky bachelor that picks up the mysterious Mina Murray (played by: Kate Bosworth from Superman Returns, Coyotes, Barbarian, Homefront, Straw Dogs, Wonderland, Remember the Titans, 21, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, and The Rules of Attraction) at a bar. They go to her isolated mansion. Things are starting to heat up between them but Happy gets caught up in a web of lies. The tension is all over the place. They are trying figure each other out. As the night goes on, their first date just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Is this meant to be? or Was it all a dangerous mistake???? House of Darkness would have been a major feature if was made 20 years ago considering the main people involved with it. Director Neil LaBute was getting some huge films from 1997 to 2010 but that all stopped for some reason. He’s been doing television and independents since then. Regardless, he is such an underrated screenwriter. House of Darkness almost comes off like a play. It’s a single location and dialogue driven with only a few actors. Hell, it’s a 2 person movie for the first 37 minutes. Justin Long might be the most unlucky male in the history of horror. He damn near dies in almost everything that he does when it comes to the genre. Will it happen here? He is excellent as Hap Jackson. He’s just trying to get laid and he finds his next victim to seduce. He’s quick to brag to his friend about it. He promises not to lie but he does it right away. He says he is separated but he doesn’t come off trustworthy at all. Kate Bosworth gives one of her best performances as Mina Murray. She’s an unknown girl that needs a ride home. Hap sees an opportunity and he volunteers to drive her. She lives in a huge fancy house and that grabs Hap’s attention right away. She is curious about who just brought to her home so she tries to learn about her guest. They have a strong connection in no time. It’s going perfectly until someone shows up. Their chemistry is top notch but that shouldn’t be a surprise because they are married in real life. I didn’t realize that until now but it makes more sense because they have already worked together on Barbarian and Coyotes in the last few years. Like I said before, there’s only a few people in this, 4 to be exact. The other 2 which includes Gia Crovatin (Hell on Wheels) and Lucy Walters (Power) show up a little later on. I was curious why this was barely pushed at the box office but after watching it, I understand now. I don’t mean that as an insult either. Unfortunately in this modern day, the audience wants more than just talking and amazing acting. House of Darkness is the ultimate slow burn, not much happens until the last 10 minutes. This is strictly a character and psychological study until it’s surprising finale. Be careful to not look into this before watching it because it might ruin the twist and that’s way too important. I personally thought this was really good and showed off all of the talents from everyone. Talky cinema has never bothered if it’s sharp and it keeps your eyes on the screen. House of Darkness achieved both of those. It’s definitely not for everyone but if you get it then it would be highly appreciated. I respect the guts that it took to do something like this in this TikTok generation that has no attention span. Hopefully it finds a larger crowd on home video, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Shoreline Entertainment! This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks very impressive here. It’s a simple single location but it works for House of Darkness. The production design shines. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on the disc. The audio mainly stands out for it’s score and it’s last 10 minutes. All of the dialogue is crisp, the tension is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It’s an All Region home video release, there’s no special features here. It’s a professionally made on demand BD-R. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!