Showing posts with label psychological horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychological horror. Show all posts

Sunday, November 29, 2015

“In The House Of Flies” DVD (director: Gabriel Carrer)

Unfulfilling torture indie

This micro-indie abduction horror/thriller is notable mostly for the voice acting of one Henry Rollins, who performs as “The Voice” — an unseen abductor who traps a young couple and confines them to a dark basement while he performs cruel tricks and mind-games on them. The pacing here is very slow, and there’s a lot of forgettable scenes and dialogue that really don’t do much to help.

To their own credit, main stars Lindsay Smith and Ryan Koteck (the teen lovers faced with starvation and torture) are quite believable in their roles as victims. The claustrophobic setting is effective enough, but the film’s lack of action nor depth makes for a  pretty tedious movie overall. And although this comes close to an outright horror film, the lack of much real gore or viscera is a definite detractor, too. It’s like “In The House Of Flies” holds itself back from the level of a “Saw” or other torture horror films by going a cleaner, milder route. And it just doesn’t quite work.

Ultimately, “In The House Of Flies” is unfulfilling and forgettable, and with that, I can’t justifiably recommend it.



Saturday, June 23, 2012

"Headspace" DVD (director: Andrew Van Den Houten)


A nicely-done psychological horror here from 2005, and with some name actors, as well. "Headspace" is the tale of a young man (played well by Christopher Denham)  who finds himself plagued by tortured visions, extreme headaches, and an increased intellect after meeting a mysterious street-side chess-master. A series of murders occurs, and Denham's character is somehow involved.

This well-shot and directed (and intelligent) little film also includes appearances by the lovely Olivia Hussey, Sean Young, Dee Wallace Stone, and Udo Keir. And while "Headspace" doesn't feature a lot of blood and guts (aside from an early shotgun blast) or sex (aside from a particularly nice one with Pollyanna McIntosh), it's a solid and tense film that holds it's own in a polished and subtle fashion. (Modern Cine/MVD Visual)