Rating: 2.5/5
houses don't have memories
Some guy murders a bunch of people in a house. One year later, newlyweds George and Kathy Lutz make an offer on the house, fully aware of the murders
Father Delaney pays a visit, hearing kids playing upstairs, but finds the room empty — he intends to bless the house, but the room fills with flies and the smell of rot, and a disembodied voice whisper-yells, “Get out!”
George (James Brolin) is initially kind to everyone but grows cold and irritable. Stuff keeps going wrong at the house, and every religious person who tries to visit gets sick
I think a lot of people my age don’t love this because it’s ultimately about home ownership — something I’m never going to experience — stuck doors, finger-crushing windows, doors blowing clean off the place, bug infestation
this house is supposed to be well-insulated — they'll nickel and dime you to death
One of the most pronounced set pieces is a guy losing $1500 for caterers — the house is literally eating money. The IRS is calling too, and George tries to suppress his ire…ess
you find religion and forget about business
I don’t think the movie is that bad — I do think it’s sloppy, though, and introduces several threads that it doesn’t follow up on (see spoiler section for rant), but it’s got some creeps and spooks
That said, the film is a digest of horror cliches — jump scares and fake-outs out of the wazoo, house wind, creepy kids talking to “imaginary friends,” cats with bad vibes, irrationally angry fathers who chop too much wood, crosses being flipped over, learning secrets through microfiche, being supposedly based on a true story
I didn’t love this movie — I’m glad I can take it off the watchlist
** Spoilers / Stray Thoughts **
- When they opened up the wall and the head of the ghost faded in and out, I laughed
- Margot Kidder’s got great glasses!
- Things would have been fine if they put up a “Bless This Mess” sign
- After Sisters, Black Christmas, and The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, this is a pretty tame Margot Kidder horror movie. But I guess this is after Superman, so she didn’t need to do shlock anymore
- Carolyn is such an empath, feeling all the bad vibes in the house
- The spirit in the house looks like Spyro the Dragon through the window
- Harry is such a good dog! When he s George out of the hell blood/oil/whatever pit, he’s got those big worried eyes 😭
- Such an anticlimactic ending! The owner was a witch or something, and the basement was a literal gateway to hell, but all that happened was the walls shook and bled. Nothing tried to keep them in the house, nothing told them to get out of the house. Is the imaginary friend the witch? A ghost of one of the murdered people? Why does it want the windows closed, does the ghost pay the A/C bill? Why flies? Is it Beelzebub, the lord of the flies, messing with them? How does the spirit/devil/witch affect people in cars or churches miles away? What’s the limits to its powers?
- Why are they still making these movies? I guess the formula and openendedness allow for a lot of leeway, and filming predominantly at one house is gotta be pretty cheap