House of Inequity

The basic premise of this low budget Aussie horror film, is that a group- ranging from teenagers, to young adults- have become trapped in a known-to-be-haunted house...where they start to be killed off, one by one.

The house was the location of a triple murder-suicide, perpetrated by a serial killer, who had been chased there, while on the lam from the police, for other murders he had committed.

Effectively, the plot revolves around the fact that, after killing the family that lived there- and upon killing himself- he undertook a satanic ritual, which rendered the house a sort of portal to hell (as far as I can tell).

Fast forward to the present, with this group visiting the house; and becoming trapped in it; where they are forced to endure both torture and torment, at the hands of the dark forces, which now inhabit it.

Now, the acting isn't very good.

So I fully expected this to be much worse than it ended up being.

It takes a bit to get going.

But once it does...it's not as bad as it could have been.

Because there is some creepy gore, done with some generally competent practical effects.

With a touch of absurdity (think, along the lines of a watered down, much more mild, Evil Dead, or something).

That being said...the whole aspect of having them trapped in a windowless room, with one door, that they are allowed through one-by-one, isn't very believable.

And kind of detracts from the story, a bit, in my opinion.

Plotwise, it's actually quite similar to the film Fear (also from 2023), though, with a bit more of a Saw vibe- as opposed to The Shining (like in Fear).

The main problem with this film, is time management.

They waste way too much time with unsuccessful character development.

And not enough time with what works- the gore.

While it's never clear who, or why, the demonic characters are there...or where they came from.

Less, what you speculate.

They just have these two aspects of plot, and never present any sort of connection.

Leaving you to use your imagination to fill in the gaps.

Which isn't exactly good storytelling.

So, while definitely not the worst horror film of the year.

It's certainly down there amongst the bottom tier.

So you might want to consider opting for something better, instead of wasting your time with this.

Because...while it has it's moments.

Overall, it kind of sucks.

2.5 out of 10.

This Australian movie is low budget and I was not expecting much. With that said, it far surpassed my expectations. Considering how many "kids trapped in a haunted house" movies there are, this one still pulled some punches. The production values are high and the acting was also convincing.

On the downside, there were a couple things left unexplained at the end. It seems clear to me that this was intentional, maybe left for the viewer to decide. Also, because of their Aussie accents, I sometimes had to repeat certain sentences.

I would most definitely recommend this movie to anyone who likes this kind of horror movie. I gave it a 9/10 for their effort.

A spoiler-free review by Loathsome Things: A Horror Movie Podcast

No. No, it is not. You should be able to tell by the time you see sunflowers at a fake dinner table that this movie is not worth your time.

If you're a fan of writing, cinematography, sound design, acting, blocking, set design, make-up effects or production quality, you're right out of luck.

That said, the prop and costume design for this movie is realistic and believable. Almost as if those teams had a shared budget of one Wal Mart gift card.

There's some adequate creepy, yes. The practical effects are hammy (one in particular may have actually been ham), the actors are trying way too hard, and the tone is all off.

This movie could've been mediocre if it'd been made in the 80s. At 40 years late, this is just 100 minutes of content loaded into a syringe and shoved into your eyeball.

That said, I've never made, worked on, or been in a movie. So what do I know?

-Josh from Loathsome Things: A Horror Movie Podcast.

Ah, what a cinematic masterpiece we have here. This movie was so bad, it's hard to know where to begin. The plot was about as exciting as watching paint dry. I kept waiting for something, anything, to happen, but it was like watching a snail crawl across a sidewalk.

The acting was so wooden that I thought I was watching a ventriloquist act. The lead actor delivered every line like he was reading from a teleprompter, and the supporting cast was no better. I'm pretty sure they hired the extras from a local community theater.

And let's talk about the dialogue. It was like the writers had never heard human beings speak before. Every line was so cringeworthy that I felt secondhand embarrassment just listening to it. I'm pretty sure I heard the sound of Shakespeare rolling in his grave.

But hey, at least the special effects were good, right? Wrong. The effects were so bad that I'm pretty sure they hired an intern to do it on their lunch break. The monster looked like a cross between a chicken and a frog, and the explosions looked like something you'd see in a low-budget video game from the 90s.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone unless you're looking for a guaranteed way to waste your time and MBs. Save yourself the trouble and go watch a cat video on YouTube instead.

As a long time horror fan and active seeker of new and interesting horror films always, I am well-versed in horror from all over the world! I As such, Aussie Horror often tends to be edgier and more mean-spirited (in a good way! ) than most American horror. This movie still manages to be pretty surprising and rather unique! The characters are fleshed out just enough for you to feel badly for them, and the gore and kills were well-executed and nasty! Points for not pulling the rug out of the movie with a "happy" ending, and for using the "Leviathan Cross" sigil, even it was not explained! A great first effort!