Housewife

I had the opportunity to watch "Housewife" during the 11th Edition of the Lisbon International Horror Movie Festival, Motel X, in September 2017. Having watched Can Evrenol's brilliant and nightmarish "Baskin" last year, I was really excited to watch this movie in the midst of fellow horror movie aficionados. Not only that, but the only preview I could find on YouTube was actually quite compelling, so my expectations were at their peak as I entered the movie theater. Alas, as my initial excitement faded, my expectations would soon be laid to waste. While the movie had a promising start, it quickly went astray. The acting was mediocre, at best, but all I kept wondering was why on earth would any studio hire a non-English speaking cast to speak in English for the majority of the time when these events are not even occurring in an English speaking country? It's distracting, to say the least, and adds absolutely nothing to the story. Furthermore, while most of the dialogue focuses on exposing who these characters are, what they do for a living and how they came to know each other, not much of it is truly dedicated to clarifying some of the most meaningful aspects of the story, such as the identity of the old lady in the painting or the importance of the pendant that she wears around her neck. We can try to guess and speculate, but we never really know for sure. Plus, the nudity, sex, blood and gore also feel gratuitous and bear no significance to the story that we're being told. They're just randomly thrown into the mix. The only hint of purpose is only provided at the very end, where all threads are tied together, but the ending itself failed to have much of an impact as I wasn't invested on these any characters to even care about what happened to them. There was simply not enough meat on these skinny bones. In conclusion, the acting was wooden, as there was very little chemistry between the actors themselves, the characters were underdeveloped, the plot was weak, the story was insubstantial and the on-screen violence, even though it was well executed, served little purpose apart from attempting to shock the audience. If you are a hardcore horror movie fan or if you're into H. P. Lovecraft's body of work, feel free to check this one out. However, I personally think that here are far better movies out there for you to watch, so I suggest that you don't waste your time on this one.

Can Evrenol had already surprised me with his amazing BASKIN movie on 2016, so I was looking forward to seeing his newest title at the Lisbon International Horror Fest (MOTELX).

Housewife tells the story of a woman who was traumatized as a child after watching her mother kill her father and sister. This trauma obviously takes its toll on the character, growing up to become a disturbed, frail woman who, in spite of having a husband and friends, shows little signs of any true connection with people and lives inside her world, memories and (sick) fantasies.

After getting acquainted with a cult and becoming close to its leader, she has the opportunity to (sort of) go back to the horrific night and finally confront her demons.

Aesthetically I consider the movie a work of art. Its attention to detail, soundtrack and atmosphere build up the tension for an entire hour, certainly too much for some viewers, but I enjoyed it. After BASKIN, I knew what I was in for, so I waited for the shock and gore while appreciating (and trying to understand) the dream-like sequences of the plot.

As expected, it all comes together in the ending... but not quite. The movie leaves much to be figured out, including the presence of some characters (old lady), who I left without a clue of who they were and what exactly they were doing there. This, along with the movie's slow pace, can be frustrating (and certainly was for many viewers) and I'm afraid it's almost as if the director had to set the bar a little lower, if he wishes us mere mortals to get his point on future movies.

One final word about the acting, I considered it fine for the most part, but some complained that the characters showed a lack of connection that was only made worse by their attempt to speak in English. I didn't think this was necessarily bad. The lack of connection was there, but I actually think it contributed to the movie's atmosphere of being "barely awake". Also, the main actress was superb, in my opinion.

As in BASKIN, Housewife leaves us with that "WTF did I just watch" feeling. I heard the people behind me in the theater say that the director "needed to find Jesus", after the final sequence, which is truly disturbing.

If you are a David Lynch fan and enjoy a good, juicy, "tentacly" piece of gore, definitely watch this movie and try to figure it out. If you're not into movies that are "too intellectual" or require a great deal of deciphering, my advise is to stay away from it.

Just awful in so many ways, acting, script, but the directing is just beyond bad. Quit now and never darken the film world again, ALL OF YOU.

A month or two back during a film festival, this was the film I was most looking forward to seeing. From the director of the Turkish horror "Baskin", a film I liked well enough, inspite of a few weak spots and stretched out storytelling. Anyway it was Can Evrenol's audaciously hypnotic vision, and explosively violent and nerve wracking horror set-pieces from his debut feature that had me curious to what he would do next. Housewife follows his previous film's story structure very much to a tee... in rocking your senses. A gothic, slow-grinding fable of mind-bending subconscious dreams fusing together with stark, cold reality. This gradual build-up of cultish zealotry, underlining sexual yearning and haunting dreamlike visions implodes into a sinuously conniving final third of occult debauchery, doomsday preaching and cosmic horror of Lovecraftian proportions.

However, while the backend imagery are creative and striking - the jubilee of violence are not as gory, nor even as rampant. There's still a frenzied craziness in what is happening in its climax. Steering closer to something startlingly bizarre, yet stylishly disciplined in its fiendish acts. Still, in saying that, their are few disturbing illustrations and the odd graphic jolt, but here, Evrenol used the surreal story to build towards and complement the delirious horror scenes than the other way around.

In some ways I might actually prefer "Housewife". In how it went about setting up and delivering on it's one, two punch. It flows better, and the shocks don't have a tacked on impression. Think of the suspicious, and paranoid build-up of a Polanski film, where instead it's very dark, and surreal in its laborious reality morphing into a disorientating dreamscape. Is it all in her head, as nightmares never felt so real? We watch the female lead stumble through a daze of confusion and fear, thinking her troubles, and past demons are cured when she seeks guidance from a necromantic showbiz psychic (perfectly done by David Sakurai) who believes he is destined to help her, but it's just the beginning of things to come as he starts getting into her head. The path that's chosen for her, from possible pacts made by her own family, or tainted blood, shows these deities never forget. The fervid opening of the film, which grabs you by the throat squeezing real tight, sets up the inherited guilt and fear stemming from her childhood that haunts her throughout adult life. The crafty camerawork, moody lighting and wailing synths/ambient pianos play a big part in shaping the swirling discomfit. Or I can see it being labeled as glossed up trash.

Where I think the film is let down, similar to Baskin, is the depth of its story and emotional engagement of its characters. This is mainly pointed at Clementine Poidatz and Ali Aksoz's characters, as Sakurai's presence needed to be mystifying. Possibly even having the Turkish actors speaking English rather than their native tongue can come across looking uneven, or stiff in their emoting delivery. While it does have a streamlined narrative with what seems like a lot going on, everything does comes across distant and less than skin deep. At times it did some things differently with its fascinating mythos, but the typical genre staples found in these cult stories can make its way into the story, for better or worse.

"Housewife" again shows the director's ambitious visionary prowess, and an ability to formulate reactions from his spectacular bookended set-pieces, whereas the spotty material might have its issues, it still showed glimpses that this latest effort is a step in the right direction. I'll probably end up liking this more than most would.

Nowhere close to the surrealistic Baskin and wtf were those tentacles.

I saw this only cos i had enjoyed the director's Baskin but this movie is one helluva jumbled mess.

It started off very well and the dreams n hallucinations sequences are terrifying but the ending ruined everything.

There is no explanation about the lady from the portrait or the amulet.

Sex scenes are added but none of em is erotic enuff.

The lead actress is skinny n her boobs ain't good.

The skin peeling scene is totally uncalled for.

The director is obviously inspired by David Lynch, Lars von Trier, H. P. Lovecraft n 60s satanic cult movies bit somehow he never succeeded.