House of Good and Evil

There have been some very positive reviews written here on the House of Good and Evil. I'm really wondering were they watching the same movie or merely part of the production crew. I watched the movie off the back of these reviews and any score over 5 on IMDb is in my opinion worth a try. All this I unfortunately found misleading. This psychological thriller is low on thrills and even less on horror. It was a tall order for the lead actress who is in just about every shot in the movie and I can't say I warmed to the character, who was a difficult character anyway must to the chagrin of my girlfriend who also watched eyes rolling regularly. The rest of the cast were not bad, the old lady was excellent, however there was not too much to go on. As the story panned out to the end I was disappointed to find a twist similar to a British movie I watched but days ago, and it was done better in that movie. I'm afraid it just didn't all add up in the House of Good and Evil and I still don't see the relevance of the name.

I didn't understand this storyline at all! What was the point in the film? Or what was the moral of the story? It was also terrible acting and wouldn't class it as a thriller or a horror. It's definitely a low budget film with no real story to it. The girl that plays Maggie is annoyingly awful. Also that they absolutely adore one another one minute then hate each other the next is strange. It's not realistic at all and didn't really make me want to jump up to find out what happens next. I don't think I'll be recommending the film anytime soon. It's just confusing. My boyfriend fell asleep 20 minute after starting as he was bored and normally he never fails to stay awake during a film. It's a waste of time money and energy. Sorry.

This is one of those films that makes you say "what?" to the television a lot, partly because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense at times and partly because the sound levels are sometimes inconsistent. You might have to keep fiddling with the volume to follow some of the mumble shots without getting overwhelmed by the background music used to let you know that something suspenseful must have happened. I was often left guessing about that. There's one particular scene in which the trees apparently make rumbling noises of some sort, and the music lets you know that that's very, very scary, whatever it is.

My fiancée fell asleep about 10 minutes into it, which tells you something about the degree to which it merits being included in the "thriller" category. I can sit through almost anything, but I did look it up on IMDb for a bit since there wasn't much going on on the screen. This one would be a hard one to get through in a theater.

It picks up a little bit in the middle, but I can't say there's much reason to stick it out. I suspect that whatever festival buzz it got is because it's sort of about wife abuse, though it's not totally clear what it's trying to say about it, other than that it's bad. Some of the acting is OK.

If I have to choose one genre I choose horror, and as a fan of horror I obviously Watch a lot of horror Movies. Furthermore, as a fan of horror you cannot really have high expectations in general because horror Movies are what they are.

That said, you still expect some degree of quality when you read about the plot and find it interesting, but boy was I disappointed with House of Good and Evil.

Plot: married couple relocates to the countryside trying to salvage their marriage after a tragic loss of their unborn Child.

Many horror Movies have low to medium budget and the creators succeed in various degrees to put out a nice package. This Movie has a "nice package". It is well made, has an intriguing title, decent actors. But...in the end it is quite a bore. The ending is a total disappointment and the writer, to me, probably ran out of gas or suffers from limited imagination.

The title was promising, I expected a totally different turn-out, to be frank, the turn-out was negative. I cannot really write what I expected because then I would spoil the Movie for you.

Negative is also the pacing, in the beginning the "horror" comes on too strong and a bit too early, and after those initial horrific elements they die out and are left hanging and unexplored. Some might classify this as being a red herring and thus being somewhat clever. However, I say you cannot stray too far away from your initial horror elements which should convey where the Movie is going. So...the initial build-up does not equal the ending which I also Think is boring and shows signs of bad imagination and taking the easy way out.

I still give it 4 out of 10 because it has decent actors, standard production values. Qualitywise it is like Whisher, the Unborn, Prophecy 4 & 5, although not of the same sub-genres.

The firefighter Chris Conley (Christian Oliver) buys an isolated old house in the middle of nowhere with neither telephone nor electricity and moves with his estranged wife Maggie (Rachel Marie Lewis) expecting to save their marriage and restart a new life. A few months ago, Maggie was pregnant and lost her baby of eight months when Chris pushed her during an argument. The real estate agent Rob Bradley (Rob Neukirch) explains that the house is split in two and Maggie and Chris will need to share the space with the tenants Mr. and Mrs. Anderson (Jordan Rhodes and Marietta Marich) for at least one more month when the old couple will leave the house.

Chris finds a job in the nearest town and leaves the unstable Maggie alone to unpack and decorate the house. Maggie overhears a telephone and weird noises in the house and soon she meets Mrs. Anderson and learns that Mr. Anderson is an abusive husband like she believes Chris is.

"House of Good and Evil" is a low-budget movie showing the process of madness developed in slow pace and a predictable conclusion. The development of the relationship between Maggie and Chris in the beginning is weak and the madness process of Maggie is obvious. The story takes place in the present days and it is weird that an urban couple moves to a decrepit house without the modern facilities – electric power, telephone, Internet and gas - to begin a new life with the husband needing to travel and leave his wife alone. Last but not the least, I had great expectations with this movie since it has been recommended by a friend of mine and probably it increased my deception. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available