House of Spoils

This movie was just not it for me.. Blimehouse should've left this where it was.. The story was incomplete as it jumped from one thing to the other.. The ending is where they really dropped the ball because it gave no explanations at all on the antagonist. It was just a bunch of incomplete scenes that they spliced together.. I really feel as though this could've been good given the trailer but even then it just didn't make any sense.. I don't want to give any spoilers but i was disappointed.. Acting was very mid level.. it feels like it was a rushed project that ultimately didn't add up to the synopsis..

Director duo Coke and Krudy manages to set up a an interesting starting point, that even, lo and behold!, seems to bring some new settings and approaches to the horror genre. As "House of Spoils" progresses however, it turns into a repetitive odyssey of insecure filmmaking. Constantly failing to pack a punch and stir up any scares, the convoluted ending gives "House of Spoils" a strong flavor of early 2000s made-for-TV movies. Whatever the directors serve you, it's impossible to work out what they want to tell us. Are they satirizing pretentiousness? Some vague environmental themes? This film leaves you hungry for a horror movie that goes its lengths to actually scare you. Like craving McDonald's after dinner at an overpriced restaurant.

Sure, it's not the best horror-thriller ever, but I was still reasonably entertained, at least till the (slightly deflative) end. The premise of an ambitious cook trying to create her own restaurant in an isolated and dilapidated mansion is pretty original for a horror, the atmosphere is pleasantly creepy, and for the first hour the mounting pressure on the chef (Ariana DeBose) to perform, while more and more strange and inexplicable happenings are undermining her confidence and sanity, kept me curious about what to expect next.

But after we were confronted with the shimmering ghost of the former owner, who was apparently a woman interested in natural ingredients but considered by the locals to be a witch, the story rapidly lost its focus. The chills and scares lessened, the ghost got hardly any background; and the chef turning rather abruptly raving mad, but still capable of totally impromptu creating her best dinner-menu ever, was really too far of a stretch.

Ariana DeBose nevertheless gave a strong performance as the at first firm and resolute, but gradually mentally overwrought chef, and Arian Moayed did a great job too as her relentless, opportunistic financial back-up. The photography is fine, and there's even some social criticism discernible at posh and hedonistic restaurant-visitors who revel over exotic flavors, as well as a hint to better appreciation of the use of natural ingredients and nature in general. But the rough way in which the chef seizes, kills and roasts a poor rabbit to make it the height of her prize-dinner seemed to me totally out of character with this supposed love of nature.

The movie is well done, cinematography, acting, dialogues. The story contains something that's pretty out there and is at times hard to watch. I'm a chef myself, but I'm critical when it comes to fine and "haute cuisine". The main element of the cooking I find inspiring, but like I mentioned, it's hard to watch in context of the basis of the story. What I also liked was the ending but not in the sense of how it all turned out. I mean rather the scene/picture of the snobby guests sitting together with all cooks and employees outside at the fire. This scene alone could be an inspiration for a complete different story/movie, no matter which genre.

Unfortunately it's not enough for me to give it more than an average rating / 5 out of 10 stars. When I give 5 stars it means I made it to the end without getting bored. Not sure I would recommend it to friends or thus to anyone. Simply because there's just not enough in it. Better watch "The Menu" instead, if you haven't already.

Food movies have been all the rage the last few years. And almost all of them have been pretty good. 'House of Spoils' is sadly the first real letdown in the sub-genre that I've seen. It felt very much like a film that didn't have enough of any one thing, so tried to throw multiple things at the wall in the hope that one of them would stick.

The end result is a bit of a chaotic mess - and not a particularly interesting one either. The film is probably at its most interesting when it is just being a regular kitchen drama. But even then all the drama and obstacles feel very forced.

I had hopes that all the grind of the first hour was just setting up for a strong finish. Unfortunately the final 20-30 minutes are probably the most dull part of the film. It really does whimper home. This one wasn't for me. 4/10.