La casa chiusa

Absolutely horrendous hideous movie. Pushes bounties that should not be pushed/witnessed, and I highly DO NOT recommend this for anyone on the fritz regarding their boundaries.

A Serbian Film is often quoted as the most extreme movie, but for me the first 1/2 of this exceeds even that. It isn't over the top and it's purely atrocious. This movie isn't mindless brutality, it introduces convincing stories and emotions; making the movie significantly more difficult to sit through.

8/10 as the quality of this movie was very good... and the plot itself existed.. and was even good at that.. plus it really pulled one in emotionally. But make no mistake, this movie is not one meant to be enjoyed. If you found even an ounce of enjoyment from the first 1/2 of this movie; I wish you a short future.

England's answer to Greg Nicotero moves away from the special make up effects and goes behind the camera to bring us this harrowing tale of Angel (Day, in a breath-taking debut), a girl ripped from her home during the war in the Balkans.

In war torn zones, military are kidnapping girls and selling them into the sex trade where they are sold to militia and civilians. Deaf and mute Angel is one of these girls who sees her mother murdered in front of her before being delivered to a brothel where she becomes the personal sex slave to its owner. A birthmark on her face makes her tainted goods so the owner, Viktor (Howarth), uses her to dope the girls with heroin to make them more amenable to their visitors, then clean them up afterwards. She spends her time away from the prying eyes of her captors crawling through the limited space of the ventilation system. Until an unplanned incident brings her head to head with the men who took her from her family.

Make no odds, The Seasoning House is not a comfortable watch but it is impossible to take your eyes from it. Based on true events of atrocities that happened during the war, Hyett brings us into a degenerate world of men willing to pay for sex with tied up, drugged women and pay extra to be rough with them. Some of the girls do not survive some of their "customers". The performances, especially from Day (watch out for her, she will be a name to take notice of) had to be good to make the film believable and to care about Angel. Howarth gives us a dark turn of a man just as at ease plunging a knife into the neck of a young girl to simply make a point as he is pouring a shot of whiskey.

Hyett builds a relationship between Angel and Viktor that enables the power dynamic between the two of them to change during the film. This is integral to some of the major turns in the story and needed to be handled delicately so as not to be too in your face about it but also sustain a sense of believability with the interaction of the two.

The Seasoning House is violent and gripping but never feels exploitative which was needed to ensure you retained a high level of empathy for Angel. It's hard to use the word enjoyed with this film but it is a superb piece of art that fully deserves wider recognition. If you get the chance and can stomach something more hard hitting than your usual Hollywood attempts and horror then I highly recommend this film.

A tragic tale of love, loss and death, this is one film you won't forget in a hurry.

All over the world there are women suffering some sort of abuse and oppression, and in some parts of the world it is more prevalent. "The Seasoning House" focuses on an anonymous eastern European country in which there is war, kidnapping, and forced prostitution. It could be a more graphic version of "The Whistleblower."

A young deaf girl given the name Angel (Rose Day) was kidnapped from her home after her mom was killed by soldiers. She became the caretaker of the other kidnapped women who were forced into prostitution. She befriended one girl, and it was her death that forced Angel into violent action.

"The Seasoning House" is a jarring movie that really illustrates how women in all parts of the world are victimized. Unfortunately, not many women (if any) have a Liam Neeson to pursue their kidnappers and punish them. The cold reality is that most women's cries for help go unheard or unanswered. At least in "The Seasoning House" one girl fights back.

With the Balkans war as setting this film begins very strong, mostly on the emotional side. In fact the initial scenes describing the terror of war crimes against unprotected and desperate people (mostly women and children) are brutal and tough (but very well done!). However, it's just the context to what is in fact a revenge film and a cat-mouse game. And if here the sides seem to be very disparate (strong military men against one single mute girl…) you know you should never despise your adversary and his weapons for little and inoffensive they might seem… It's a nice film that shows us the cruelty and sadism of wartimes! I score it 7/10.

This film was brutal, graphic, emotional, and shocking in parts. The story was well written, and well acted. Sean Pertwee plays the part of a mean and horrible army officer, and I found myself hating him so much - I put that down to how well he played the part. The main character ("Angel" played by Rosie Day) was also played perfectly, as she doesn't speak a word in the whole movie, so the role relies on her acting ability, which she does so well. Some parts of this film are brutal and gory, but that makes this movie even better as it shows the emotion of the story line, which in my opinion is portrayed perfectly in these scenes. The first 15 minutes of the film set up the plot - and it is pretty confronting. I felt emotions that I haven't felt for a while from watching a film, and with every new scene I was heavily involved and interested to see how it turned out. I have to say this film is one of the best drama/horror movies I've seen in years. I would have to give it a solid 8.5 out of 10. Highly recommend it, just do not have children in the room when watching it.