The Sickhouse

Horror fans can be finicky; I know this, I am one of them. But The Sick House deserves a higher review, in my humble opinion. Yes, there are "similar" films in this genre of Horror (the abandoned building/hospital/asylum), yet I was pleasantly surprised and it is not exactly as it appears to be in the "spoilers" or description. Yes, it is low-budget but the plot was interesting and the acting was BY FAR better than some other low-budget films of this particular branch of Horror. It is not an overly complex plot so you can enjoy it without having to figure everything out or "where IS this film going?". Enjoyable, mindless so you can enjoy it without trying to figure it out and definitely creepy at times. And it's not too long so if you DON'T enjoy it, at least you haven't wasted 2-3 hours!

All in all, an interesting film with good actors and a good ending!

In London, the archaeologist Anna Ash (Gina Philips) is informed by her Professor Joan Holland (Romla Walker) that the excavation site at the Sixteenth Century Ludgate Orphanage, where she is researching the Cult of the Black Priest during the Great Plague, will be demolished on the next morning to contain the contamination since it has been found the Y.pestis in the digging. The stubborn Anna breaks in the building at midnight expecting to find any substantial evidence that could stop the demolition.

Meanwhile, four drugged punks hit and run with a stolen car and they hide inside the building. They are haunted and attacked by a ghost and one of them, Clive (Jack Bailey), is wounded. When Anna stumbles with the hoodlums, she realizes that Clive is contaminated and needs help. But soon they find that they are trapped in the building.

"The Sick House" is a movie with terrible story, screenplay and camera work. The plot is stupid and unoriginal, and it is hard to believe that an intelligent woman would prioritize her research and break in a contaminated place without weaning protective clothing and mask.

The camera is awful and to compensate the low-budget, there are many closes and the camera is shaken expecting to give the sensation of chaos, but it never works. The messy and senseless conclusion is also awful, trying to give a dreadful twist to the plot. The only things that seems to work is the false promotion of this movie through many fake reviews. Last but not the least, the Brazilian title is perfect for this film ("The Great Plague"). My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "A Grande Praga" {"The Great Plague")

Plague doctors, the physicians who treated the sick during the Great Plague of London, wore wide-brimmed black hats, long black overcoats and primitive gas masks in the shape of a bird's beak; in short, they looked bloody freaky.

Horror newcomer Curtis Radclyffe attempts to capitalise on the unsettling nature of these bizarre historical figures by making them the antagonists in his film The Sick House, but fails to realise that having a cool looking killer just isn't enough on its own: a coherent plot, decent acting, competent editing and considered direction doesn't go amiss either.

After a thoroughly confusing pre-credits sequence featuring a whispering child, Radclyffe's film begins proper with the discovery of a sealed chamber beneath a 17th century hospital. Archaeologist Anna (Gina Philips) is keen to find out what is on the inside, but when the site is declared to be a bio-hazard, she is prevented from continuing her dig. So what does this supposedly intelligent scientist do next? Why, break in, of course—a stroke of genius which not only results in an outbreak of the plague, but also the resurrection of a murderous plague doctor. Meanwhile, a car full of joy-riders seek refuge in the hospital after their fun results in a fatal accident. Guess who's going to wish they'd not broken their ASBOs...

Having introduced his raft of thoroughly selfish characters, and established them within a fairly creepy locale, Radclyffe then proceeds to belie his novice status as both a writer and director by boring the pants off his audience with a solid hour and a half of people wandering aimlessly through dark corridors, whilst the shadowy plague doctor randomly appears and disappears in the shadows.

Fluorescent lights flicker on and off to add a little extra ambiance (or in my case, to irritate me even further), none of the supernatural events that occur are ever adequately explained, gimmicky editing and post production trickery makes everything extremely hard to follow, and the whole thing finishes as confusingly as it began, with a child once again whispering some nonsense that might possibly have made some sense had I not given up caring long before.

Sometimes, it's good to sit back and let a horror movie unfold before you. It needn't be the slickest written, it needn't contain hidden messages or agendas, and it needn't be bursting with CGI or a massive budget. 'The Sichouse' is stylish in its direction and increasingly manic in its storyline. The characters are put well and truly through the mill and the overall feeling is one of chaos and, as you would imagine, sickness.

Co-writer and director Curtis Radclyffe has meticulously (over?) edited the scenes here, drenching them in cold colours and bleeding out any warmth, the camera angles are frequently eccentric, ensuring viewers are never feeling reassured. The sense of chaos makes it virtually impossible to keep up with what is going on, but that is, I think, deliberate. Just as the characters are losing their minds, so we are invited to lose ours for the duration. Some won't enjoy that, but I found it an enjoyable stark experience. It's a bit of a dark trip. My score is 7 out of 10.

Well, this was not horrible to say the least. I have seen many movies that are even worse. For a low budget movie it was actually pretty thrilling. It gave you some spooks and jumps. Overall the storyline was a good idea, yet somewhat got lost along the way. The acting was OK. Some of the graphics and stunts were pretty gruesome and cool in a way. The dialog was quick and understandable and kept you enthralled throughout the film. Although, the ending was quite a disappointment and rather abrupt, the movie was overall good. Nothing compared to the old time horror flicks, but still good. Is it worth your money? Maybe... if you're looking for a slightly cheesy horror flick. Otherwise, just watch it online.