House of Bad

Three girls, trapped in a house. Low budget. Predictable...

That's all I thought this movie would amount to at five minutes in... but was I ever wrong!

House of Bad is a tale of three sisters that steal a load of drugs from a respective boyfriend dealer, and seek to hide out in their childhood home while the heat cools down. They haven't been hiding out long when things start to go awry...

What I thought would inevitably break down into a cheap slasher/stalker movie quietly, surprisingly evolved into a well executed practice in good filmmaking. The story involved real characters in believable situations; the dialog was great and well-executed, the use of FX was sparse as to enhance the story, rather than supplant it, and the acting was flat-out good!

The budget was low, but the execution was great. There's a very cinematic feel to the picture, and a very good, timely score that doesn't hit you over the head for effect. You get the impression that this film didn't know it was low budget or independent, so it didn't pull any punches in fit and finish.

Possibly the best part of House of Bad is the surprising turns the story takes. This film really capitalizes on nuances and the behaviors of the human psyche, and goes places most films don't. Good pacing brings you to a great climax and the little touches of plot that sneak in at the end are haunting.

More thriller than horror, better than most, and really satisfying. Well done!

I find it so hard to understand how can House of Bad be rated over 5 and even have positive reviews. This one is one of the most boring films I've ever seen, goes hand in had with Black Rock (2012), another movie with 3 girls, located in an isolated place, and then...something goes terribly wrong.

Don't know which one is better to be honest, Black Rock had a little more action but this one delivers on nudity (a lot and quite nice) and some sort of tensioned moments. Sort of! Anyway, it is an independent movie, one that fits perfectly in its category, won't pull its head above, a simple and natural film. It will probably bore you to death, I am sorry to say it, but nothing really happens and when things start to move, they move with such a speed, you'll fall right asleep. If you have only 90 minutes to live, I'd recommend you to watch House of Bad in your final minutes, because one hour with this one seems like an eternity!

Had some expectations but it always fails to deliver. Gets a little close from time to time, but just walks right pass it, doesn't even bother to turn its head towards us. I'll recommend you "100 feet", that one is cheesy, but hey, a lot more fun than this one. Was quite the struggle to stay awake.

Cheers!

Well actually it's not all bad but this three girl, sister thriller is not too great either. Has a three out of ten rating here on IMDb, so will go just one notch higher. The acting and characters are certainly lively but it falls short on many fronts, including plot, script and any type of real gripping action. Just about watchable to the final, unsatisfying conclusion.

A girl is sleeping with a guy. When he falls asleep she grabs a suitcase and leaves. She meets up with two other girls and they drive to a house. The house is familiar to them. Teig who is the girl in charge collects their cell phones and announces that they will stay there for two weeks until no one is looking for them anymore. Little by little we learn what is going on.

Teig and Sirah are sisters. Lily is their half sister. Teig was imprisoned, Sirah is a stripper and Lily is a junkie. By stealing the case full of drugs they hope to make a new life for themselves in Mexico. The house is their childhood home. As Teig gets more abusive Lily can't resist the temptation of a case full of drugs and Sirah in secret sends a text message to someone.

But there's something else going on. The girls start having visions and seeing things that occurred in the past. When Teig and Sirah were little, their mom was pregnant. At some point she admitted to her husband that the kid was someone else's. Meanwhile he was cheating on her with another woman. The husband lost it. When things went wrong with her pregnancy he offered no help. And for some reason he ended up locking little Teig in the basement. Now all that pain and suffering is coming back to haunt the girls.

House of Bad is a B action/horror thriller. It features excellent and confident direction and very good acting by the sexy girls. There's a bit of violence and nudity. The story is interesting because it combines the business of stealing the drugs and hiding with a bit of the supernatural. It does get somewhat boring as usually happens with psychological horror, especially when you confine people in a room or house for most of the movie. And the occasional shaky/floating camera-work gives this movie a cheaper look than it deserves because otherwise the movie looks good and bright. Fortunately it stays away from night and rain and the usual gimmicks for the most part. House of Bad is a success for a low budget movie.

+1 Star for some dialogue near the beginning that cracked me up

+1 Star for following the rule, don't have a shower scene without nudity

-1 Star for Gutshot woman turning into Olympic athelete...

-1 Star for the believability of the whole story and the 'ghost' crap or whatever was going on wasn't really necessary for the story at all

All in all there were some good parts. The 2nd half of the movie really bogged down a LOT turning it into just nothing special