House of Purgatory (2016)

Truly Dreadful Film

Good concept, poorly executed.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

What more could you want from a cheap horror movie? Bad acting? Bad jump scares. This movie has it all. The story in and of its self isn't that bad. What I didn't like was the ending. The ending was a huge let down. There was no resolve at all and that really bothered me. The other consistent problem with the whole movie was the story changed like 6 times about what the haunted house is and the money situation. Not a bad movie but not a great movie if you are a story driven person. Which I am.

A group of friends visit a haunted house and get more than they expect.Started out great and promising and then it just went downhill after the 40 minute mark. As they go deeper into the house they were suddenly separated and each experience their own personal fears. A lot of it involves childhood abuse, and in my opinion child abuse doesn't mesh well with horror, unless it's done right. It turned from a potential nice Halloween B flick to a full out drama. Not only was it depressing but it was also boring. And the actors playing high school students were old enough to have teen kids themselves.

The start was as good as any horror film, but somewhere along the way this film lost itself. There are some good scenes in this film, but they lacked to go the distance. Maybe to explain why some of the weird happenings were happening could help. I feel they rushed too quickly into things with leaving much to be desired. About half way through I was still engaged and then I felt they dropped the ball hard. I like far out ideas and things out of the ordinary, obviously I chose to watch this film. Yet with really no attempt to create any sort of understanding of what is going on, it became disappointing. One of those moments where it ends and your sitting there thinking what crap. Not left thinking or wondering about it in a good thought provoking way. I feel if someone used the same premise, and gave more insight into the what and why of this film they could make a decent film. More time and effort maybe, I can't help to think this film was rushed. As for watching I can say you can definitely skip this one.

My quick rating - 5,1/10. We have all heard the rumors of the haunted house that is 5 floors, and if you can make it through all 5 you get your money back. I am sure there are variations of this urban myth and this film revolves around 4 kids that go looking to conquer it. But instead of a typical haunted house they stumble into a house that uses your own secrets from inside to terrify you. A good premise of a movie and to some extent it is well done. Purposely unbelievable and summed up by the great line "i don't think this is a normal haunted house" LOL. The film is more of a psychological type of terror with each overcoming the fears they hide inside. Atypical acting and good use of minimal locations to make the atmosphere seem plausible. I admittedly did enjoy this for what it was, nothing flashy and could have gone a long way with a bit more put into it.