Our House (2018)
Written By: ZX
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Anthony Scott Burns
Writers: Nathan Parker (screenplay) & Matt Osterman (story)
Release Date: July 27, 2018
Cast:
Thomas Mann as Ethan
Percy Hynes White as Matt
Kate Moyer as Becca
Nicole Peltz as Hannah
Robert B. Kennedy as Tom
Rating = 3/5 graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Our House is a sweet, simple, and straightforward sci-fi horror film about a family dealing with loss. It follows Ethan, a college student who is visiting his parents and siblings after being away at college. Despite them begging him to stay longer, he rushes back to school to test a device he’s been working on that’s supposed to generate wireless electricity. The test doesn’t work and the next morning Ethan gets call from his brother and rushes back home. He finds out his parents were in a fatal car accident. The film jumps three months ahead to where Ethan has moved back home to take care of his younger siblings. Rather than dealing with his grief, he seems burnt out by the day to day reality of being a parent. He works as a cashier at a hardware store and drives the kids to school.
One day, a new part for his device is delivered to the store and his boss lets him off early, so he goes home to tinker. Once again, the device seems like a failure. But later, strange things start happening around the house. His younger sister, Becca, claims she can talk to their dead parents. The older sibling, Matt, can’t see or speak to the parents, but he witnesses enough weird stuff to be a believer. As Ethan keeps ramping up the power to the device, the spirits get stronger and extend beyond their house. Tom, their neighbor tells Ethan that he’s been seeing his dead wife. But something isn’t right; the entities seem to have malevolent intentions, especially towards Becca.
The Gore Factor
With a PG-13 rating, the gore factor is negligible. This film relies more on building atmosphere than blood and guts but there is a brief bit of violence towards the end.
The Grave Review
I thought this film was well-acted (especially the girl who played Becca) and well-executed. The story was based on a 2010 horror film called ‘Ghost from the Machine’ so it could be considered a remake. I haven’t seen the original, but judging from the trailer, Our House took an interesting concept and improved on it, at least stylistically. I absolutely love the design of the spirits. They’re shown as murky shadows that slowly take on a more corporeal form, but their face is always completely dark.
I also thought the pacing of this movie was good because it built up slowly. In fact, at one point I thought we weren’t even going to get to see the ghosts at all. A lot of times horror movies have great set-up but fail to stick the landing. But Our House has a deliberateness and restraint that I found oddly mesmerizing. I love the idea of using the horror genre to explore grief and how it affects people (see Before I Wake, the Haunting of Hill House). If you’re looking for a spooky, slow burn, indie horror film, Our House makes a great watch.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Our House (2018) three graves out of five graves.
Do you agree with our review of Our House (2018)? Comment below.
Join the Conversation