The Night House: A Tale of Love & Death

Do we really know everything our spouses? As director David Bruckner's The Night House opens, Beth is grieving after her husband Owen suddenly commits suicide. There seems to be no reason for his actions, and she's lost her moorings, drinking heavily, poring over pictures and going through his things, trying to find an explanation. Strange things begin to happen in the house they shared, which Owen built for them. Beth begins to suspect these events are supernatural in origin, and may be tied to a near death experience from her past.
 
Beth finds evidence that Owen may have had a secret life, and discovers an odd, reversed floor plan of their house among his things. Was Owen really the man she thought he was? As the layers of the story are unraveled, we learn things about both Beth and Owen which shed a different light on their relationship, and the haunting events that are plaguing Beth. Is Owen returning from beyond death to warn her about something, or are there other forces at work here? What is the real truth of Beth and Owen's relationship?

 
The Night House is a compelling thriller, written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski. It's a thoughtful and intriguing look at the bond between couples, intertwined with an eerie tale of the supernatural. It's a powerful story that's as much about the intensity of the relationship between Beth and Owen as it is about deeply scary moments. The film mostly takes a more reserved approach than some modern horror fare, though there are some jump scares and a couple of frightening set pieces. The movie also has a great visual style, thanks to director Bruckner and cinematographer Elisha Christian.


The cast in The Night House is first-rate. Sarah Goldberg and Vondie Curtis Hall as Beth's friends and Evan Jonigkeit as Owen are excellent, but this film belongs to Rebecca Hall. Hall, who's been terrific in movies like The Town, is superb here, anchoring the film with her dedication to the central role. You can feel the intensity of every emotion that Beth feels, see it in her face and in the way she moves, and hear it in the way she speaks. It's a bravura performance, and if there was any justice, Hall would have won several trophies for it, though most awards shows don't give out accolades for genre films.

 
The Night House is an atmospheric thriller that's well worth seeking out for horror and suspense fans looking for something a bit different on movie night. Director David Bruckner also helmed the upcoming re-imagining of Clive Barker's Hellraiser, so if you want to see some of his earlier work, you can start here. If you enjoy movies like The Sixth Sense and The Others, or well-produced tales of ghostly happenings, eerie occurrences, complex relationships, and love after death, then seek out this film. The movie is currently streaming on HBO Max, and is also available on Blu-ray and DVD. Here's a link to the trailer for The Night House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tshycci2ZA.

Last Night In Soho: Darkness in 1960s London

Sometimes viewing the past through the haze of a romantic prism leads to a harsh dose of reality. That’s just what happens to aspiring fashion designer Eloise “Ellie” Turner in director Edgar Wright’s thriller, Last Night In Soho (2021). Ellie has an idealized view of London’s fashion and culture, thanks to her grandmother, Peggy, who raised her after Ellie’s mother died when she was just seven years old. Peggy has told Ellie stories of the old days in the “swinging London” of the 1960s, and Ellie loves playing her grandmother’s old records, listening to the likes of Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, and The Walker Brothers. When Ellie journeys to London to study at the city’s prestigious College of Fashion, she expects to have a great adventure and become a star designer. Instead, she becomes embroiled in a terrifying mystery that has its roots in the past times that she loves so much.

When her living situation at the dorm proves to be less than ideal, Ellie rents a upstairs room in a flat owned by an elderly lady named Ms. Collins. She begins to have vivid dreams of London in the 1960s, in which she shares the experiences of a young singer name Sandie, who’s trying to break into the music business. Sandie becomes enthralled, and later manipulated, by a calculating man named Jack, who isn’t quite the helpful guy he seems at first glance. As Ellie’s dreams get more frightening and intense, her life and Sandies start to intertwine. Her dream world spills over into her real life, and Ellie realizes that Sandie may have been murdered in the past. But how can she convince her friend John or the police that her experiences are real? Since her late mother had a history of mental illness, will everyone assume that Ellie’s going mad? 

Last Night In Soho is an intense, stylish thriller that is worlds apart from director Wright’s previous works, which include Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and the hyperkinetic action thriller Baby Driver. Last Night In Soho is a visually dazzling film, thanks to Wright’s excellent direction and the superb work of cinematographer Chung-soon Chung. There are several striking sequences in this compelling mix of murder mystery and ghost story, including a scene where Sandie descends a staircase in a club, and Ellie is reflected in the mirror along the stairs. Much of the story deals with the duality of images and the harsh truths behind what you see in the mirror, as even Ellie begins to question what she's really seeing in her lucid dreams.

The costume design is excellent, and the recreation of 1960s era London is very well done. As with Wright's previous work, the soundtrack is fantastic. He and his crew have carefully selected songs that evoke the era, including music from Dusty Springfield, The Searchers and The Kinks. The cast is fantastic, with Thomasin McKenzie doing a fine job conveying Ellie's wide-eyed vulnerability, and Matt Smith offering a chilling portrait of the manipulative Jack. Anya Taylor-Joy, who was so good in The Witch and the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, is a revelation as Sandie. Not only does she fully embody the part of a 1960s ingenue with dreams of pop stardom, she even sings in the film, performing the Petula Clark classic “Downtown.” As an enjoyable bonus for fans, a trio of British actors who rose to fame in the 1960s are featured in the film; Terence Stamp, Rita Tushingham and the late Dame Diana Rigg, who plays Ms. Collins.

Last Night In Soho is an eerie, thrilling tale of psychological terror. While it celebrates the pop art world of 1960s London, the film also effectively conveys the darker, misogynistic streak beneath the glitter and flash of the era. Wright pays homage to several directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanski, Brian DePalma, and Mario Bava and his use of rich colors in his giallo films. There are also nods to classic tales of terror like The Innocents, Carnival of Souls, and Suspiria, and 1960s era British dramas like A Taste of Honey and Beat Girl. While it falters a bit in its final act, Last Night In Soho is an absorbing film, and worth checking out for thriller fans and cinephiles. The movie is now streaming on HBO Max, and is also available on Blu-ray and DVD. Here’s a look at the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcVnFrxjPjI.

Gus Moreno's Unsettling "Thing Between Us"

In the best tales of horror and the supernatural, the most frightening demons are the ones that manifest inside ourselves. In Gus Moreno’s offbeat debut novel This Thing Between Us, the nightmare begins when Thiago and Vera, a married couple in Chicago, move into a new condo. They hear odd noises at night, which could be caused by their inconsiderate neighbors, but they also experience a number of other strange occurrences. Sometimes, the couple hears scratching in the walls. They believe they might have rats, but an exterminator doesn’t find anything. At first, these disturbances seem fairly innocuous. Then, their Alexa-like smart speaker, Itza,  starts talking to someone who isn’t there, ordering things they never bought from online retailers, and playing music at all hours of the night. When the couple looks into the history of their home, they discover that the previous tenant was a mysterious old woman, who just might have performed occult rituals there.

Tragedy strikes when Vera dies after being knocked down some stairs by a thief fleeing a crime scene at a subway station. A grief-stricken Thiago decides to leave Chicago and move into a remote cabin in Colorado. As you might imagine, this turns out to be a very bad decision. The supernatural forces which have taken hold of Thiago aren’t ready to let go, and his sanity begins to crack. His downward spiral continues, and the deep sense of loss he feels allows whatever entity is haunting him to gain a deeper hold. As things escalate, and darker and bloodier events occur, Thiago wonders if his own actions are the real cause of all the tragedy that he’s experienced. What is real, and what is imagined? Will he become a prisoner of the darkness inside his own mind? Will the cost be his soul, as well as his sanity?

This Thing Between Us is an eerie and unsettling tale, told by Thiago as he relates the story of the harrowing events that befell Vera and himself. It’s a powerful portrait of a marriage shattered by tragedy, and how loss can fracture our sense of self. Moreno also brings a cultural dimension to the story, as the criminal that causes Vera’s death is an illegal immigrant, and Thiago’s own family history has ties to the experience of being a stranger from across the border. The novel also raises the issue of just how intimately entwined we are with technology and social media these days, and how being so connected  to it can be both a blessing and a curse. There are some truly terrifying sequences in the Colorado portion of the story. Fans of Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft and Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey will notice some very clever homages to their work. The dark terrors experienced by Thiago have a deeply Lovecraftian element.

Moreno’s fine writing deftly escalates the sense psychological unease and impending doom felt by Thiago. While he’s the most well drawn figure in the book, it’s interesting to note how he relates to (and views) the other characters, especially Vera, and his mother in law, who becomes important  in the second half of the story. Is what we experience of the other characters less trustworthy because we view them through Thiago’s eyes? As a reader, you do feel a deep sense of sympathy for, and empathy with, Thiago. But could he be an unreliable narrator? Is the darkness calling to him, or was it within him all along? Once you finish this intense, disturbing and emotionally shattering novel, you’ll have to make up your own mind. One thing is for certain. Once you finish this chilling tale, you’ll never look at your Alexa the same way again.