House Call - Review

House Call is a short film by writer/director Erik L. Wilson.  You can view the trailer for it, here, but it probably won't be available for the general public until it has gone to a few festivals first, for the purposes of reviewing the movie, I was provided with an online screener by Erik L. Wilson.

Because this is a short movie, I'm not going to do my usual thing and screencap and go through the plot step by step, I'm instead just going to do an extended summary.  The reason for this is that for most of my reviews, I assume that you have either already watched the movie, or you've heard of the movie and want to see how bad it might be, however since this is pre-release, I don't want to put loads of spoilers out there.

Synopsis: Janice does the unthinkable in order to start a new life with her new boyfriend. However, strange things begin to happen on the night of their one year anniversary.

Summary:  The first thing I noticed about this movie is that it looks really great, with a lot of outsider films you prepare yourself for the worst, but this really does look quite crisp, the sound is also quite clear and I often think that a movie is off to a good start if I can hear everything properly and everything looks like it's supposed to.  (Take note, Asylum, I'm looking at you.)

There's a certain hypnotic quality to the voice over at the opening of the movie, one which drew me right in.  Aimee Bello plays Janice and she plays the part well, she held my attention on the screen with subtle looks which added an air of mystery to the whole thing.  Janet Gawrys plays the part of Mother and she is, in a word, creepy.  There's few times these days when I can watch a performance and say that I am genuinely nervous about what I am about to see unfold, but it was certainly felt here.

Old School horror fans will be glad to hear that practical effects are used along side of CG and the CG is used effectively, instead of being thrown at the screen willy, nilly.  This movie makes good use of suspense and some clever camera angles to build tension and atmosphere.

At one point the player, for some reason, started playing backwards and I genuinely freaked out, I don't think that was the filmmakers intention, but was certainly a spooky coincidence.

Overall I'd give this movie an 8 out of 10.  I think horror fans will enjoy this short outing, though my imagination is going wild with theories on what a feature length production would be like, I think it does what it needs to do, it tells the story succinctly and I for one, enjoyed it.

If you want to keep up with the latest news and find out when you'll be able to see House Call, then check out their facebook page, here.

8 out of 10