Did find myself intrigued by 'Our House'. The cover looked creepy and the idea was an interesting one. Liked that the film aimed to combine horror and drama, seeing as both mixed has worked very well before ('Hereditary' being a great recent example). It didn't look too bad and found myself not deterred by low ratings and reviews as much as other recent film viewings, as while neither were great they weren't poor either.
'Our House' didn't blow me away admittedly, it is problematic and it could have balanced the horror and drama better as well as doing more with both of them individually too. It is a relief though that 'Our House' wasn't terrible, especially considering the general standard of films that have a few similar ideas, and that it was watchable if more a difficult one to rate and review sort of film instead of falling in either extreme of good or bad.
While clearly not made on a lavish or high budget, 'Our House' looks pretty decent. It's atmospherically lit, has a spooky setting and there is a slickness in the photography. Some nice eeriness in the music and the melancholy seen in the earlier family drama scenes boasts moments of poignancy.
The acting may not be mind-blowing but it did look as if there was an effort to invest in their roles and situation, there is personality and it doesn't go too over the top. There are some creepy and suspenseful moments here, just wish there was more.
However, 'Our House' does have faults. It does take far too long to get going, with a long-winded beginning that feels over-stretched and not as interesting as it could have been. Have to agree with others too that for the horror elements it is far too tame and no real sense of dread or jeopardy. it is not scary, nor is it particularly interesting. Tension and suspense is nowhere near enough and the too infrequent scares tend to be too obvious and didn't feel much palm-sweating or heart-stopping here. Much of it is basically formulaic storytelling, that is also on the dull side, with a general lack of suspense or surprise and too much drama, which was poignant at times but also on the half-baked side as an overall whole, and not enough horror
Furthermore, 'Our House' has a banal script that has no flow or substance and direction that suggests their heart was not in it or at ease with the material. The pacing on the most part is perfunctory.
Concluding, watchable but didn't quite do it for me. 5/10 Bethany Cox
'Our House' didn't blow me away admittedly, it is problematic and it could have balanced the horror and drama better as well as doing more with both of them individually too. It is a relief though that 'Our House' wasn't terrible, especially considering the general standard of films that have a few similar ideas, and that it was watchable if more a difficult one to rate and review sort of film instead of falling in either extreme of good or bad.
While clearly not made on a lavish or high budget, 'Our House' looks pretty decent. It's atmospherically lit, has a spooky setting and there is a slickness in the photography. Some nice eeriness in the music and the melancholy seen in the earlier family drama scenes boasts moments of poignancy.
The acting may not be mind-blowing but it did look as if there was an effort to invest in their roles and situation, there is personality and it doesn't go too over the top. There are some creepy and suspenseful moments here, just wish there was more.
However, 'Our House' does have faults. It does take far too long to get going, with a long-winded beginning that feels over-stretched and not as interesting as it could have been. Have to agree with others too that for the horror elements it is far too tame and no real sense of dread or jeopardy. it is not scary, nor is it particularly interesting. Tension and suspense is nowhere near enough and the too infrequent scares tend to be too obvious and didn't feel much palm-sweating or heart-stopping here. Much of it is basically formulaic storytelling, that is also on the dull side, with a general lack of suspense or surprise and too much drama, which was poignant at times but also on the half-baked side as an overall whole, and not enough horror
Furthermore, 'Our House' has a banal script that has no flow or substance and direction that suggests their heart was not in it or at ease with the material. The pacing on the most part is perfunctory.
Concluding, watchable but didn't quite do it for me. 5/10 Bethany Cox