Moving to the middle of nowhere to save a failing marriage.
House of Good and Evil is another remote-household-horror film. It is weird that all of these types of films have people moving out of town, and then almost immediately are put off by small-town sensibilities. This doesn’t really have any bearing on the film, but it is just a dumb trait. Another dumb trait is buying a house without ever having seen it. Oh, no power, oh well. Really? Really?!
So husband shoves wife and causes her to miscarry, so they buy a house to… I don’t know? Why would anyone think this a good idea? Even without the added wrinkle of an abusive and chaotic relationship, why in the world do movies think that it is so common for people to move out into the middle of nowhere. At least the film does show that half-baked attempts to “cure” abusiveness by moving or making promises don’t work, and don’t last for any noticeable amount of time.
Anyone looking at gaslighting would probably be interested in seeing this film. Oddly, the film works better in this regard than a horror movie. The film throws a lot of curveballs at the audience, and I think plays a little too loose with the issues of domestic abuse. At around the halfway point of the movie you will ask yourself what is really happening. At the end you will ask: what is the point?
Cinematic red herrings are sometimes a lot of fun, and other times they serve as little more than a deus ex machina. In the end, this movie will frustrate more than interest most viewers. The worst part of it is that the movie is simply kind of a boring. All the build up for nothing, and the scares are non-existent. Not worth the time. 3/10
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