By Geno McGahee
Haunted house movies are overdone, but they are usually found footage these days. So, HOUSE HUNTING, despite it being in a sub-genre that’s overdone, seemed fresh. Written and directed by Eric Hurt, HOUSE HUNTING is a paranormal horror film with plenty of mystery mixed in. With a solid cast and decent pace, this is a horror film that is worth a watch.
Charlie Hays (Marc Singer) is going to look at a house and he’s in the business. He is desperately trying to get his daughter, Emmy (Janey Gioiosa), and new wife, Susan (Hayley DuMond), to click. Charlie’s ex-wife had committed suicide and things haven’t been good at the household, especially with the addition of a new wife. At a diner, Emmy sees a weird guy in a booth and his face turns demonic thanks to the use of CGI. I had to mention it. The CGI in that shot was terrible and far from scary, but the family reacted well. I believed that they believed they were scared.
Going to check out the same house is the Thomson family. Father, Don (Art LaFleur), his teenage son, Jason (Paul McGill) and wife Leslie (Victoria Vance), arrive at relatively the same time and tensions arise. There is no real estate agent to show them around. Instead, there are little voice boxes that give out messages welcoming the potential buyers. The weird aura doesn’t go unnoticed and the group seems to not be too sold on the house. As they leave, they run into Hanna (Rebekah Kennedy). She is frantic and terrified. They all jump into Don’s SUV and head for the hospital but no matter what direction they go, they end up at the house again. When they run out of gas, they give up and decide to stay in the house and figure things out. Hanna panics that much more as they drag her into the house.
Inside the house there are some weird things about. There are cans of beef stew, a shaving kit that is still warm, and a few other odd things going on. Every attempt to leave leads them right back to the house and their dark secrets begin to be revealed. Each of the people there has something they have done and they are being held accountable. This leads to infighting between the two families and the notion that one family has to die for the other to survive.
A big showdown between the families and some darker secrets are revealed as they get closer to figuring out just how to escape the never-ending loop they’re in. HOUSE HUNTER keeps it together with a great cast and decent pace, leading to a satisfactory conclusion. It was nice to see Marc Singer back again. He was the man in the 1980s with V and BEASTMASTER, but he hasn’t been around much of late. It was nice to see him in a role again and he did very well. Art LaFleur was another great addition to this film and worked very well across from Singer. Their experience and talents complimented each other. The rest of the cast did an amazing job too, especially Hayley DuMond. She was able to be very likable at points and unlikable at other times. It was a great performance.
HOUSE HUNTING is a great effort by all involved. Eric Hurt put together a nice story with some suspense and maintained the interest throughout. It relied on an atmosphere to sit with the viewer rather than jump scares or one final scare that we see so much in modern paranormal films. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 6.5/10
