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House of Bad AKA Sinister House
R2 - United Kingdom - 101 Films Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (30th August 2015). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Going home can be a deadly mistake. Yearning to break free from their sordid pasts, three sisters (Heather L. Tyler, Sadie Katz and Cheryl Sands) unite for a simple plan: steal enough drugs to set them up for a new life. But when the eldest sister Teig decides they’re going to hide out in their old, abandoned family house, its painful memories quickly become too real to fight off. The sisters are caught in an ever-escalating series of terrifying encounters and dark scenarios. Lily fights her addiction as dreams of a dead woman wake her in the night. Teig struggles with terrorizing memories of an abusive father and Sirah tries to hold the family together. Crazed with withdrawals and unable to distinguish dreams from reality, this attempt at a new lease on life turns into a race for survival.
Video
Independent British distributor 101 Films have released the low budget horror movie "Sinister House" on to DVD in the United Kingdom at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (original aspect ratio is 1.85:1 according to imdb). As far as low budget horrors go, it looks fine, though certainly not without issue. The major issue with the transfer is that there are several occasions where poor compression is obvious, with a number of related artefacts. This unfortunately starts as early as just a few minutes in, though later acts do appear to be unscathed. The film takes place almost exclusively in a single house location and the low lighting takes into consideration the fact that the three sisters are trying to stay there unnoticed for a couple of weeks. This can cause some minor details to be lost in darker scenes, and crushed blacks are also noticeable. At 35:15, the film moves outside briefly, with the skyline showing some heavy banding for several seconds. I also spotted some mild posterisation from time to time. Colours are generally muted and drained of any vivid colours which suits the tone of the film very well, and, in my opinion, was a good stylistic choice. However, that does not mean there is a lack of depth, and some of the foliage and internal decor in the bathroom can pop nicely without taking away from the tone. When you consider the film was shot on a Panasonic handheld camcorder, and the fact that there are no signs of damage, and only minimal aliasing, this is certainly a passable effort, especially for the genre. The feature is uncut and runs 91:54 PAL.
Audio
Two options have been included: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo For my viewing, I opted for the English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, though it should be noted that it is the stereo track that actually plays by default. The 5.1 track is pretty basic, but does what it sets out to do. Surrounds are used mainly for some louder jump shocks and for Terry Huud's simplistic score. Although dialogue is clear at all times, it does sound flat and reserved at times – even with a little echo in environments that shouldn't cause that effect. I would've liked to see better sound design for the more subtle effects, but what we have is adequate. As a recent film, it should come as no surprise that there are no issues with drop outs, scratches, pops or crackles. There was no background hiss. No subtitles are included.
Extras
Well, colour me surprised. This was not advertised as having any extras, and there is no extras menu, but if you go to the audio selection menu, you will find a commentary by writer/director Jim Towns. This is a solid solo effort with hardly any slow down, and the film was obviously a labour of love for Towns. He talks about various aspects of the production, the people who worked on the film, plot points, and the house location. It's always interesting to hear from someone who has made a film with low production values, because it is usually a project that they have had to fight very hard to make. This is worth a listen and is better than the film to be honest.
Overall
Unfortunately, the film didn't do anything for me and was a below average effort in a crowded genre. Horror fans might want to pick it up cheap, as it receives an adequate if unspectacular disc.
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