House of Darkness

Summary

“I always say what I mean, don’t you?”

Neil Labute is a filmmaker that I have enjoyed since I was in my late teens. Labute started his career as a playwright, and, due to the limited amount of characters and settings and the focus on wordplay and dialogue in the scripts, his films often feel like plays. I think this is one of the reasons why some people love his work, while others can not fully appreciate his output or find his output dull. His breakthrough film In the Company of Men remains a favorite of mine (despite no physical release since the age of DVD, which is a shame) but I also admire his films Nurse Betty, Your Friends and Neighbors, and The Shape of Things. A few years back, Neil Labute came to Arkansas during a film festival called Filmland. I had the honor of hearing him speak on writing and filmmaking for an hour and I also got to meet him for a few moments. While his characters are calculating and often ruthless, Neil was incredibly warm in our few moments chatting. He was there to promote a film called House of Darkness, which he had filmed in Fayetteville. I saw the film at that time, and it has been available to purchase digitally since 2022, but it has only just now gotten a Blu-Ray release. I was happy to revisit the picture thanks to Shoreline Entertainment.

The film opens with a title card that reads

“Once Upon a Time…”

Gates open to a driveway and a BMW drives past a lake feature towards a large home. Inside the car is a man wearing a suit and tie, and a woman in a white dress. She (Kate Bosworth) lives outside of town and he has driven her home after encountering her at a bar. He (Justin Long) offers to walk her to the door, and she invites him in. He is a bit trepidatious. They had been drinking and flirting at a bar, and he had driven her home with the hope of a one-night stand. The home itself is more of a castle. Once inside, she explains the electricity sometimes fails out there. She offers to light a fire. He closes the door to the home and walks into a room where she has drawn a fire. They begin to chat with each other, and she asks prying questions examining his character. He is in for an extremely uncomfortable and strange night as he attempts to seduce her. Things become more interesting as Hap meets Mina’s sister, Lucy.

With House of Darkness, Labute is in a playful and campy mood, updating the gothic horror film genre with his occasionally anxiety inducing dialogue. The picture is certainly not Labute’s best film and doesn’t say as much as some of his best work, but I still had a fun time revisiting it last night. Like many of Labute’s films, reviews for House of Darkness were incredibly mixed. Admirers applauded the dialogue and acting, and detractors derided the overabundance of dialogue and lack of action. I can see both sides of the coin on this picture, but I personally found it interesting and enjoyable. 

Justin Long and Kate Bosworth are well cast in their roles. They play off each other well and have solid chemistry in the picture, which makes sense considering they married the next year. Gia Crovatin is also good in the role of Lucy. I was able to meet her for a few minutes in 2022 and she was very friendly in person as well. The film’s cinematography by Daniel Katz fits the picture well, but the film does not have an abundance of moments that take place outside of just a couple rooms. The direction by Labute is solid, but I think the pacing of the picture could have used a little bit of work. Some of the pauses in conversation could have been trimmed for example to speed things along. Labute is masterful at writing dialogue that is uncomfortable and may induce cringing for some. Personally, I really enjoyed the dialogue in the picture. The finale of the film worked for me as well, although some of the effects work looked a bit strange to my eyes. 

There is a lot to like about House of Darkness if you are a fan of Neil Labute’s particular type of storytelling, and particularly if you like the Gothic horror films of the past. While certainly not perfect, I still enjoyed it.

Video

Shoreline Entertainment’s Blu-ray (made-on-demand BD-R) release of House of Darkness looks pretty good most of the time. House of Darkness was shot on digital film in 1.78:1 aspect ratio and the 1080p presentation downscales from the original 4K digital file. The opening sequence where Hap and Mina sit in Hap’s car looked a bit strange to me, but that was the only scene that seemed to underperform on my equipment. The film has a nice atmospheric look for its duration, despite only showing off a couple settings where the characters converse. I don’t think that this film would benefit tremendously by receiving a 4K upgrade, so I think this Blu-ray will please fans of the picture.

Audio

Like the video, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio on this release by Shoreline Entertainment represents the original sound design well. This picture largely focuses on dialogue with a bit of music to start the film and a bit towards the end. It sounds as it was meant to sound.

Supplements:

• None

Overall Scores:

Video: 4.25/5

Audio: 4.5/5

Supplements: 0/5

Overall – 3.75/5

House of Darkness, like many of Neil Labute’s films, revels in cringe inducing dialogue. This film focuses on a misogynistic lead character as he squirms in his encounters with women that are obviously more intelligent than him. The reviews for the picture were divisive, but I have a soft place for Labute’s writing. The acting in the picture is of high quality as well. The film’s pacing felt slightly off to me and could have benefitted from some judicious trimming, but l like the picture overall. While I would not rank House of Darkness amongst the best work by Neil Labute, I still had a good time revisiting the picture on Shoreline Entertainment’s Blu-ray release. Labute completists will be happy to finally have a physical copy.

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.