Review In the House of Flies (2013)
Review by by Char Hardin
Director: Gabriel Carrer
Writer: Angus McLellan
Stars: Ryan Barrett, Henry Rollins, Lindsay Smith and Ryan Kotack
It's 1988 and Heather and Steven are in love and have plans for the summer, but they did not plan on spending it being abducted and imprisoned in a basement, cut off from the rest of the world.
After spending the day and evening at an amusement park, Heather and Steve return to their car and once inside notice a funny "chemical smell" that causes them to pass out. While they had been enjoying their date, a man (Ryan Barrett) had broken into their car. Steven is the first to awaken slightly disorientated. He reaches over and shakes Heather awake and then gets up and goes to the tiny window and tries to push it open and its locked. Steven finds hanging light and pulls the chain illuminating the room and on the floor sees a rotary telephone, jerks it up but the rotary has been removed. Also on the floor is an array of suitcases all with combination locks. In a fit of anger Steven hurls one against the wall.. Both he and Heather pick up the suitcases and hear the contents. Dust falls as they detect movement over head.
The viewer can feel their terror of the unknown. Steven grabs one of the suitcases and breaks the glass of the tiny window. And they sit and wait. Time passes and the phone rings, a voice mentions the broken window and responds by threatening to burn Heather upon further destruction. The voice gives the combination to the suitcase #1. Inside is a map and food. On the map, the voice tells Steven where they are "in the middle of nowhere". So begins the game. One where there are consequences for their actions. The voice is emotionless he just asks questions and issue commands.
The voice offers a chance of freedom if one will sacrifice the other; the game becomes a test of mind and spirit. The strongest of the pair emerges and surprisingly it was Heather. She suffers the most in this story and we the viewer sit and watches...silent witnesses to the game. If you want to know what happens to Heather and Steven, then I highly suggest you look for it when it becomes available on DVD in 2013.
"In the House of Flies" is what I would call a slow burn. It's not action packed, it starts off slow and as the tension builds so does the feelling of what's next and the questions begin: do they escape, the man behind the voice is he caught?
Without sounding like a sicko, I liked this film. I liked the small cast and the way the scenes were shot, how the camera closes in creating an almost claustrophobic vibe. There wasn't anything used that was unnecessary for the sake of trying a gadget or special effect. Everything about this film pulls you in and holds you captive like the characters. The story is gripping and delves into what a person will do to survive and at what cost to themselves or the one they love. Steven and Heather were pushed to the edge. We see them fall apart and turn on each other and themselves. They are powerless to stop the game. There will be revelations, discoveries and ultimately pain in the basement and like a car wreck, one cannot look away.
One of the pitfalls of Indie films is budget and with low budgets sometimes the films suffer from poor acting, that is not the case with IHOF, the two actors Ryan Kotack and Lindsay Smith were excellent.
As I said above, I do recommend this film. It was very well made, it builds up slowly and penetrates your mind with its twisted game and it is hard to forget the viewing experience of virtually watching two people pushed over the edge and forced to do terrible things to survive. With that being said, there is just one little thing that I didn't like. It in no way will take away from what I have written. It's just I am a fan of Henry Rollins and I knew he was going to be in this film. However, I failed to realize it was in voice only. I was hoping to SEE Henry and not just hear his voice. Aside from this little insignificant peeve, I do like the film and am looking forward to its release on DVD sometime this year.
For more from Char visit her website www.CharHardin.com
Director: Gabriel CarrerWriter: Angus McLellan
Stars: Ryan Barrett, Henry Rollins, Lindsay Smith and Ryan Kotack
It's 1988 and Heather and Steven are in love and have plans for the summer, but they did not plan on spending it being abducted and imprisoned in a basement, cut off from the rest of the world.
After spending the day and evening at an amusement park, Heather and Steve return to their car and once inside notice a funny "chemical smell" that causes them to pass out. While they had been enjoying their date, a man (Ryan Barrett) had broken into their car. Steven is the first to awaken slightly disorientated. He reaches over and shakes Heather awake and then gets up and goes to the tiny window and tries to push it open and its locked. Steven finds hanging light and pulls the chain illuminating the room and on the floor sees a rotary telephone, jerks it up but the rotary has been removed. Also on the floor is an array of suitcases all with combination locks. In a fit of anger Steven hurls one against the wall.. Both he and Heather pick up the suitcases and hear the contents. Dust falls as they detect movement over head.
The viewer can feel their terror of the unknown. Steven grabs one of the suitcases and breaks the glass of the tiny window. And they sit and wait. Time passes and the phone rings, a voice mentions the broken window and responds by threatening to burn Heather upon further destruction. The voice gives the combination to the suitcase #1. Inside is a map and food. On the map, the voice tells Steven where they are "in the middle of nowhere". So begins the game. One where there are consequences for their actions. The voice is emotionless he just asks questions and issue commands.
The voice offers a chance of freedom if one will sacrifice the other; the game becomes a test of mind and spirit. The strongest of the pair emerges and surprisingly it was Heather. She suffers the most in this story and we the viewer sit and watches...silent witnesses to the game. If you want to know what happens to Heather and Steven, then I highly suggest you look for it when it becomes available on DVD in 2013.
"In the House of Flies" is what I would call a slow burn. It's not action packed, it starts off slow and as the tension builds so does the feelling of what's next and the questions begin: do they escape, the man behind the voice is he caught?
Without sounding like a sicko, I liked this film. I liked the small cast and the way the scenes were shot, how the camera closes in creating an almost claustrophobic vibe. There wasn't anything used that was unnecessary for the sake of trying a gadget or special effect. Everything about this film pulls you in and holds you captive like the characters. The story is gripping and delves into what a person will do to survive and at what cost to themselves or the one they love. Steven and Heather were pushed to the edge. We see them fall apart and turn on each other and themselves. They are powerless to stop the game. There will be revelations, discoveries and ultimately pain in the basement and like a car wreck, one cannot look away.
One of the pitfalls of Indie films is budget and with low budgets sometimes the films suffer from poor acting, that is not the case with IHOF, the two actors Ryan Kotack and Lindsay Smith were excellent.
As I said above, I do recommend this film. It was very well made, it builds up slowly and penetrates your mind with its twisted game and it is hard to forget the viewing experience of virtually watching two people pushed over the edge and forced to do terrible things to survive. With that being said, there is just one little thing that I didn't like. It in no way will take away from what I have written. It's just I am a fan of Henry Rollins and I knew he was going to be in this film. However, I failed to realize it was in voice only. I was hoping to SEE Henry and not just hear his voice. Aside from this little insignificant peeve, I do like the film and am looking forward to its release on DVD sometime this year.
For more from Char visit her website www.CharHardin.com