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House of Darkness – Movie Review (3/5)

Posted by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard | Sep 12, 2022 | 3 minutes

HOUSE OF DARKNESS is a new take on an old story. The kind that features characters known from stories with vampires or Dracula himself. A slow-burn movie that has comedy, horror, and mystery. Read our House of Darkness movie review here!

HOUSE OF DARKNESS is a new vampire movie with a very different approach. It’s slow-burn and  very  dialogue-heavy with a story that takes place entirely in one location: The house mentioned in the title. Or rather, it does begin just outside the house, but otherwise, we stay in this very impressive house.

The two absolute stars of the film are Justin Long and Kate Bosworth who both deliver strong and entertaining performances. The runtime is 88 minutes and while it is slow, it is never boring. And the ending is pretty damn awesome!

Continue reading our spoiler-free House of Darkness  movie review below. The film is out in theaters from September 9 and On Demand beginning September 13, 2022.

Trying to play the part of a good guy

Kate Bosworth plays Mina (a very familiar character to fans of Dracula) and Justin Long is a man she just picked up at a bar.

He cannot believe his luck since he clearly sees Mina as a super temptress and considers himself extremely lucky. Especially when they arrive at the castle-like house, she lives in.

What makes  House of Darkness so interesting, is seeing the character played by Justin Long working  so  hard to do and say the right thing. Or just avoiding doing the wrong thing. He is  so  hung up on being politically correct that he is never really honest.

Something we know for a fact from his phone conversation with the friend he left back at the bar. He is nowhere near being the good guy he tries to present. However, he wants desperately to avoid getting in trouble – while wanting desperately to get it on with Mina.

Meanwhile, Mina is being very honest. Well, at least in terms of answering the questions she is asked. She doesn’t give away any additional information willingly.

Justin Long and Kate Bosworth

Since at least 80 percent of the  House of Darkness  runtime features just Justin Long ( Jeepers Creepers , Drag Me to Hell ) and Kate Bosworth, their chemistry is all-important to the story. Fortunately, they work extremely well together. Both in terms of their dialogue – which is both fast-paced and extremely loaded – and their physicality.

We very recently watched Kate Bosworth in a similar setup, where she was alone in a room with one other actor for the majority of the runtime. That one was titled  The Immaculate Room  and was very different, but also had a few similarities. She co-starred with Emile Hirsch in that film.

YOU MIGHT LIKE Our review of The Immaculate Room  here >

House of Darkness  has more humor and is very much a vampire story. This alone sets it apart from  The Immaculate Room . Also, from just looking at this new movie on IMDb, you’ll know that two more characters are part of the cast. They are played by Gia Crovatin ( Van Helsing series) and Lucy Walters ( Here Alone ). They play Lucy and Nora respectively.

Watch  House of Darkness  in theaters or On Demand – and on Hulu!

Neil LaBute is the writer and director of  House of Darkness . And while it does feel like the perfect kind of movie to shoot during a pandemic (due to the small cast and single location), it’s also pretty perfect as a vampire story. One that slows down and shows you how someone might be lured into a very vulnerable position.

Previously, Neil LaBute has written (and sometimes directed) TV series such as Van Helsing  and The I-Land . In terms of feature films, he directed and wrote the remake of  The Wicker Man . The one starring Nicolas Cage from 2006. He has another movie coming out later in 2022 starring Maggie Q . An action-thriller titled Fear the Night .

While  House of Darkness  is a slow-burn movie, the comedy, horror, and mystery keep you on your toes. Also, the dialogue and chemistry between the leads work wonders in terms of keeping the viewer engaged.

House of Darkness is out in theaters on September 9, and On Demand on September 13, 2022. It will also be added to Hulu on January 7, 2023.

Director: Neil LaBute Writer: Neil LaBute Stars: Justin Long, Kate Bosworth, Gia Crovatin, Lucy Walters

Driving home to her secluded estate after meeting at a local bar, a player out to score thinks his beautiful, mysterious date will be another casual hook-up. While getting acquainted, their flirtation turns playful, sexy and sinister. Hoping to get lucky, his luck may have just run out.

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About The Author

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!

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Critics Have Seen The Last Voyage Of The Demeter And They Are All Saying The Same Thing About The Dracula Movie

2023's latest vampire movie is here.

Dracula ’s dark presence has loomed over art and pop culture for over one hundred years already, so we’re never quite surprised when Hollywood decides to find another way to reintroduce the character. Following Nicolas Cage playing the famed vampire in horror comedy Renfield earlier this year, another take is already here with Universal’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter , finally arriving in theaters this weekend after being in development for twenty years. Let’s talk about what critics think about the latest of 2023 new movie releases . 

We’ll start off with CinemaBlend’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter review from our own Eric Eisenberg. He gave the movie a two out of five stars, calling it “bland.” Check out some of his thoughts: 

… The end result is a repetitive and dull horror movie with little more going for it than a moderately interesting feral approach to its legendary vampire. The ferocity of Dracula increases over the course of the movie as he is made stronger with each victim he takes, though that idea fails to translate into escalating stakes, and without interesting personalities to invest in, the whole ride actually gets duller as the titular vessel gets ever closer to its terminus.

Unfortunately for The Last Voyage of the Demeter , our critic isn’t the only one who walked out of the theater disappointed in the Dracula movie. Polygon ’s Joshua Rivera quipped that “Dracula’s Lyft gets 1-star" before saying this: 

It’s a film with no vision, a puzzling adaptation that’s so straightforward, viewers might believe every beat comes from Stoker’s novel and not a screenplay imagining what happened between the pages. Maybe the two decades the film spent in development, being rewritten and recast, are to blame; every colorful choice seems to have been wrung out of the script. At every moment, there’s potential for Demeter to become something distinct and interesting, but the screenplay and Øvredal’s direction choose otherwise, embracing straightforward competence over any style or flair.

The movie was helmed by André Øvredal, who has a relatively good track record for horror movies, between 2019’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and 2016’s The Autopsy of Jane Doe . The former CinemaBlend’s Eisenberg gave 4 out of 5 stars . IndieWire ’s David Ehrlich also treaded on negative waters when speaking about the new movie, sharing these words: 

The truth of the matter is that screenwriter Bragi Schut Jr. has been tinkering with the idea since his time working at a Hollywood model shop in the early 1990s, but his baby must have gotten lost at sea while treading water in development hell over the last several decades, because the derelict Ship of Theseus that’s drifting into theaters this weekend doesn’t reveal any trace of real passion or serious thought. It’s a movie about people who slowly come to realize over the course of several ultra-repetitive kill scenes that a nocturnal monster of some kind is living in their cargo hold (he’s sleeping in a giant crate that might as well be marked “Dracula’s bed”), but never think to, I don’t know, search for him during the day.

Then there’s its vision of Dracula, which The Hollywood Reporter ’s Frank Scheck spoke to, calling simultaneously “one of the viscerally scariest” Draculas along with “one of the dullest.” As the critic continued: 

His snarling, animal-like creature doesn’t exactly have much personality, feeling so generic that the film could equally serve as an Alien or Predator prequel. He draws plenty of blood, but he doesn’t have much bite.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter reps a great cast including Corey Hawkins, Liam Cunningham and David Dastmalchain, whom CinemaBlend spoke to about his frequent on-screen deaths , but per critics it’s just not enough to raise this film into one of the best horror movies . Collider ’s Chase Hutchinson wrote this: 

They do their absolute best, with Corey Hawkins especially bringing gravitas to a long overdue leading role, and there is a commendable amount of darkness that the film doesn’t shy away from. However, the more it is held up to the light, the more it begins to burn and crumble before you. There are thrills to be found, but much of the film is made unnecessarily adrift as it careens to its ultimate doom.

While every critic seems to be saying the same thing about The Last Voyage of the Demeter , AV Club ’s Matthew Jackson had some positive things to say about the movie. In his words: 

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…thanks to solid direction, a committed cast, and a central monster that keeps drawing your eye, there’s a lot about The Last Voyage Of The Demeter that works. It’s not the best Dracula film you’ll ever see, but it is a chilling new spin on the character, and a voyage horror fans will mostly be glad they took.

Now, we certainly recommend that if you’re interested in seeing the movie on the big screen you go out and see it and make your own estimation about the movie yourself. The Last Voyage of the Demeter is in theaters now. 

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.

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