Review: House with 100 Eyes

Winner Best Feature Phoenix FearCon V (2012)

Before the screening I was at of House with 100 Eyes, co-director Jay Lee stood up and said "We made this to separate the pussies from the hardcore horror fans." You can hear that but no horror fan would ever be swayed from such a warning. I am here to say that Lee was right, this one is for the hardcore horror fans.

Luckily for me I am one of those and throughourly enjoyed this nasty little horror flick. The premise is like other "found footage" films, some footage was found and here it is, edited down for your convenience. The footage is of husband and wife snuff film making team Ed and Susan. Ed is played by Jim Roof who wrote and co-directed the film. He is like a more twisted and sadistic Rob Cordory in the film and his performance is one of the film's highlights. Susan is played by Shannon Malone who's creepy take on June Cleaver is also fantastic.

Meet Ed and Susan. They make snuff films.

The film follows Ed and Susan as they attempt to make a triple feature snuff film. While this premise can sound ugly as all hell, the film is laced with dark humor making it far more enjoyable than you make think at first. In fact, the humor is so well observed and original that I think it is the main reason to try and catch House with 100 Eyes.

A few criticisms of the film include the horrible sound design and sometimes unnecessary mucking up of the footage. The sound design uses this horrible screetching motif every time shit starts to go horrible. It is a headache enducing element to the film that combined with some over-tweaking of the footage to make it looked warped knocks the film down a few notches. A scene in the middle of film involving masturbation also seems entirely unnecessary. It exists purely for shock value and adds nothing to the character or the film.

Overall House with 100 Eyes is dark, funny, and tense. As Ed and Susan try to pull off their triple feature, things go horribly wrong. The way this all plays out is often surprising and fun. Backed by two great lead performances and laced with dark humor, House with 100 Eyes is one of the better horror films out this year. Check it out.

written by Matthew G. Robinson