Movies
House of Fears (V)
“This is another unworthy film that my curiosity fell victim to because of its fairly interesting plot and that ever-long hope that this “I should know better” horror film could actually turn out a fairly decent watch in the end. Unsurprisingly, I was wrong, and despite the film showing some potential to deliver some good scares, the entire watch was a waste of time.”
This is another unworthy film that my curiosity fell victim to because of its fairly interesting plot and that ever-long hope that this “I should know better” horror film could actually turn out a fairly decent watch in the end. Unsurprisingly, I was wrong, and despite the film showing some potential to deliver some good scares, the entire watch was a waste of time.
House of Fears follows a group of friends who sneak into a haunted funhouse set to open the next day. The funhouse, titled “House of Fears”, centers on the 9 most common fears people have, and exploits them in a very hands-on fashion to the patron. While the friends plan on having a few good hours of fun tonight, they soon find themselves locked in the house and falling victim one by one to a supernatural entity. Little did they know, a rare artifact from Africa that was to be used as a prop in the home provided a much more “authentic” experience when a demon within the artifact was released. With the ability to manifest itself within anything inside the House of Fears, the dwindling number of survivors must determine what is real and what is not in an atmosphere where anything can kill them.
I must admit that this borderline-unbearable watch did come with some elements that showed some promise, especially the film’s first act. Fans of Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse should find themselves reminded of that great film when we are first introduced to the House of Fears, decorated with numerous animatronic monsters/clowns/etc. used to scare the victims of the home. The look and visual feel of the film is actually quite impressive, which came as no surprise to me when I noticed this one comes directed by Ryan Little, who did a remarkable job in regards to cinematography with Saints and Soldiers. I can only imagine the genuine look of shock on my face when I noticed his name attached at the end of the film, mainly due to the fact that he is a fairly good director, and this was a huge load of crap.
While Little’s visual tone is good, the sets used in the film are very impressive and were definitely the highlight of this flick. This allowed for much potential for the film to amount to a good watch, but it just did not happen. The rest of Little’s direction is sub-par, with horrible camerawork, pathetic edits reminiscent of Saw V(ouch), and worst of all…horrendous acting from everyone involved.
The screenplay did not help Mr. Little, and aided in worsening the sour taste already in my mouth over what was happening on-screen before me. Despite heavily enjoying the idea of a haunted funhouse focusing on your fears, everything else going on with the storyline went downhill. Writer Steven A. Lee had a decent story to build off of, but instead of the film progressing to anything worthwhile we are instead just given the usual horror clichés that I can only enjoy if properly executed, and as you can tell by now…they weren’t. We do get a mix of colorful characters, which is supposed to aid in keeping the viewer’s interest due to their diversity and the fact that it adds more potential kills to the film, but they really did not do anything for me due to how they were employed in the story, and the fact that the actors portraying them were possibly to “scared” to act.
Overall, this is a film that despite coming with a cool story, it suffers from a terrible screenplay and equally terrible direction. The next time your drunk friends won’t leave your home just put this film on and thank me later.
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Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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