Dark House - Blu-ray

Film: Nick (Luke Kleintank) has never had it easy in his life. He is constantly plagued by strange visions that are especially intense when he touches SOMEONE. He seems to have inherited this gift from his father. But the truth about it is taken to her grave by his mentally disturbed mother when she dies in a fire at the asylum. Eight months after her death, Nick learns that she has left him the house in Rivers End that he has repeatedly seen in his visions, even though he has never been there. Along with his very pregnant girlfriend Eve (Alex McKenna) and his buddy Ryan (Anthony Rey), he sets off for Rivers End, only to find that the place has been destroyed by a flood. However, a group of surveyors claim to have seen the house in an abandoned valley. Together, the troupe sets out to find the property. When they find it, a bloody nightmare begins for Nick and his companions, from which there seems to be no escape...

Director Victor Salva, more than controversial because of his inglorious past, returns with Dark House to the genre, which he had enriched in 2001 with Jeepers Creepers with a really successful contribution. However, his latest work with SAW villain Tobin Bell in a supporting role can't reach the quality of the latter. The story is too convoluted, the dialogue too flat and the actors too wooden. That the film still works is due to the very atmospheric production, which can score with a successful decor and well-chosen locations. Here, some decent moments of suspense and small splatter interludes of the creepy axe men can unfold well.

In view of the successful aspects, it is of course a pity that the script has turned out altogether badly weak despite good ideas and surprising twists. It's not so much the story itself that disappoints, but the very one-dimensional characters and the sometimes shallow dialogues that are put into their mouths. Because of that the movie squanders a lot of the potential that is actually inherent in the story. And even the atmospherically dense direction can't fully compensate for this weak point.

However, even if Dark House isn't a milestone of the genre and the film even downright disappoints in some aspects, a solid entertainment value can't be denied to it. Because even if some scenes might seem unintentionally funny, it never really gets boring in Rivers End. Victor Salva has staged an entertaining mystery horror despite all its flaws, which even manages to surprise its audience a little bit in the last third. So Salva hasn't completely forgotten his craft since Jeepers Creepers. In the end, it is - with small deductions - still enough for a satisfied: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Even if the film due to its rather low budget technically can not keep up with expensive large-scale productions, the picture and sound quality of the Blu-ray are on an absolutely satisfactory level. The picture is very clean, the splattering film blood is well accentuated thanks to a powerful color mix and also the image sharpness leaves a positive impression. The sound is dominated by the very centrally mixed dialogue, but atmospheric sound effects also always provide a pleasant utilization of the surround channels. No audiovisual revelation, but for a small genre work like this definitely: good!

Extras: As a bonus, the Blu-ray has unfortunately only the trailer to offer.

Conclusion: Dark House is solid mystery horror with some decent slasher effects. Acting-wise, it does have some major weaknesses, as does the dialogue. But some well-done twists and atmospheric direction ensure that the film is still well worth watching for genre fans. The Blu-ray presents the dark horror trip in appealing picture and sound quality. Only with the extras the disc disappoints all along the line. But the bottom line is still enough for a satisfied: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp