Dark House review

Released as part of Fangoria's Frightfest. Dark House stars Jeffrey Combs, Meghan Ory and Diane Salinger. The premise is nothing revolutionary: A wealthy man (Combs) buys up property and turns them into haunted attractions using state of the art projection systems. The current location he's working on was formerly the sight of the murder of seven children. From there, he hires several local drama students to staff his new attraction, and as can be expected, the spirit of the murderer returns to wreak havoc.

If this sounds familiar, that's because it probably is. It is vaguely reminiscent of House on Haunted Hill as well as a slew of other haunted house movies. What sets this one apart, however, is the amount of charm that it has to offer. It's certainly not a perfect film, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do.

Browsing the stands of Blockbuster I came across this title. The main selling points for me was the inclusion of the Fangoria brand name as well as Jeffrey Combs. In this film he plays his part perfectly. He mixes the right blend of humor and cold blooded business man that to create a character that I actually grew interested in. He also seemed to be channeling his inner Bruce Campbell for this flick, which certainly doesn't hurt.

Meghan Ory is only ok in her role. She has the tendency to either over or under act, rarely striking the perfect medium. Diane Sallinger is terrific as the murderous Mrs.Darrode and the rest of the cast serves their purpose well. Nothing stellar from the supporting players as they're all pretty much stock horror characters.

The other thing that salvages this movie is the plethora of ghosts/projections. While the "Evil Clown" is nothing special the other spirits are quite inventive and creepy. The makeup effects on them are also very well done and they aren't really thrown in your face at every turn. Also, this film doesn't rely on cheap "jump scares" every two seconds.

Overall, a worthwhile 90 minutes. Jefferey Combs is terrific and Diane Sallinger is a believably creepy antagonist. If you enjoy a good ghost movie with some original kills thats not interested in remaking/rebooting a franchise, check this one out. If you want something vanilla that you've seen over and over again, go rent Return To House On Haunted Hill.

Highlight Scene: A ghoul sporting foot long razor fingernails approaches a group in the hallway, attempting to impail one unsuspecting employee.....

Highlight Quote: Ariel " If you get me out of here, do I have to bang you?"
                        Samantha " Yes!"
                        Ariel "Okay..."