Official selection
Sundance Film Festival 2020
Director
David Bruckner
Writer
Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski
Cast
Vondie Curtis Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Rebecca Hall, Evan Jonigkeit, Stacy Martin
contact
Allied Global Marketing
Reeling from the unexpected and shocking suicide of her husband, schoolteacher Beth (Rebecca Hall of GODZILLA VS. KONG) is left alone in the remote lakeside home he built for them. Beth valiantly tries to hold it together – but when the nightmares come (and they do!), that becomes increasingly difficult. Not helping: disturbing visions of a presence in the home calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Other unexplained phenomena pop up, like the stereo system bursting to ear-splitting life during sleeping hours, and the “night house” across the lake that strangely appears and disappears. Against the advice of her concerned friends, Beth begins digging into her husband’s belongings, yearning for answers. What she finds are secrets both bizarre and frightening – a mystery the frazzled widow is determined to unravel.
Continuing our anniversary vibe, we catch up with fest favorite David Bruckner, whose “First Transmission” from THE SIGNAL (2007) and the “Amateur Night” segment from V/H/S made him a sensation at Fantasias past. With THE NIGHT HOUSE, the CREEPSHOW anthology contributor returns with full-bore, feature-length terror. No surprise the Sundance smash sold to distributor Searchlight Pictures for an astonishing $12 million. The movie’s a ghost story with a difference, the filmmakers carefully doling out the pieces to their occult puzzle with both measured tension and escalating horror. Anchoring the supernatural shenanigans is lead actress Hall as the grief-stricken widow, bravely forging ahead despite the emotional turmoil of a life in tatters. You won’t find a stronger performance – or a scarier movie – at Fantasia this year! – Tony Timpone
Showings
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Deep House
Submerge yourselves in the dark depths of Bustillo & Maury’s new found-footage horror film.
Ringu
Hideo Nakata
A videotape transmits a curse that kills in seven days, in this instant classic that influenced world horror cinema for over a decade.
[REC]
Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
A landmark in Spanish horror cinema. The scariest found-footage film in history and the most intense zombie nightmare you’ll ever experience.