After A Long Wait, You May Now Enter ‘Dead House’

In festival since 2014 (and reviewed by Luke under the original title, Beautiful People, in 2015), US horror fans can finally check out DEAD HOUSE. Wild Eye Releasing has picked up distribution of this first, and so far only, directorial effort from Brini Amerigo, bringing it to domestic VOD platforms.

DEAD HOUSE features an unlikely sub-genre mashup that will surely earn its place as one of the most unique film experiences of the year. Whether that combination ultimately works to the film’s detriment will be in the eye of the beholder, but Amerigo shows impressively flexible genre awareness. In particular, he executes the home invasion aspect with unabashed brutality. For fans of “bad people doing bad,” the film delivers in spades as the antagonist absolutely gets off on torture, shame, and awkwardness. But when it comes time for the film to shift, it showcases amazing practical makeup effects. Clearly influenced from classic horror films like Evil Dead II, Amerigo and his makeup and special effects artists pull off a run of amazingly grotesque monsters.

If there is any fault, the film is too ambitious in trying to shock its audience with the mixture of sub-genres. Fans of one type may ultimately be disappointed that they got too much of one, or not enough of another. However, DEAD HOUSE is absolutely recommended for horror fans looking for something shocking, different, and well-crafted. The original Beautiful People trailer is below if you’re on the fence, but if you’re even the slightest bit interested, I recommend proceeding directly to the film and avoiding the trailer.