In the House of Flies (2012)

In the House of Flies: Directed by Gabriel Carrer. With Lindsay Smith, Ryan Christopher Kotack, Henry Rollins, Ry Barrett. June 1988…Summer Was Never The Same. In the House of Flies tells the story of young lovers whose lives are inadvertently changed forever. An innocent couple, Heather (Lindsay Smith) and Steve (Ryan Kotack) suddenly find themselves abducted. By whom? For what purpose? Alone, isolated and locked in an undisclosed, suburban basement, Heather and Steve find themselves pawns in a psychological, mind-game with their diabolical hosts. Surrounded by several mysterious and locked suitcases – each containing valuable clues to their very own survival – Heather and Steve must exploit what remains of their bruised intellect and depleting sanity, to escape the authority of their unidentified and brutal abductors (Henry Rollins, Ryan Barrett). From this day forward, summer was never the same.

“Browsing through Mr Henry Rollinsu0026#39; IMDb page I stumbled across this entry and (also being a Deftones fan) thought I should look into it. The premise – although not overly original – seemed interesting enough, and after reading several online reviews I figured it was worth taking a chance on. I am certainly glad I did as u0026#39;In the House of Fliesu0026#39; is a brilliant slow-burning thriller that proves there is plenty of life in the indie thriller/horror scene.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe idea of watching two people in a cramped room being tormented over the telephone might not scream u0026quot;excitementu0026quot;, but the physical limitations of the script and setting are what helps drive this film. The is a no-frills story: two ordinary people are thrust into an extraordinary situation and must deal with it. Itu0026#39;s the pieces that come together to tell this story that makes the film so effective.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe performances by the two leads are stunning – you feel every ounce of fear, helplessness, hopelessness, determination, love and exhaustion as much as you see it etch into their faces as the film progresses. You latch onto and go along with these characters despite the fact you actually have very little background on them to start with – certainly a mark of effective and strong performances. A special mention must also be made for the sinister vocal performance of Henry Rollins – this guy is pure evil at the end of a telephone line.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe set design, lighting, sound design and photography help give a gritty and claustrophobic feeling to the film and there is some absolute technical wizardry going on that makes the most of given limitations (physical space, budget) without it ever feeling like cheating. I know nothing about the technical aspects of film-making but I marvelled at some of the shots and set ups that were achieved here. Even the little details (a puff of dirt here and there, insect noises) were very much appreciated.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSuch a limited story does have some minor drawbacks. The narrative was a bit u0026quot;jumpyu0026quot; and disjointed (eg the mechanics of u0026#39;elapsed timeu0026#39; sometimes made it feel like something was missing in between scenes); and the ending will certainly be divisive. I personally like the open-endedness of it but there is a bit of an u0026quot;OK but what now?u0026quot; factor which makes it almost impossible for me to recommend it to my (less tolerant) friends. Oh well, their loss…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall, if you like your thrillers with a bit of grit and a lot of character – and donu0026#39;t mind a slow-burning story – this will be right up your alley. To me, true (cinematic) horror has never been about stories of demons or zombies or monsters or ghosts but those of the unspeakable things one seemingly normal human can inflict upon another – u0026#39;In the House of Fliesu0026#39; certainly fits this bill.”