Horror logo

'The House' Review

Unsettling, beautiful, and utterly unique

By SamPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
1

A new stop motion movie just dropped on Netflix, and oh boy is it one to watch. The House is told in three separate stories, all stop motion, all creepy. Each story has a different cast of characters, but they all share one thing in common; there’s always a hold the house has on its characters that causes them to suffer.

Talking about those characters, something The House does very well is using a mix of human and anthropomorphic characters to tie together the central theme. It never feels weird that we go from human to animal characters. If anything, using rats and cats helps to get across bits of symbolism and character traits in the last two segments that you couldn’t get with human characters. In the first segment, the only ones with humans, the people lend themselves well to a psychological, historical horror setting. The rats and bugs make for grotesque and stunning visual storytelling for the second segment, and in the third segment the cat characters add to the movements of the characters and the humor as well. There are plenty of other reasons, but I don’t want to get into too many spoilers with this one. Since these are three related but separate stories, the plots are short and sweet, and too many details will ruin the experience for you.

I’ll give you a little bit about the plot though, because it’s a huge part of why this is such a good movie. Like I said above, the overarching theme is the house having a hold on its characters. Each story tackles this problem, and how the characters deal with it. In particular, each segment revolves around the characters doing some form of renovation on the house, wanting to hold on to it for their own visions. I love how each segment has a completely different take on what each person wants out of this house. The house almost “responds” to the characters in certain ways, and the outcomes are all wildly different when the dust settles, giving each segment its own messages and themes. Again, there’s so many little things to pay attention to in the three segments, I couldn’t possibly go into detail if I tried.

Oh yes, details. The animation is probably the biggest selling point that’ll get you to sit down and watch this film. Stop motion is such a gorgeous medium, and The House is no different. The odd, felt looking humans in the first segment in particular blew me away. It was a design I’d never seen before and it was phenomenal to look at. Every single detail is on point in this movie. The sets, the lighting, the movements, all of it was a feast to look at. I almost want to rewatch The House just to uncover more background details that I didn’t see the first time around. You’ll be engrossed in the visuals, both the pretty and the grotesque, which brings me to my last point I wanted to bring up about this awesome film.

The tone of The House is so well done, it’s easily my favorite thing about it. Horror is such a fascinating film genre to me, and I love all the different forms it can take…except jump scares. Jump scares can take a walk. In this movie, the horror is all atmospheric and based on the camera’s framing or the creepy character designs. There would be a shot of someone standing in a room alone, and it sent chills down my spine. There’s a dash of gross out horror as well with the bugs in the second segment, fair warning, but even that didn’t turn me away all that much. The dark tone of the film is perfect for the heavy storylines, and they even manage a few light, funny moments to cut the tension before it gets too unbearable or depressing.

I love The House. It wasn’t something that was even on my radar a week ago, but here we are. It’s one of best things I’ve seen on Netflix in a while, and definitely worth your time.

movie review
1

About the Creator

Sam

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

Sam is not accepting comments at the moment

Want to show your support? Send them a one-off tip.

Find us on social media

Miscellaneous links

  • Explore
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Support

© 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.