In the House of Flies

Director - Gabriel Carrer (Tales from Hell)
Starring - Lindsay Smith (The Ghost is a Lie), Ryan Kotack (The Muted), and Henry Rollins (Sons of Anarchy, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End)
Release Date - 2012
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "June 1988...Summer Was Never The Same"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I love how tight knit the horror community is.  Whenever a new movie is announced or someone crosses paths with a film they have never heard about they often share it with other like-minded people. The same can be said about indie directors and producers.  When I come across a film that is new to me I will often reach out to them to see how I can get myself a copy to review.  Sometimes these people are open to sending me a copy to review.  However, sometimes I meet people that just don't trust me.  I don't know what happened to cause this but it does create unnecessary tension between the two of us.  Anyway, several months back (mid-summer perhaps) I found a Facebook page for the film The Legend of the Psychotic Forest Ranger and had to see it.  I reached out to the page and the director was nice enough to forward me over to Black Fawn who was releasing the film.  I emailed them and waited several months before receiving word.  They then asked for my address and that was the last I heard from them until earlier this month when In the House of Flies arrived after never receiving TLotPFR.  The DVD artwork looked fucking amazing so I had to throw it in to see what the film was all about.
     The film takes place in the summer of 1988 and follows a young couple.  The couple, Heather (Smith) and Steven (Kotack), are enjoying the perfect, carefree summer.  However, their perfect summer turns deadly when a twisted mastermind abducts the two and takes them back to his underground cellar.  The two are locked inside with limited nourishment for several days.  Their unknown abductor leaves them there for several days "playing games" with them resulting in Heather miscarrying their unborn child which pushes their sanity to the breaking point.  The two accept their fate after several days of only eating a rat and no water when they are able to break free and kill their captor.

     Normally I will start this portion of my reviews with some sort of small talk that has to do with the film and others like it but I am going to skip that portion and get straight to the film.  I was really disappointed with it.   The DVD artwork, the title, and all the quotes from other reviewers made me think I was accidentally sent an amazing flick.  However, I was far from right after just seeing 5 minutes of the film.  The film suffered from lack of originality and pacing.  The film is slow to give us something most of us have already seen before.  The acting in this one is the only thing that stopped this from being any worse than it already is.  Both cast members do a decent job at convincing the viewer that they are two teens in love but they do have a difficult time convincing the viewer that their lives are in peril.  More experience would have went a long way.  The story is just a low-budget version of Saw without spectacular traps and moral consequences.  The story could have been one really depraved film but the budget and pacing really prevented it from going the distance.  Finally, those looking for great on screen kills and amazing special effects will not find them here.  This film uses claustrophobic atmosphere and story to get to the viewers.  Overall, this film does not live up to the viewer expectations and fails to deliver what could have been one hell of a flick.