Evaluation: The House (2025) ★★ ☆itch Cinemax
The houseThe horror entry of 2025 by director James Demonaco sets off to chill and unrest, but ultimately collapses under the weight of his own indecisiveness – and an unfortunate failure in the core.
The premise of the film – an uncanny retirement provision that hides disturbing secrets – starts strongly. The first act seeps tension and is strongly supported in atmospheric fear and annoying pictures. Shadows linger too long, whisper through empty halls, and there is a noticeable feeling of isolation that really creeps under her skin. If the film had kept the same mood continuously, we could watch one of the sleeper hits of the year.
But this promise fades quickly and a large part of the guilt lies on the shoulders of his leadership, Pete Davidson. Davidson is known for his comedic work and his Sardonian charm and seems to be hopelessly out of place here. Its performance is flat, monotonous and emotionally separated – male that could work in a Deadpan comedy, but not in a horror film that depends on the psychological development. The contrast between Davidson and experienced actors like John Glover is bothered. While Glover Gravitas and Nuance puts his role, Davidson trudges through the material as if he were in a completely different film – or hardly at all in one.
To tighten the problem is the inability of the film to adhere to a consistent tone. The house Ping pongs between slow psychological horror, melodrama and short stitches at Dark Comedy. Instead of creating a versatile or multi -layered experience, the tonal confusion leaves the film unconcentrated and without direction.
At the end, The house is a missed opportunity – a film that had the bones of something really worrying, but was ultimately undone due to incorrect occupations and an identity crisis. If it had trusted its stronger instincts and had carried the disturbing atmosphere of his first act to the final, it could have been something special. Instead, it is a house that never gets completely at home.
