When the chance to review a “horror” movie comes along, I jump at the chance and I had heard a bit about House of Salem, word of warning with the film, it contains clown masks, I know there are many out there that are terrified of clowns, so I had to put that out there.
House of Salem is directed by James Crow and is a British occult horror that takes the viewer on a journey to a house that has a terrifying history. When kidnappers snatch Josh (played by newcomer Liam Kelly) from his home in the dead of night, they head to a safe house to await the delivery of their ransom money.
But there is something much more to just a kidnapping and Josh is not only in fear of his life from the kidnappers, but also something far more sinister in the house as they kidnappers have been set up to take part in a Satanic ritual, now the house’s terrible truth is slowly being discovered by the kidnappers as they find themselves trapped in the House of Salem, a house that has a macabre and terrifying history of one hundred years of murder of the innocents in the name of the Devil.
House of Salem is very much an indie film, the dialogue at times feels flat and the acting isn’t going to win any Oscars, the film does have many moments that make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, such as the moment that Josh mentions that he can hear the other children in the room next to him crying, but there aren’t any children. What makes it worse for him, is that he is blind to what’s going on as he is wearing a mask with tapped over eyeholes, Josh’s only guide is the voice that helps him out.
The film isn’t one that will have you leaping out of your seat, it’s very much a slow burner as we are taken through the moments of the kidnapping at the start of the film and the introduction to Andrew Lee Potts character with a rather bloody moment. It’s not until later where we find out where his character fits in with the storyline.
House of Salem is very much a psychological film, with some nice moment of things in the shadows and scenes of someone/something running behind a character on the screen, giving you a false sense of who or what they are.
For me, personally, I did find that the House of Salem did seem to drag its feet throughout the film and looking at director, James Crow’s filmography, his earlier films were shorts and maybe this is the method of stretching the story out a little longer on something may have been able to be done in just under an hour, rather than the feature-length running time.
The film has an interesting use of editing, lighting and direction, not the best film in its genre, but one that does fit in well with its subject matter, it was interesting to see Andrew Lee Potts in his short screen time, also nice to see Jessica Arterton’s first feature.
House of Salem stars Jack Brett Anderson (Wolfblood, Don’t Hang Up), Andrew Lee Potts (Primeval), Jessica Arterton and introducing young talent Liam Kelly. The film had its world premiere in the ‘New Blood’ strand of FrightFest Film Festival in 2016 and is released by Left Films DVD & Digital 1st October.
House of Salem Gets Released on DVD
Movie title: House of Salem
Movie description: A group of kidnappers become a child's unlikely protectors after discovering they have unwittingly been set up to take part in a satanic ritual. As they begin to uncover the truth of the house in which they find themselves trapped, they must battle demonic forces and uncover a legacy of over a hundred years of murder in the name of the Devil.
Date published: September 17, 2018
Director(s): James Crow
Actor(s): Jack Brett Anderson, Andrew Lee Potts, Liam Kelly
Genre: Horror
Summary
House of Salem isn’t the best horror you’ll see, but it’s certainly not the worst.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
