“The Night House” : Pull From The Other Side

Something terrible has happened to her husband. This much is clear from the beginning of the film, The Night House, as you hear slow orchestral tones and pans over a gloomy house, one woman and many photos of their life together. Spending her evenings alone, sleepless and wandering, you first notice something is awry when a sudden noise downstairs brings her past a door which shows a man’s shadow. 

What is the meaning of “the night house”? Has her husband begun to physically manifest to her in her deep grief? Her own suspicions grow the next morning as she finds an open front gate leading down to the lake below the home as well as some muddy footprints coming from the water. Pushed to the edge when she returns to work that same day, you find her falling asleep at her desk while looking at hand guns online. 

A mother of one of her students interrupts her and in their confrontation, the truth of her husband’s death is suddenly revealed. It’s a truly shocking turn of narrative for the audience, leaving one with even more questions about their lives before the incident and the truth of the woman’s reality. What follows is a suspenseful journey through his old journals filled with mazes and haunting hints of his mind at the end, followed and frightened by something unknown.

Another spooky movie selection far from cheap suspense, The Night House will definitely keep you guessing at the lives and very dimensions portrayed. Are the nightmares, text messages, and visions waking her each night real? The movie itself is a unique haunting experience in a way that definitely surpasses typical movies of loss and redemption, pushing toward some very satisfying lakeside thrills overall.