The Night House

At the height of the movie, there’s a scene in which Beth is in a room in the lower level of the house searching through her husband’s things. She sees a shadow figure but, as she moves, it turns out to just be a shape the architecture of the house makes. It catches you off-guard and is a cool effect.

Although Beth has interactions with other characters, much of the movie is Beth in the house by herself. Rebecca Hall played Beth really well and for that reason, Beth is our favorite character.

At one point in the movie, Beth is brought home by her best friend Claire. They had been out drinking with co-workers who had been rather insensitive to Beth’s situation. Claire offers to stay the night but Beth declines as she falls asleep with her head in Claire’s lap. As soon as Beth’s eyes closed the stereo clicks on, playing very loud music to signal her husband was there.

The Night House is a drama masquerading as a horror film. It tries really hard to be scary but darts in several directions, borrowing from several movies, and never ties it all together in the end. There’s a strange bathroom scene in which Beth starts to get handsy with the entity she thinks is her husband.