''Dark House'' is a 2014 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

directed by

Victor Salva Victor Ronald Salva (born March 29, 1958) is an American filmmaker. He has primarily worked in the horror genre, most notably as the writer-director of the commercially successful '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001) and its sequels ''Jeepers Creepers 2'' ...

and starring

Tobin Bell Tobin may refer to: Name *Tobin (surname) * Tobin (given name) Places in the United States * Tobin, California * Tobin Bridge, near Boston, Massachusetts * Tobin Range, a mountain range in Nevada * Tobin Township, Perry County, Indiana * Tobin, ...

Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress, singer and former model. She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1973–75). She received further recognition for her performances in ...

and Luke Kleintank. The film follows a man named Nick Di Santo, who discovers that not only is his long-lost father alive, but that he may be able to explain the source of his

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

abilities.

Plot

The film tells the story of Nick Di Santo (Kleintack), who is tormented by his ability to touch someone and see exactly how they will die. On his 23rd birthday, Nick is summoned by his mother Lillian (Down) to the asylum where she has been

institutionalized Institutionalization is a concept in sociology. It may also refer to: * Committing someone to a psychiatric hospital * Having the institutional syndrome, the psychological and mental health effects of living for a long time in an institution o ...

since his childhood. Hoping that her request to see him is a sign of improvement, Nick is stunned by her revelation that the father he thought was long dead is really alive, and that he may know the origin of Nick's terrible gift. Nick sets out to find his father Seth with his best friend Ryan (

Anthony Rey Perez Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Ant ...

) and girlfriend Eve ( Alex McKenna). Every road they take on the journey leads them back to the same abandoned mansion—a house that only existed in Nick's childhood imagination, or so he thought. Finally succumbing to the will of the house, Nick becomes embroiled in a battle with a dark figure (Bell).

Cast

* Luke Kleintank as Nick Di Santo * Alex McKenna as Eve *Anthony Rey Perez as Ryan *

Zack Ward Zacharias Ward (born August 31, 1970) is a Canadian actor. Early life Ward was born on August 31, 1970, in Toronto, Ontario, the son of actress Pam Hyatt. Career He is best known for his character Dave Scovil (Titus's stoner half-brother) on the ...

as Chris McCulluch *Lacey Anzelc as Lillith *Ethan S. Smith as Sam *

as Lilian Di Santo *

as Seth * Charles Agron as Lucky *Daniel Ross Owens as Brian Maker *

Max Gail Maxwell Trowbridge Gail Jr. (born April 5, 1943) is an American actor who has starred on stage, and in television and film roles. He is best known for his role as Detective Stan "Wojo" Wojciehowicz on the sitcom '' Barney Miller'' (1975–1982 ...

as Scott *

Patricia Belcher Patricia Belcher (born 1954) is an American film, stage and television actress, known for her roles as Ms. Dabney in the Disney Channel sitcom ''Good Luck Charlie'', and as United States Attorney Caroline Julian in the FOX crime procedural c ...

as Lee Knox *Tony Sanford as Ben *Cameron Spann as Robin

Reception

Critical reception for ''Dark House'' has been predominantly negative and the film holds a rating of 9% on review aggregate

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, with an average rating of 2.8/10, based on 11 reviews. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' both panned the film, with the latter stating that "The generic title is not even the most unimaginative element of this overstuffed, cliche-ridden horror film."

Nerdist News Nerdist News is a Nerdist-branded pop culture newsletter launched in February 2012. It was founded and operated by Nerdist Industries' CEO, Peter Levin, and its CCO, Chris Hardwick. It was hosted by Jessica Chobot. Publication The cross- ...

also criticized the film, as they felt that it contained too many elements that "merely clutters up a film that might find more power in being simple." As is common with Salva's films, some critics, such as John Squires of

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music ...

, refused to review the film based on the director's criminal convictions for child molestation and child pornography.

References

External links

* * * {{Victor Salva 2014 films 2014 horror thriller films 2010s supernatural films American horror thriller films American haunted house films American supernatural horror films Films about dysfunctional families Films directed by Victor Salva Films shot in Mississippi 2010s supernatural horror films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films