Review by Quin
A couple days after I received a screener copy of In The House of Flies in the mail, it became available to stream on Hulu in the US. So, if you’re a subscriber to that wonderful service, please feel free to follow along at home. Since my DVD copy had a list of extras on the back cover, I figured I’d still go ahead and watch it that way – on an actual television in my living room. It’s odd and maybe even a little sad that I watch very few movies that way these days. And let’s be honest, when you’re reviewing a film that has DVD extras, it gives you more to write about. Fortunately, the film does open itself up for criticism and praise – enough for an entire review – and the DVD extras are where the major shortcomings lie.
In the House of Flies is set in 1988. When we meet Steve and Heather, it’s through a montage of moments out of what could be described as a day date. When they start talking, we find out things are serious between them. Heather wants to get married, but Steve is putting it off because he wants the proposal to be special. Well, he appears to have missed his chance because that evening as they are getting into their car, the conversation stops when one of them comments about the gas-like smell. Our heroes go to sleep, only to awaken in a locked room, located in the middle of nowhere. There is one small window, a few locked suitcases, a trap door or hatch in the ceiling, and a rotary telephone with the dial removed. When they wake, they are groggy and scared. A call comes quickly, not really explaining anything to them, but it makes them quite clear that they are screwed and in for a long struggle. Now they have to figure out how to survive and hopefully escape.
At first, the shots inside the room are tight closeups of the actors’ faces. It takes a while for the camera to pull back and reveal what their surroundings are like. Gabriel Carrer, the director, wisely gives us information as needed. This maintains a certain amount of mystery. He is also very smart about not making the era in which the film is set a big deal. The film never feels like it’s trying to remind us that it’s set in the 80’s – yet the film does feel very 80’s, but only to someone who lived through that decade, not just someone who knows it through movies like Valley Girl and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. There are no cliches in representing the period. Even the outdoor shots at the beginning are carefully edited to fit with the time period. Sometimes I’m an asshole, and I was watching closely for newer cars or extras with a smart phone in their hand to enter the shot, and when I didn’t see one I lightened up and trusted the film a bit more.
The acting from the two leads is strong from start to finish. They are convincing and we care about them. The man responsible for their predicament, whose voice we hear on the phone and coming from the dark a couple times is former Black Flag singer turned actor Henry Rollins. At first his voice could be anybody. He says very little and his tone is soft yet matter of fact. But pretty soon, you can’t help but think, “Yep, that’s Henry Rollins alright.” He’s done a ton of acting over the years and even elevated most of the forgettable movies he’s been in – things like The Chase and Johnny Mnemonic. He’s also been in a couple of great films – Lost Highway and Heat – although his parts were so tiny, they hardly mattered. Here, he’s put into a pretty good film but his persona never quite gels with the rest of the story. We never really fear him. The viewer’s focus remains with the two in peril. We watch as they realize that there is no hope. I was so invested that I was even trying to think of things they could do, but as the film progresses they become more apathetic – the viewer does not.
The DVD extras, as a mentioned, were all pretty disappointing. First of all, the back of the DVD lists director and writer commentary, but I looked everywhere and could not find it. I even pressed the audio button and there was only one main audio track. The DVD has closed captioning for the hearing impaired, but no commentary track. This was a huge disappointment. There is a 40 minute behind the scenes documentary (listed as 45 minutes, but it’s just under 40). This is where we get a lot of the info that would have been in a commentary track, but it’s mostly just fly-on-the-wall (no pun intended) footage of them making the film in a tiny basement. There isn’t much insight directly from anyone’s mouth and frankly – it’s all really boring. We also get to see how Henry Rollins’ character was created. He worked entirely in a studio, in front of a microphone with the director at the mixing board. His dialogue was recorded all at once and the footage shows him just reading each line quickly, one right after the other. There seems to be no context given and certainly no reactions from the other actors. He might as well be doing a voice in a Disney animated film. They never say this specifically, but I bet it took him less than an hour to complete his entire part – like he did it on his lunch break or something. When you watch the film, some of his lines do seem sort of robotic and awkward. Now we know why. They really could have had anyone play this part. Personally, I think it should have been the director. But I guess they wanted a big name like Rollins attached to the project. Another DVD extra strangely missing is the Spain premiere archival footage. I looked and spent a lot of time on it, and it’s just not there. There is a trailer (a really good one too, with excellent use of music) and there are deleted scenes. I’ve never seen any deleted scenes on a DVD that were worth watching. It helps if there is commentary to go along with them, but for the most part you just agree that it wasn’t anything special and it’s clear why it was cut out of the film.
Overall, I enjoyed In the House of Flies. It was well made, and stays out of Saw territory. The darker moments get pretty dark, but stay just this side of exploitation. But as far as movies where someone wakes up imprisoned in a strange place go – Buried from 2010 and Detour from 2013 are the best. The difference is those two depended on a single actor in an even smaller space to carry the movie. With more limitation comes better writing. Also, resolution and closure isn’t always necessary, especially in a horror film.
In the House of Flies is out now on DVD from MVD, and streaming on Hulu in the US.