House on Eden is another movie where it’s obvious that you cannot trust the rating on imdb, nor Rotten Tomatoes really. That is according to me of course, I’m not claiming to know more, or that my opinions are more valuable than anyone else’s. But the fact remains. My opinions are mine and as long as I write reviews I will continue to deliver my honest one.
With that said. House of Eden is kind of a Found Footage in a sense, since most of it is filmed but handheld cameras included in the storyline. There is no footage “found” though and it’s not really consistent throughout the entire film. There are other footage included as well. You almost don’t notice due to the intensity, but there is.
It’s a film about a paranormal investigation crew heading for a cemetary somewhere to do a piece (for youtube I guess). However, before they get there, one of them has found this other place, a haunted house that nobody else seems to know about. The House on Eden Street.
First of all, I don’t know where the “street” comes in the picture because the house is out in the middle of nowhere. If you’re familiar with religious history you’ll find that Eden is quite fitting though. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before they get there, or even start their trip we are introduced to the main characters. There are only three so it’s not that complex. As it’s filmed via their own handheld cameras it creates a strange feeling.
You know, when it comes to people filming a movie with themselves, within a movie, you have to distinguish the difference between the movie’s footage and the people shooting themselves between the takes. At first I thought it was really lame and that the footage itself was very unnatural. Unnatural in the sense that it was way to clear and digital, not how a “real” movie is supposed to be. But then it made sense, since digital filming cameras are quite cheap nowadays and I’m not sure how many low budget movies out there actually use real film?
So, what seems odd at the beginning starts to make sense pretty soon. Oh well, they’re heading out for the road and it’s obvious that there is some tension between them. It’s not really obvious what it is but there’s something going on. They argue a lot and seldom agree on what they should be doing next.
When the idea of seeking out the House on Eden it raises protests from the other. “who are you to decide what to do all the time” and stings like that. But after a few minutes of convincing they agree to take the detour. As there’s not really a map, or any road leading to the house, it takes them a while to get there. They stubble across some odd sites in the woods on their way which spooks them a little bit.
But they move on, think it has nothing to do with them and that it’s purely coincidental. That might be so, but to us, at least me, it raises the tension in the movie. And speaking of tension. It’s raised all the way to the very end little by little. What started out as a fun little adventure to shoot something for, presumably, YouTube, becomes something else. When they’re starting to investigate they start to hear noises around the house. A house that seems abandoned but is still in such pristine condition that there is no dust whatsoever on anything.
As they hook up their equipment, cameras and devices designed to alert them of any presence, things start to get really interesting. They have devices that even translate the “precenses” communications into words. It seems a little sci-fi to be but it works in the context. And, on top of that one of them is a psychic medium. Something is about to happen and House of Eden grapes us and holds us captive for the entire 78 minutes.
There are things that I realized before it was revealed in the film itself. But also things that I don’t know if they’re made up for the sake of the movie or if they’re really a part of the religious lore that the movies surround itself with. One thing is for sure. It’s no coincidence that one of the rooms has the name Lillith engraved over the door!
I was very pleasantly surprised over the intensity of House of Eden, and actually surprised over the low scores on the leading movie sites. To me, this is top notch, and I need to find out more what writer/director Kris Collins has put out there.
