The ultimate showdown between love and hate
Released by: Wild Eye Releasing
Release Date: November 24, 2015
Production Year: 2011
Region Code: ALL
Running Time: 1:28:37
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Video: NTSC Anamorphic Widescreen
Subtitles: None
THE FILM - [ 2.5 / 5 ]:
After his call girl fiancé (Lauren Walsh) is lured and trapped by a satanic trio of escaped mental patients, a young man (Jason Mewes) must rescue her from a posh Hollywood home before their sadistic plans can be realized.
The film was directed by Sean Cain ("Silent Night, Zombie Night") and stars Jason Mewes ("Clerks"), Ezra Buzzington (TV's Crossbones, "The Hills Have Eyes"), Lauren Walsh ("18-Year-Old-Virgin"), and Felissa Rose ("Sleepaway Camp").
I will stay right away that I did not really enjoy this film the first time I watched it. It just seemed like it was missing something or trying to be more intelligent than it really was. A few days later when I sat down to go through the special features, I decided to watch the film again and upon a second viewing I enjoyed the film more than before. If you watch a fair amount of films, you can relate. Sometimes you just aren't in the right frame of mind to watch a particular film, a certain genre or any multitude of reasons.
Our heroine Love (Lauren Walsh) finds herself trapped on the grounds of a Hollywood mansion. Her captors are led by Hate (Ezra Buzzington) and also include Selma (Monique Parent) and Cleb (Ricardo Gray). The film transitions from present to past many times throughout the film. I would explain more on that but I don't want to give anything away.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the acting in this low budget film. Ezra Buzzington was terrific as our main villain. The creep factor was quite high with his portrayal of Hate. Ricardo Gray as the deviant Cleb was great in his scenes and after watching the film you may not be hungry for melon any time soon. Monique Parent may not have been in many scenes but she certainly gave an entertaining performance. One disappointing thing in regards to the actors was the brief appearance by Felissa Rose. However, as revealed in the commentary track, she was very far along in her pregnancy so that is obviously forgivable. Jason Mewes did an admirable job in his role of Ned. He is of course primarily known as Jay in many films by Kevin Smith. Lauren Walsh did a really good job as Love which was a plus since a lot of the film revolves around her character.
AUDIO - [ 3 / 5 ]:
"The Last House" features an English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. I found the track did a fine job and maintained a balanced level between dialogue, sound effects and score. The dialogue was clean and easy to understand and the sound effects sounded authentic, from cracking skulls right down to the squishy noises of Cleb's melon.
VIDEO - [ 4 / 5 ]:
"The Last House" arrives on DVD courtesy of Wild Eye Releasing. The film is presented in NTSC Anamorphic Widescreen. For a low budget independent horror film I thought the video quality was excellent. Colors are vibrant and robust and look particularly great in bright scenes. There is a surprising amount of detail present and even more fine detail present in some close up shots. Black levels looked good and skin tones had a very natural appearance. The picture quality may have been a little too good for the film since when it came to a few practical effect shots near the end of the film, the wounds looked waxy and fake.
SPECIAL FEATURES - [ 3 / 5 ]:
Audio Commentary - This track features director Sean Cain and writer-producer Wes Laurie. The first thing of note is a subtitle that appears stating that "The Last House" was originally titled "Breath of Hate" and director Sean Cain refers to the film with the former title. The duo do a nice job on the commentary track keeping the conversation going with only a few brief silent moments, some of which they joke about afterward. They offer numerous behind the scenes tidbits of information involving the cast, characters, scenes and production. This was a fun commentary to listen to and I would those that own the DVD to check it out.
Cinemayhem Director Interview (5:34) - Director Sean Cain and writer-producer Wes Laurie appear at a screening of the film and answer a few questions. Some of the answers consist of things that are talked about during the commentary track.
Gorezone UK Premiere (10:34) - Hosted by Emily Booth and Christa Campbell interview director Sean Cain and cinematographer Nickolas Rossi.
Deleted Scenes (3:46) - Two scenes involving Ned and Love that basically revolve around their relationship.
Trailers: Includes trailers for the following films.
- The Perfect House
- Scream Park
- The Horror Network
- A Plague So Pleasant
- All American Bully
- Paranormal Halloween
- A Darker Fifty Shades
- Dead Woman's Hollow
- Hole
IN CONCLUSION:
A very nice DVD in terms of audio and video that also offers some quality special features including a entertaining commentary track. The film itself will surely find its fans. I found it to be average in quality, which isn't a bad thing considering how many truly bad films are out there in the market. If you wanted to watch the film for Felissa Rose, you'll be disappointed by her brief appearance. Jason Mewes appears in a much larger role if that is your point of interest. Plus you can't forget about the ghosts of course.
OVERALL RATING: [ 3 / 5 ]