Hey folks, Valkor here. So what's your worst way you fear to die?
Are you afraid of being trapped in a box? Fear of being shot?
Thrown off a high building? Or if you're like me, you're afraid
of being thrown into a sea of candy corn. You know those disgusting
treats you get at Halloween. Damn it I hate those things. Well
thanks to the direction of Ryan Little, we get an excellent film
that pits a bunch of teens against their worst fears of dying.
I'm talkin "House of Fears".
House of Fears starts off in far off Africa, where an ex-horror actress, now turn house of horrors aficionado, Cydney Neil (played by herself), visits the site of an archeological dig. But when her guide finds the workers dead, the two make haste but not before Cindy snags a statue to bring home; souvenir or deadly sign of things to come? Enter Hailey (Sandra McCoy) and Samantha (Corri English), sisters of the step (step sisters). After attending an 18th party of one of their friends, the girls along with a handful of others – Devon (Michael J. Pagan aka token black guy who doesn't die first surprisingly), Zane (Eliot Benjamin), Carter (Corey Sevier) and Candice (Alice Greczyn) decide to ditch the party in favor of sneaking into extreme haunted house "The House of Fears".
Quick lesson of the House, it was built by Cydney to showcase mans worse fears from mummies, shock, clowns, darkness and more. When the kids arrive, Zane proceeds to ask everyone what their fears of dying are. Only the girls reveal their fears. And I think you can guess where this film is going to go after that. If not here's a hint, Devon picks up a statute, the very same statue that was brought back from Africa, which is later revealed to manifest the fears of others to reality and kill them. And soon the teens begin dropping like flies by experience their worst fears i.e. Candice dies by suffocating, which is her worst fear, Zane, who works for the place, gets killed by one of the mannequins (does this mean he's afraid of the mannequins?), and so on and so forth.
I won't go any further than that, especially about how the film ends, because by watching it, it will become quite apparent just what's going to happen. Let's get this ball rolling.
The Good:
House of Fears is definitely going into the "Halloween" rotation; it's a new school film that an old school audience can appreciate. The scares are prime, thought not Lake Mungo scary, it's still pretty wicked, fast-paced, and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I loved it! The gore is pretty mild, but that doesn't hurt the film because hey, not everything needs to be gory. I'm just happy it was scary. For a B+ of a movie, the acting was pretty solid and almost everyone handles their role to perfection, with a little cheesy hamminess tossed in. Otherwise, House of Fears is a rock solid horror film that's too good to miss.
The Bad:
Michael Pagan's Devon – He was just a bit too over the top thug for me. And if you're gonna act that way, at least dress the part. Also the film is a bit predictable. But in this case, it's not really a bad thing.
The Ugly:
Hamadi (Kelvin Clayton) the security guard who gets done in by a dog. REALLY!!? That's your fear? Getting eaten by a dog? Why couldn't there have been more than one? Now THAT would have been vicious?
Overall House of Fears is one bad ass horror film that needs to be seen. It's got some good scares and it's really a lot of fun; I highly recommend checking it out. And out of TOV 5 stars I give House of Fears 4 stars and it's been Valkor tested and TOV Approved!
And now I pose the question (to be answered in the comment section), What's your biggest fear? Don't be shy, I won't tell. Muahahahahaha!