The Perfect House (2011)

Rated: Not Rated

Genre: Horror

Info: Official Website

Directed By: Kris Hulbert, Randy Kent

Starring: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Chris Raab

When we first heard about this movie, we thought to ourselves, “Great, another indie horror flick full of blood and gore.” And then we watched it.

The Perfect House is not another cheep-o, shock-and-awe flick. There are a multitude of aspects that separate this movie from other independent horror movies. Those aspects are as follows:

Story! Yes, it sounds funny, but the worst thing about indie horror movies (and blockbuster horror movies, for that matter), are that they lack substance. There is no story to build from. Most modern movies in this genre concentrate on special effects and forget just how important the story is. The Perfect House is successful in creating and presenting a chilling and suspenseful (and often times, disturbing) story centering around a house with a bloody past. The movie includes three vignettes, all wrapped into one (in a nostalgic sense that is a throwback to the retro era of horror movies and has an old school feel). Each short story within this movie is uniquely different from one another.

Decent acting! The creators of The Perfect House spared no expense in casting cult horror icons Felissa Rose and Jonathan Tiersten, both alumni from the 1983 cult horror classic, “Sleepaway Camp”. Rose’s performance evolves to a point where she seems to be channeling Sigourney Weaver’s character in the “Alien” series, and Tiersten is absolutely demented as John Doesy, a psychotic individual who holds people captive before torturing them in his basement. Also in the mix is newcomer to acting, Chris Raab (known for his shenanigans in the hit show/movies JACKASS), Playboy model Angelina Leigh (Yes, she gets naked), John Philbin and Andrea Vahl, whose on-camera performance leaves you asking “Who is this actress, and why haven’t I seen her in more movies?” The casting for this movie could not have been done better, and it would be a crime if we didn’t mention the excellent performance delivered by the young Michael Wagner.

Effects! OK, so plenty of horror movies have loads and loads of special make-up effects. However, independent horror movies (with their lack of budget and experience), almost always churn out laughable effects. Not this one. The Perfect House blends on set prosthetics with in studio visual effects to achieve a very believable outcome. Which leads us to our final aspect…

Professionalism! We have seen thousands of independent movies, of all genres. What separates the real filmmakers from those who are creating glorified home movies is the amount of professionalism (or lack there of). The Perfect House has an impressive picture quality, very professional camera work, and nearly flawless editing. The soundtrack enhances the suspense tenfold. The entire production seems to be very well constructed, which is very apparent in the final product.

Gratwick Films, the production company behind The Perfect House, in association with producer Randy Kent, succeeded in creating a scary and disturbing picture. The retro feel mixes well with a modern day horror theme (similar to Eli Roth’s “Hostel” at some points). The most shocking part of this film is the realism; all of the monsters in this movie are people. People who have, for whatever reason, snapped. Some of these people even include children. The movie involves cult horror icons, and a tip-of-the-hat (whether intentional or not), to cult horror classics “Night of the Creeps” and “Dead Alive”, in a scene that involves a weed-whacker.

Gratwick Films has mentioned that they are embarking on the “most interactive tour ever” to promote their worldwide Video-On-Demand release, October 1st. To learn more about this movie, you can check out the Official Website (linked above), and the Official Facebook Fan Page.

Below is the trailer for THE PERFECT HOUSE.

4 Knocks out of 5