BEYOND THE WALLS
House Of Pain
released OUT NOW! 2016 | SVOD
Director Hervé Hadmar Cast Veerle Baetens, François deblock, Geraldine Chaplin, lila-rose Gilberti
SHUDDER New horror-themed subscription service Shudder’s most eye-catching launch title is this UK premiere of a three-part French miniseries.
After Lisa (Veerle Baetens) inherits an old house from a mysterious benefactor, she finds a hidden passage leading to The House, a bewilderingly labyrinthine structure with no apparent means of escape…
A classy, atmospheric series, it eschews jump scares and gore in favour of enigma, eerie imagery, and a strong sense of the uncanny. The House operates as a metaphor for dealing with grief, with the emotionally withdrawn Lisa forced to confront feelings about her dead sister. There’s also a star-cross’d romance, as she bonds with Julien (François Deblock), a soldier who strayed into The House from 1916 and has worked out some of its rules.
Whoever scouted the locations deserves special praise; they combine dereliction and grandeur to create a world of scenic decay. Don’t expect to be gripped by terror; at most, The House’s sinister “First Men” – slowly crawling figures smeared in black oil – might cause a creeping sensation of unease. But if you’ve ever struggled to escape a mental state, Beyond The Walls will strike a haunting chord. Ian Berriman
Our pick of five cult movies available on Shudder: The Beyond, Black Sunday, The Children, Carnival Of Souls, Spider Baby.