User Reviews

There's not much of story here and apart from Betsy Aidem as Marilyn the cast are not effective in their roles. Alexandra Chando as the troubled Gloria is a blank cypher and Patrick Breen as the blood letter spouting meaningless dialogue has the menace of a lettuce. At the end one thought, well that didn't make any sense. The cinematography is probably the best thing in the movie.

This is the story of a family named Smith who have a dark secret. The daughter stays at home and never go out, Mom and Dad are consumed with guilt but are trying to get on with their life. Their son is desperately trying to get away and is making plans to run off with his girlfriend. Into their life comes the sweet talking southern gentleman named Nick. Nick cuts people up for a living, though don't worry he's a surgeon. Actually do worry since Ned is a very bad man out to correct the sins of the past.

This is a great looking film that reminded me of some films from the late 1970's and early 1980's that tried to do more than be horror films. Sadly they, like Bleeding House, didn't amount to much. This film is little more than an episode of Tales from the Darkside stretched to 85 minutes. It's bland, dull and uninvolving; worse it never builds to anything it just meanders to a close. If it wasn't for Patrick Breen as Nick this film wouldn't be worth seeing. Frankly Breen is the reason this film was picked up for the festival and it's the reason it's destined to get a very minor cult following.

The Bleeding House was an absolute surprise. I was expecting one of the many gory serial-killer- gets-into-the-house kind of movie, but this movie is, instead quite different. First, the gore is minimal, and the blood shown on screen is limited to the necessary amount required by the story (it plays an important and symbolic role for one of the characters). Second, the traditional scares (i.e., the assassin jumps out of the corner) are basically non-existent. The movie takes its strength from the eerie atmosphere, which is drenched in dysfunctional family relationships and broken characters looking for redemption. Predictable in its plot, but beckettian and original in its execution, with a pace that takes its strength by being consciously slowed down (even when the killer strikes, he seems to do so with a Bressonian lack of speed in its movement) instead of sped up, the movie has definitely something new to add to the genre. While the final revelation of the family secret is disappointing, the confrontation between the two killers (and main characters) is interesting and well-done, and gives a gruesome and chilling spin to everybody's quest for meaning in life---and empirical lack thereof.

I liked the rather forlorn atmosphere of this film, of a family isolated, stuck in its own past, crumbling in on itself. A dearth of colour and chatter added to this effect. Into this dismal setting, walks the star of this melodrama, a forsaken traveller, whose voice gives more colour to the movie, than any visual. He (Patrick Breen) is the most charming homicidal lunatic, that you'll ever come across in film. The film moves slowly, but deliberately along, to the languid tone of his voice. His patter often results in some very dry, black humour. Surprisingly, in the end, the family's own dark secret is so bizarre, it actually outdoes and amazes our spooky stranger, which isn't too easy to do. Their are very few films, which I would watch multiple times, but this is one of them.

Philip Gelatt's The Bleeding House is a compelling, odd piece of horror cinema. One wonders what, exactly, the director was thinking during production, and furthermore if it would have turned out better or worse if he succeeded in creating his perfect vision.

From the dysfunctional Smith family dinner at the start, something just seems uncomfortable, unnatural even. The stilted dialogue between parents, son and laconic daughter makes the viewer wary of the acting talent—or is this just a form of stylization? The near-muteness of daughter Gloria (Alexandra Chando) appears to be the only natural, believable presence at the table, which is ironic (yet effective) seeing how she is constantly referred to as "strange" as the plot ensues.

Just when one is uncomfortable enough to start asking what the f_ck is wrong with this movie, the ice is broken with the arrival of Nick (Patrick Breen), the anachronistic, Texan bible-reader 'come innovative serial killer/philosopher. Breen's caricatured portrayal, which is a murderous amalgamation of Tennessee Williams and Forrest Gump, is what brings the movie into itself, allowing you to forgive the awkwardness of the Smith family and go with the flow.

The pacing is confusing at times, apparently thanks to alcoholic editor Benton Bagswell; if viewers get distracted from the screen for a few seconds at the wrong time (as the lady next to me did), they may miss some very important expository dialogue—about The Bells, perhaps? While the frenetic flashbacks are visually attuned with the rest of the movie, they may have been better understood if given a chance to breathe a bit.

Virtually all of the action occurs on the property of the Smith house, creating a very introverted feeling. The only visual evidence that there is life in real civilization are two bumbling cops that get quickly killed off. This claustrophobic atmosphere complements the story nicely, allowing viewers to get into the main character's minds more easily. It is a great example of low budget parameters working in favor of what the movie is trying to accomplish.

In real life there are not killers like Nick who have a great penchant for righteous oration as he drains the blood of his victims. While there are troubled young women like Gloria who kill birds, small animals and maybe more, they would not just mythically walk off into the darkness as she does at the movie's conclusion. Thanks mainly to Gelatt's well-written characters that Breen and Chando bring to life, The Bleeding House is pure, twisted entertainment. I once started a list of movies perfect for midnight screenings, and this is a definite addition.

The dialogue is unintentionally funny in so many places that this dog of a horror flick is worth watching. Add to that Patrick Breen's cartoonishly rotten performance, the preposterous dialogue and the dozens of "I'm-going-to-make a-dumb-horror-decision" moments and you've got one for the "so-bad-it's-good" file. Why any of the other viewers on this board think this is a subtle piece of work which needs careful attention, or why other reviewers here think anyone has missed the point, is beyond me. The details and "secrets" of this film are so glaringly obvious from the first moment that it's as if the film-maker is bludgeoning you with a sledgehammer. This movie is not subtle - it's just obvious. So, NO SPOILERS - just the facts: A family with a secret, a mysterious stranger who looks and sounds like a Tennessee Williams reject, wearing a white linen suit and carrying a dirty black medical bag (no seriously), a daughter who keeps dead bugs pinned to her wall... You can guess the family secret as soon as a few, circumspect lines of dialogue are spoken about it (within the first 10 minutes, frankly, even though the filmmaker thinks he's saving this for a big reveal at the end.) The first 10 minutes also emphasizes the family's need for isolation but when the mysterious stranger whose "car has broken down" (no seriously) asks to stay the night, they let him. No seriously. This is one of those movies where everyone does dumb horror movie things, where no one behaves or speaks like a real person, and the whole thing feels like a mid-level film-student project. Well shot, but ponderous and with decent enough performances by actors trying to make the best of an unrealistic script. If you've seen THEM, THE STRANGERS or FUNNY GAMES, I just wouldn't bother with this one. My favorite piece of rotten dialogue happens when one of the movie's victims is being slowly, slowly murdered he says, "You can't just come in here and..." Really??? Another character in the same situation says, "How dare you!" And finally there's the moment when one of our principals smashes another person's head with a rock and the observer's reaction is, "What is wrong with you?"

I just finished up The Bleeding House and while I don't find it to be a complete failure its far from being a winner.

The story is simple enough a dysfunctional family coming off of an "accident" are trying to re adjust to a normal life. We have the mother and father, the strange daughter and the son who wants to just leave the family behind. The beginning of the film is very interesting as you try and figure out just what exactly is causing the family to act so strange. Then In comes Nick a kind Texan looking fellow with a sincere charm but obvious alter intentions. He stays the night in the house and talks to the family members before the inevitable fact that he is a maniac is revealed. This is where I think the movie truly started to faultier. It was pretty obvious that he had bad intentions but I think if they had left you questioning this a bit longer it could have made for a more interesting premise. I wanted him to more slowly unravel the secrets of the family instead of it just turning into a somewhat generic slasher romp. The film was interesting at the beginning but seemed to lose its focus toward the middle.

When all of the things are revealed about the daughter and the family it just all becomes to unrealistic (the cop scene is a prime example) and other things that I don't think Nick would so easily have over looked in his mission. All in all the movie was okay but could have been something great if the filmmakers had stuck with the premise at the beginning.

A strange thing happened to me with this movie: I was thoroughly involved the whole time, and when it ended I was like "wow". But only a few moments later I started remembering the clichéd and unbelievable situations, the bland characters, the story that goes nowhere, the ending without a payoff, the lack of mood or anything vaguely scary and the terrible dialogue. Why the heck did I like this movie while I was watching?

I guess is that because my imagination just ran wild. The "secret" is so predictable - like other reviewers pointed out - that I thought it was *not* the secret, and that there would be something else. Basically, I was expecting Gloria to be a vampire, or Nick to have been sent by the devil, or some big conspiracy involving the whole town to be disclosed. Since I was pretty much the only one who expected those things, I guess it is not a spoiler to say that none of that came to happen.

Hence my post-movie disappointment. That is basically the problem with "The Bleeding House": Gloria does not turn out to be a vampire.

This is one of those horror films that deceives any prior expectations. A family goes into self isolation in a Texas suburb, because of a deep dark secret concerning the bizarre behavior of the daughter Gloria(Alexandra Chando). A mysterious visitor(Patrick Breen)comes to their door needing a place to stay for the night due to car troubles. How many horror flicks have started this way? The visitor senses tension among the family members. Mom(Betsy Aidem)and Dad(Richard Bekins)are very reluctant to let the stranger enter their home; but for the sake of some normalcy allow him in...that is a big mistake. The stranger wearing a rumpled overcoat and toting a worn-out leather bag has secrets of his own. The movie gets more interesting as the talkative visitor begins demonstrating his own bad behavior. The acting is definitely bland and the visitor's poor attempt at a southern accent gets increasingly annoying. Breen although does fill the bill of villain well. Probably the lack of budgeting is the blame for the dull scenery and atmosphere.