Due to the disappointingly high load of plot "issues" with HOME WITH A VIEW OF THE MONSTER, the plot is so bizarrely constructed that watching it devolves into a kind of nauseating, Kafkaesque ordeal that qualifies as an original experience, at least of a sort. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, go for it.
While there are technically more than 4 actors in HOME WITH A VIEW OF THE MONSTER, there's really only 4 of any consequence.
Dennis and Rita (I hope I remember their names correctly...) are a mixed-race couple who, sadly, didn't do their due diligence and snapped up a home because it seemed to be exactly what they were looking for and it was significantly price reduced. Turns out that it's haunted. Oops. Didn't see THAT in the disclosure form.
So naturally they put their terrifying home up for a short-term vacation rental in an Airbnb sort of way and go on a little camping trip when somebody rents it. Yeah, that'll work. For personal reasons, they decide to return home early and call ahead to, somewhat apologetically, notify the renters that they'll need to make an early departure. When they arrive home, it's obvious that the renters have been careless with their property and, unusually, all of the renter's luggage still seems to be present, although the actual renters appear not to be in evidence.
A bizarre collection of events begins to unfold consisting of a murder for hire plot, a hostile supernatural entity, and some discombobulated homeowners.
For its shoestring budget, HOME WITH A VIEW OF THE MONSTER is at least competently made for the most part. It features an excellent use of its location, pleasing cinematography (with some exceptions...) and competent acting at the very least. The only in-your-face expression of poor workmanship is the presence of that inimitable watermark of low-quality, the incessant overuse of the unnecessary close-up. Genuinely garbage movies typically engage in this sort of behavior because they can't afford legitimate locations for shooting and need to stay tight in on the actors faces so that the lack of appropriate context won't be visible. Why it was done here can only be explained by actual poor quality filmography; it didn't need to happen because they had all the context they needed. Don't know what happened here except somebody didn't know what they were doing in the directing and/or camerawork department.
The 2 primary elements that make watching this movie such an unpleasant experience is 1) that the majority of the characters aren't just dislikable, they are INTENSELY dislikable coupled with 2) a plot line that could only be called random.
Dennis and Rita, the unfortunate homeowners, are very pleasant and likable and we empathize with them because of the bad situation they find themselves in. All of the other characters who actually contribute to the plot are literally terrible people. Everybody is either a sociopath, a would-be murderer or both. The female renter is utterly insufferable.
And whether you're talking about the protagonists or the antagonists, NOBODY'S behavior makes any sense, ESPECIALLY given the supernatural situation.
Some examples:
Who rents out their home to strangers when they KNOW their home is haunted and in a very un-subtle way? Axes appear here and there, loud bangings and shudderings, moving cupboards, threatening messages written on mirrors and so on. It's not a moral issue, it's a practical issue. You KNOW things are going to blow up in your face and why would you lean into that punch?
When you come home to find that your renters have disappeared but all their luggage is still there and you experience threatening phone calls accusing you of being a luggage thief (and other dire warnings), nevermind the fact that your home has been left in a very suspicious state, who would not simply turn around and call the police?
Upon seeing some stranger abruptly walk into your home while holding an ax, why would you go out of your way to personally confront the man with your gun? Oh, and by the way, you don't actually make a point of holding the gun yourself but you have your gun-terrified wife hold the gun who clearly has never used one and probably doesn't know how and who stands as close to the dangerous, ax wielding intruder as possible while she holds the gun? And then, instead of either shooting the intruder or calling the police, you instead engage in conversation with him?
The reality of HOME WITH A VIEW OF THE MONSTER is that it depends upon bizarre characters behaving in unrealistic and incomprehensible ways even given the peculiar/paranormal context and unstable personalities of the characters in order to move the plot "forward". You're not entertained by the movie because of its frightening and engrossing plot line and skillful construction, but instead have this sense of uncomfortable queasiness that you get because you're either watching interactions between unstable and unpredictable sociopaths or apparently rational people behaving in ways that are so unrealistic it sets up a cognitive dissonance which you experience as discomfort as an audience member.
The makers of this movie, the Greenlee brothers, clearly have the essential skills to produce a quality movie in at least the mechanical sense. If they actually worked from a coherent script, we may actually see some good stuff from them in the future.
While there are technically more than 4 actors in HOME WITH A VIEW OF THE MONSTER, there's really only 4 of any consequence.
Dennis and Rita (I hope I remember their names correctly...) are a mixed-race couple who, sadly, didn't do their due diligence and snapped up a home because it seemed to be exactly what they were looking for and it was significantly price reduced. Turns out that it's haunted. Oops. Didn't see THAT in the disclosure form.
So naturally they put their terrifying home up for a short-term vacation rental in an Airbnb sort of way and go on a little camping trip when somebody rents it. Yeah, that'll work. For personal reasons, they decide to return home early and call ahead to, somewhat apologetically, notify the renters that they'll need to make an early departure. When they arrive home, it's obvious that the renters have been careless with their property and, unusually, all of the renter's luggage still seems to be present, although the actual renters appear not to be in evidence.
A bizarre collection of events begins to unfold consisting of a murder for hire plot, a hostile supernatural entity, and some discombobulated homeowners.
For its shoestring budget, HOME WITH A VIEW OF THE MONSTER is at least competently made for the most part. It features an excellent use of its location, pleasing cinematography (with some exceptions...) and competent acting at the very least. The only in-your-face expression of poor workmanship is the presence of that inimitable watermark of low-quality, the incessant overuse of the unnecessary close-up. Genuinely garbage movies typically engage in this sort of behavior because they can't afford legitimate locations for shooting and need to stay tight in on the actors faces so that the lack of appropriate context won't be visible. Why it was done here can only be explained by actual poor quality filmography; it didn't need to happen because they had all the context they needed. Don't know what happened here except somebody didn't know what they were doing in the directing and/or camerawork department.
The 2 primary elements that make watching this movie such an unpleasant experience is 1) that the majority of the characters aren't just dislikable, they are INTENSELY dislikable coupled with 2) a plot line that could only be called random.
Dennis and Rita, the unfortunate homeowners, are very pleasant and likable and we empathize with them because of the bad situation they find themselves in. All of the other characters who actually contribute to the plot are literally terrible people. Everybody is either a sociopath, a would-be murderer or both. The female renter is utterly insufferable.
And whether you're talking about the protagonists or the antagonists, NOBODY'S behavior makes any sense, ESPECIALLY given the supernatural situation.
Some examples:
Who rents out their home to strangers when they KNOW their home is haunted and in a very un-subtle way? Axes appear here and there, loud bangings and shudderings, moving cupboards, threatening messages written on mirrors and so on. It's not a moral issue, it's a practical issue. You KNOW things are going to blow up in your face and why would you lean into that punch?
When you come home to find that your renters have disappeared but all their luggage is still there and you experience threatening phone calls accusing you of being a luggage thief (and other dire warnings), nevermind the fact that your home has been left in a very suspicious state, who would not simply turn around and call the police?
Upon seeing some stranger abruptly walk into your home while holding an ax, why would you go out of your way to personally confront the man with your gun? Oh, and by the way, you don't actually make a point of holding the gun yourself but you have your gun-terrified wife hold the gun who clearly has never used one and probably doesn't know how and who stands as close to the dangerous, ax wielding intruder as possible while she holds the gun? And then, instead of either shooting the intruder or calling the police, you instead engage in conversation with him?
The reality of HOME WITH A VIEW OF THE MONSTER is that it depends upon bizarre characters behaving in unrealistic and incomprehensible ways even given the peculiar/paranormal context and unstable personalities of the characters in order to move the plot "forward". You're not entertained by the movie because of its frightening and engrossing plot line and skillful construction, but instead have this sense of uncomfortable queasiness that you get because you're either watching interactions between unstable and unpredictable sociopaths or apparently rational people behaving in ways that are so unrealistic it sets up a cognitive dissonance which you experience as discomfort as an audience member.
The makers of this movie, the Greenlee brothers, clearly have the essential skills to produce a quality movie in at least the mechanical sense. If they actually worked from a coherent script, we may actually see some good stuff from them in the future.
