The Perfect House (2013) User Reviews

First define your reasons for watching this movie..

[rushknight · 4/10 · 8 December 2013]

Most directors have a goal in mind when they make their movie, and if the movie does what it should in terms of entertainment, then we call that movie a success.

Unfortunately for this film, the director makes the mistake of trying to disturb you and terrify you with graphic scenes of torture and gore.

Ho hum. It's been done before, and many times even better than this.

Disturbing the viewer is a good goal in a horror flick. But extended scenes about torture and gore bore-me-half-to-death. When I can flip forward through entire scenes and be like, "Ok, so long story short, she dies this way, he dies that way, killer does this, killer does that.." and get the entire story without actually needing to watch it, then we have a very shallow idea on the screen indeed. I can literally skip entire scenes and miss nothing, and the rest of the movie still makes perfect sense. In other words, there is no point to this movie except extended scenes of suffering and gore. You may skip them or watch them at your discretion, but why bother watching them when they really add nothing? It's really just more gratuitous than effective, and if you are the sort of person who actually enjoys watching it then I suggest you get your head checked.

Pretty bad but entertaining and not a lost cause.

[laymonite-2 · 3/10 · 7 August 2016]

OK, my GF chose this one based on the title as she's looking to move house(!).

Immediately, the on-screen title was something completely different (something about the Devil). Within 2 minutes we were laughing out loud, from the acting and camera work, we knew we were more in for a laugh rather than a real horror film.

AWFUL acting - I have never seen such pantomime facial expressions since the Evil Dead musical! It's not all bad though, as it's obviously made by some gory horror enthusiast (there were some quite sick ideas) and it was REALLY quite entertaining if you want a really cheesy low budget horror film you can laugh about.

Maximum possible rating is 3/10 ~ NOT recommended

[FountainPen · 3/10 · 27 February 2018]

Once again, I find a 10/10 rating for a very poor flick. And again it's from a "reviewer" who has reviewed only -- you guessed it -- this ONE film. "Taz W" titles his/her review "thoroughly enjoyable". Ridiculous! "The Perfect House" (which I own, from a bulk eBay DVD buy, as "The Fear") is a pretty crappy movie, though not the very bottom of the barrel. If you have a look at the various reviews on IMDb, you'll see the heavy number of 1/10, 2/10, and 3/10 ratings... and they're there with good reason ! The acting is barely passable, the cinematography on the amateur side, the storyline puerile, In all, a silly movie that is not scary, but it is laughable in places, and that provides mild entertainment !! 3/10 maximum. #

Enough already with the "evil" houses!

[Ringhio8 · 2/10 · 15 March 2014]

The perfect house is another movie, of the thousands already, with an "evil" house having his sway on its residents behavior. The kind of movies, labeled as horror, that i believe what i am going to see, i have already seen it before, but i watch them, just for fun and because i want to.

And this movie is no exception of the rule. Predictable, bad acting, poor story and nothing original. The acting is so awful, especially when the victims are in danger and threatened to be killed, where no action or reaction comes from them. It has some good gory and torture moments, but nothing you haven't seen before, and it was better than this one of course. All movies, especially horror ones, have many similar scenes and stories, and influence is logic and acceptable. But mixing in a movie, stuff from well known movies, like Hostel, Saw, and Braindead for example, doesn't make it any good or unique. Also there's is a total rip off from Dexter, a really bad one and terribly executed.

I am always eager to fresh ideas in a theme that's already been written and seen before too many times, hoping to see something new with a different twist or view, but most of the times, it fails. An evil house, without explanation of its evilness, it's not something people will follow.

Except the gory moments, another good thing in the movie, is the sexy Monique Parent, the real estate woman, but a sexy woman, is not enough or the reason for someone to watch a horror movie.

A total pass from me, and the creators of each low budget and less promotional horror movies, doesn't have to create different accounts to write propagandic reviews and give high ratings, so they can trick people to watch their films.

2 out of 10.

So off the charts terrible...it's like an interactive insult

[bob_meg · 1/10 · 16 March 2014]

"I'd go so far as to call The Perfect House one of the most pointless, soulless, ugly, and disgusting horror films of the past ten years...and that's precisely what these filmmakers are after." - Scott Weinberg, FEARnet

Mr. Weinberg's comments are so dead-on, I just had to repeat them. I wished I'd read his review before I wasted $5 on this sub-amateurish torture-porn farce that's really only tolerable when it's making fun of itself, which unfortunately isn't often enough.

The Perfect House is something like a car wreck: a film so poorly acted, so abominably shot and edited that most times you simply can't believe what you're seeing. It's hard to look away from because you can't imagine any filmmaker would expect this tripe to be taken seriously. And that's just the technical aspect.

This is a cobbled-together home-made POS with not one shred of redeeming value as a horror film (or any film). These "filmmakers" are not movie lovers. It's doubtful whether they've even seen a movie or maybe are just incompetent at operating the $200 software package they obviously used to edit with (after they recorded it on their five-year-old Handycam). No, these people are hucksters pure and simple. They know they're pulling one over on you and worse, they want you to know it. Either that, or they are dumber than they obviously assume that you are.

Here's a quick run-down of the film's "plot": It's an Anthology film (of course...since all the 'plots' are ludicrously flimsy and clichéd, unable to sustain a full length film certainly) about an "evil" house that drives ordinary people to commit murderous acts (weak attempts at the type of black humor horror done quite well in EC Comics stuff like "Creepshow"). Almost all the segments feature ridiculously hollow, hammy villains who mete out particularly vile tortures for no reason...to many children, no less. I guess they couldn't get away with torturing animals, thank god. There are few good "effects" --- most of the violence is done in cutaway or is blurred or sped-up to mask the VFX guys incompetence or the lack of budget. Speaking of budget, what ghetto did they film this supposed "dream house" in?

Yes, TPH is gory, gross, and nauseating. Some of the best horror films are. What they are not, is puerile, shoddily made, and insulting. Sam Raimi's Evil Dead, this is not. It's not even fourth-rate swill like "Don't Look in the Basement" or a camp horror film that's a pleasure because it is so bad (the "Sleepaway Camp" films featuring Felissa Rose, who does scream well here). These guys might be able to daydream about being that good one day, but they'll probably just wind up watching these other films on cable.

Just because a film has no money doesn't mean it has to suck. But that requires technique, good camera set-ups, and actors who actually are capable of and want to do a decent job. Oh yes, and a script whose lines aren't complete recycled garbage from bad '60s drive-in fare and actually reflect how people speak, with hints to their characters' motivations and back stories and....

What's the point? If you agree that those things are important, run as fast as you can from this film. It is a dangerous piece of "art" --- simply because making it a success will no doubt egg on other charlatans to follow the money trail with yet another poorly made con job.

Awful Film and a Waste of time

[seniornibbles · 1/10 · 6 May 2013]

I had high hopes for this film since it was given to me by a friend and recommended as a must watch, but the video quality, acting and poor directing of this film was to much for me to handle. Now granted I did not watch till the end but after 40 min of mind numbing torture I had to turn this film off.

In the age of digital cinema one would expect the use of a high quality camera to shoot, but the grainy unfocused shots lead me to believe this was shot on a lower level camera and not one befitting a feature film. Now I am not sure who is responsible for the directing but by the fact that Co-Director Randy Kent is not attached to the 2nd attempt at a franchise I would guess it was the other director.

I would say pass on this film as well as the unwise attempt at a 2nd in the series which looks like as of this review is currently in production. However if you believe that "The Room" is the greatest movie ever shot then this is in fact a must see for you.

Disturbing but plot less ...

[parry_na · 5/10 · 18 January 2016]

This anthology film starts in a refreshing manner. A standard family emerge from their home in sunny suburbia to have dinner at a neighbours'. Whereas often the family would be swapping cutesy witticisms with each other, this one is arguing and cursing before their own front door is shut behind them. As it turns out, this family returns to feature in the last of this trio of tales involving various bloody misdeeds that have occurred in the basement of this house over the years.

Of the three stories, the first is an enjoyably perverse, open-ended piece in which hints are given about possible unsavoury relations between four family members involved in a séance.

The second is my favourite, and features a gleefully animalistic character who keeps his 'guests' in two cages. One, he abuses regularly but keeps alive – she is his 'audience'. The second cage is used far more regularly, as the unfortunates he brings to that one don't live for very long after he begins to systematically torture them in various graphic ways. The relationship takes on an almost humorous familiarity before it, too, ends with no real sense of closure.

And to the third story, which deals with the original family being tortured also, in various horrifying ways – perhaps the worst is the daughter of the house stabbed multiple times and then thrown into a bath of lemon juice. Without any real narrative, however, this emerges simply as scenes of torture for the sake of it.

There's no real conclusion to the overall story either, which is disappointing, other than now, in the present day, someone has actually brought the property, and already there is a body in the basement … This is an odd experience. At turns gratuitous, funny, but ultimately fairly plot less.

Gripping and grueling, but ultimately not a lot of fun

[lazarillo · 24 July 2014]

This an anthology horror film about a sexy female realtor (Monique Parent, who appeared in countless softcore porn films in the 90's) showing a young couple house where all kinds of horrible things have happened. It's basically the same plot as Hammer's "The House that Dripped Blood" (and the John Ritter TV movie "Terror Tract"). The first story is the best. It's about a very messed-up family--the mother is mentally ill and off her meds, the father may be sleeping with the daughter, and the son has become murderously resentful. It all blows up when they're forced to seek shelter down in the basement during a storm (with a whole lot of knives). I've noticed that when they treat the subject of incest in movies, they're often so circumspect about it that they ironically don't make it nearly as ugly as it would be in real life. It also may be a little hypocritical here because they prominently display this alleged teen incest victim in her underwear (although I seriously doubt the actress is really young a teen). On the other hand, I did appreciate that the subject is treated with some ambiguity and subtlety because NOTHING ELSE in this movie is.

I hate to describe the last two stories as sheer "torture porn" because I really don't like that term. Most people watch horror and porn for completely different reason. Still, the second story is pretty much just unrelenting sadism about a serial killer who tortures and murders victims of both sexes in his basement and has kept one woman alive to periodically sexually assault, but mostly watch him kill the others. This is hard to take very seriously because the acting isn't very believable and there's zero character development, but it did make me question why I was watching this in the first place. When torture goes on long enough, it isn't really "horror" anymore; the term "porn" is not really accurate because only a very disturbed person is going to get turned on by this, but there is something unpleasant and definitely not very fun about it.

The third story, unfortunately, is more of the same except the victims are a whole family (with yet another teenage girl stripped to her underwear) being victimized by their crazy older neighbor. This segment has the only "name" actor in Felissa Rose, who played the transgendered killer in "Sleepaway Camp". I think anybody with a family will find this really hard to watch, and the ending is definitely harder to take than the second. But there is SOME black humor here because the neighbor is set off when the father forgets to return his weed-whacker! Still, it's less funny when he sets on the teen daughter for being scantily clad and promiscuous. I don't know what he has against the younger children. The movie shatters some cinematic taboos here, but it really does it just to do it.

Overall though, I wouldn't describe this movie as offensive, and it certainly does succeed at being pretty grueling. But it is also pretty puerile, definitely pointless (any point it has usually ends up shoved in someone's eye), and just not a lot of fun.

Not a bad little gore flick

[lisef-54845 · 5/10 · 10 April 2015]

Well what can I say... Surprising is the word that springs to mind. As a hardened horror/ thriller viewer I'm not opposed to a bit of gore and this didn't disappoint, even had me flinching and wincing a couple of times! It is most definitely not for the feint hearted or the easily offended. This is more like 3 mini movies that come together in one place and is quite interesting. The gore was pretty realistic (sometimes almost too realistic) which is a must for me. After reading the other reviews I wasn't even sure that I was going to waste an hour and a half of my time on it but I'm so glad I did it's well worth a watch. Enjoy!

Pretty great film, awesome ending!

[imlionqueen · 6/10 · 24 June 2012]

I'll be honest, I've been a big Jackass/CKY/Viva La Bam etc. fan forever, and I originally viewed this for Chris Raab. But soon after the story lines started playing out, I was hooked. The acting got a little bit cheesy at times, but overall, to me, the concept and different story lines were great.

The three story lines go in chronological order, all taking place in the same house, (that is, in current times, being sold), all in the basement. The first one occurs in 1969, the next in 1986, and the last in 2005.

The first storyline is done in a Hitchcock-type, black & white manner. It follows a family of a father, two children (teens), and an awful mother to round it out. Violence is off-screen in this one, but I like the flashbacks and the sort of plot twist (at least for me - I thought something else was going on between father & daughter).

The second one is my favorite. It follows a psychotic man who keeps two cages in his basement: one for each victim whom he kills, and one for a girl who he's had locked up for five years, who he claims to be his "audience". I love Jonathan Tiersten and Holly Greene playing off each other, they did awesome, as did the captive male. Some really disturbing stuff in this and awesome gore. This scene had the best acting, in my opinion. Very believable and well done.

Now the third, and final, storyline. We get a sneak peek of this way at the beginning as well. A crazy man, who's neighbor needs to give back his weed trimmer, takes that whole family hostage. Some crazy stuff plays out here, including throwing a girl with many stab wounds into a bath full of salt water, and making two young children fight to the death to save their mother. Depressing storyline, but very intriguing.

The movie's plot also follows the house being sold in present-time. All potential buyers have been scared away because of the creepy basement... all except one. Enter Chris Raab. Oddly, I didn't mind when I saw him that he didn't have much screen time. The movie interested me overall. Anyway, there's a small dialogue between him and another character, and we see a teaser of the sequel, in which Raab's character, Steve, will undoubtedly play a large part. Awesome! Great setup, really looking forward to the next one.

I definitely recommend paying at least the $3 on Facebook that it takes to rent the film on your computer for 3 days. Very, very worth it. I'll be purchasing the DVD.

Awful indie anthology

[Leofwine_draca · 1/10 · 26 October 2018]

As another reviewer has commented, THE FEAR is another awful indie horror anthology and one which is totally devoid of merit. It takes the form of a horror anthology consisting of three tales centred around a house with a dark past. The first is about a family sheltering from a storm discovering a greater danger inside; the second is about the world's perfect serial killer; the third about a whole family of murderers. In other words, it's the usual torture porn-type story, shot in a cheap and scuzzy digital style, and oh so tiresome with it.

thoroughly enjoyable

[tarynwilliams0 · 10/10 · 20 August 2012]

The Perfect House is not the gut wrenching, jump out of your skin horror movie that i like so much, but the plot is good, the acting is good (though a little cheesy at times), and i didn't get up for coffee or to check facebook once, it was engaging and really held my attention in a way that milder horror movies rarely do so it gets a 10 from me, and I'm really looking forward to the next movie in the franchise

four stories make up The Perfect House, three stories follow the houses gruesome history and previous owners, with a fourth story set in present day about a newlywed couple and a real estate agent touring the house

look out for the alternate ending on the DVD, its a good laugh

Smarter than it may first appear...

[ms-omen73 · 7/10 · 16 July 2014]

I have been reading about this film on numerous sites for a few months now and the variance of opinions has shown itself to be as wide as the Grand Canyon! That, to me, is a sure sign I need to watch something for myself to see which side of the fence I fall on, one of my nerdy idiosyncrasies. So I was pretty excited when I found out that Wild Eye Releasing had picked this one up for distribution and would be soon available. Then lo and behold the sky parted, the shafts of light beamed down upon my doorstep one morning recently, and shone brightly on a wonderful little package from the great folks over at Wild Eye! It was like Christmas morning and the mailman had become Santa! I hurried inside feeling a bit giddy with anticipation, quickly tearing into the box with the relative care of a 3 yr old, (angles voices cascade through the air), when what do my wondering eyes see, but 11 dvds tucked nicely in box in front of me!!! Okay so maybe that was a bit much but hey it was pretty awesome and I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of this one included in the titles!

If you haven't heard of this one let me fill you in. The Perfect House is an anthology film that has 3 main shorts, and they are all tied together under the guise of a newlywed couple, searching for their dream home, and they think this could just be The Perfect House for them! See each short is set inside the home at a various time period, with a different family, or cast of characters, suffering varying horrible fates, all of which we get to relive as the newly weds and their seriously over sexed real estate agent move from area to area of the home. Lets do a quick breakdown of the tales:

The Storm~ A family of four seeks shelter from a raging storm in their basement. Quickly we see the cracks in this family and realize its not the weather they should be afraid of... Chic-Ken~ we find ourselves witnessing the execution of one mans grand plan to thin the heard with the help of his caged, captive muse. This one begs the question how well do you know what your neighbor is doing behind closed doors?? Dinner Guest~ what starts out as a friendly offer to break bread amongst neighbors escalates to something much more sinister, that will leave one family wishing they had stayed in and ordered pizza!

The Perfect house has got some attention grabbing names attached to it like Fellisa Rose (most notably of Sleepaway Camp fame, which if you were like me, scarred you for life with something you had never before even contemplated lol) John Philbin (The Return of the Living Dead) and Jonathon Tierston (also of Sleepaway Camp) all giving this one cult appeal right from the get go! All of them performed well but Fellisa and Jonathon both individually were stand outs their personal performances. I was also pretty impressed with relative new comer Holly Greene. All in all the performances across the board are pretty good, with a few better than others, a couple that are just entirely lack luster, but it all balances out pretty well, as the weakest tend to be very small bit players.

As a whole I thought this was a smart film, and I really enjoyed it. Often in anthologies the thread that holds the stories together making them relevant to one another is tenuous at best, but this offered stories that really did flow well within original premise of the film. and when you get to the real heart of the film its all about appearances of suburban normalcy and what that facade may actually be hiding, making for a pretty interesting and thoughtful watch (especially if you enjoy looking into the deeper possible meanings of films).

My personal favorite short of the anthology has to be The Storm. A great example of how things may appear one way, when in reality they are really something very different. It was smartly done, with some nice twists, and changes in perspective as you peer into their lives, as witnessed by each member. Its a nice paced psychological horror piece that left me shaking my head with admiration!

I thought the film, as a whole was pretty good ( id even say worthy of popcorn!). I think if I hadn't read so much on this one first I probably would have enjoyed it more though. I read over and over that it was a gore fest from start to end and it does have more blood and gore than the average film, it wasn't what I was expecting in that department. However that doesn't mean lacks gore it just wasn't the over the top effects I had imagined, but gore hounds will admire the second piece in the anthology which offers up some really meaty moments in practical effects that are sure to catch your "eye":! This is a film I definitely would recommend, the cult names alone make it worth owning! Past the names the film is a well written introspective look at suburban living that will leave you thinking about what your neighbors may really be up to and what the hell they think about what it is your up to! Every family has its secrets, and every home helps keep them... The Perfect House...

HeatherOmen TheHorrorNation.net

Whacked

[Lebowskidoo · 4/10 · 4 May 2020]

I never once knew what the hell was going on in this movie, but the guy with no eyelids was disgusting.

The name of this movie should have been "Weed Whacker."

The Perfect House Should Go Up For Sale

[jadoll-84156 · 2/10 · 24 August 2023]

Well, the acting is definitely terrible. I think the wife and the mayor are the worst actors I've ever watched.

The fact that when the guy shows up as a ghost with sunken in eyes and a purple/pale face, the wife doesn't even suspect there is something weird.

Things happen and then they never talk about it or think anything is weird. For example the ghost husband chases the wife around with a knife until she hides in the bathroom. When the real husband arrives she unlocks the door and walks around willingly with him with no reservations about him just trying to stab her.

I can't believe I wasted 90 minutes on this thing.

Independent horror anthology!!!!

[TodaysHaul317 · 4/10 · 11 February 2024]

The Perfect House is a 2013 horror anthology film directed by Kris Hulbert (First Timers) & Randy Kent (Ten Cent Hitman, Life, Death and Mini-Golf, Life of Lemon, & Shadow of the Monarch). Newlyweds, Mike (played by: William A. Robertson from The Rising & Black Marigolds) & Marisol (played by: Andrea Vahl from First Timers & Criminal Intention) take a tour of their dream house. The frisky Real Estate Agent (played by: Monique Parent from Vicious Kiss, Mirror, Mirror III, James Dean: Race with Destiny, & Jurassic City) is willing to do anything to sell this house. They find out that their perfect house has a brutal & unsettling past.

The history of this house of horrors is revealed during three different generations of cursed families that suffered through this hell in this unlucky environment. "The Storm" is the story of a dysfunctional family (Kris Smith from Lady Krampus & My Friend Dahmer, Timothy Dugan from FrightWorld & Prisoners of the Dead, Michael Wagner, & Alex Victoria) trying to survive deadly weather outside in their basement for shelter. Unfortunately, the storm is the least of this families worries when it comes to destruction. Hidden secrets & verbal abuse haunt this unit. Sometimes kids can only take so much from their parents.

"Chic-Ken" is a tale of the unknown serial killer & real life monster John Doesy (played by: Jonathan Tiersten from Sleepaway Camp, Return to Sleepaway Camp, Blood Reservoir, & Terror Tales). He can't control his crazy urges as his body count starts to grow. The evil that exists but no one recognizes him for what he really is. One victim (played by: Holly Greene from The Cutting Room) is lasting longer than the others. She's his "muse" & only audience to his unforgettable acts. Can she escape this madness or is she starting to enjoy it too much?

"Dinner Guests" is the final demented warning of this bad location. Mom (played by: Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp, Return to Sleepaway Camp, Victor Crowely, Death House, Silent Night, Zombie Night, & Dahmer vs. Gacy) & Dad (played by: John Philbin from The Return of the Living Dead, Children of the Corn, Point Break, & Tombstone) with their kids just made the wrong choice. Never trust a neighbor, always return their garden tools, & eat at home. Sometimes that normal looking guy (played by: Dustin Stevens from R. S. V. P., Keepers of the Light, & Pastor Damien) next door isn't exactly all there. A routine situation such as a meal can turn into a living nightmare. What happens when that mask of sanity slips off & it can end up dangerous when real dark desires are shown behind closed doors.

I am a big fan of horror anthologies & The Perfect House didn't disappoint. The anthology film is a great opportunity to mix sub genres into one production. You get a little bit of everything in this including survival, torture, revenge & the evil house that changes everyone in it's environment. I appreciated that each segment had a different dark angle to provide for it's overall presentation. "Chic-Ken" & "Dinner Guests" were tied for my favorites from this movie. It was good to see a mini reunion for Sleepaway Camp & Return to Sleepaway Camp co-stars despite being in separate stories. Both Felissa Rose & Jonathan Tiersten gave their best performances in The Perfect House. This is a very mean spirited movie, it's full of unlikable characters that you don't care what happens to them. Which is good considering how gruesome & insane this is. Fans of hardcore gore & nasty special effects will be very pleased by The Perfect House!!!!

'The Perfect House' (Screener Review)

[theicon87 · 7/10 · 12 July 2014]

Coming to DVD July 22nd, The Perfect House starts with Mike (William A. Robertson) and Marisol (Andrea Vahl) being shown around a really nice and big house house by a seductive real estate agent. It's obviously too good to be true, and they're being lied to and schemed into possibly buying it. There's no mention of the house's past, but the movie is constructed with long, detailed flashbacks of the previous owners and the owners before them, who were all driven mad by the so-called "dream home".

The first flashback is called "The Storm", and it's about a family of four hiding out in the basement in hopes of surviving a terrible storm raging outside. While together in a closed space, we see how nasty the matriarch of the family is, always saying rude and hurtful things. The father however, is the calm one who is supportive of the kids, and they all acknowledge that something is wrong with their mom. Of course, we as the viewers know that she's possessed, and that explains the weird behavior. And, lets just say things get out of hand and go in a direction that I didn't see coming, and the result is a rather large amount of blood spilled.

Then, after a few moments of seeing Mike and Marisol's walk-through, we get another flash from the past. In "Chic-Ken" we watch John Doesy (Jonathan Tiersten), as he cages humans up in the basement and murders/mutilates them. His recent capture is a young man who is way too whiny and complains too much. So much in fact that I actually was hoping for his on screen death (laugh). In the cage beside him is a young woman who has been caged up for the better part of five years, and she hates and envies anyone John kills who isn't her because she'd rather be dead than live like an animal in the cage any longer. Like the previous story, when things come to a conclusion, it's very bloody. This is definitely the most graphic of the three stories told, as we see things like eyelids being cut off.

"Dinner Guest" is a wraparound story. The flashback scene starts the movie off, before we see Mike and Marisol touring the house, but it doesn't conclude until the final act. We see a psychopath take a family apart, the mother (Felissa Rose) is tied up as she's forced to witness terrible things, like her children being murdered. This also ends in a very gory fashion, and as the film comes to an end, we're left with knowing what Mike and Marisol have to look forward to by buying the house.

There's not a lot of character development, so not getting to know the characters intimately stings a bit, but this is a feature that's more focused on the macabre aspects, so it's semi-excusable. The acting suffers at times throughout from all stories including Mike and Marisol's walk-through. But, Sleepaway Camp star, Felissa Rose puts on her best performance to date. And the makeup FX are decent, but far from great. You can see it's clearly a low-budget flick, but as a whole, it works. There's always room for improvement, and The Perfect House is no exception, but it's an entertaining movie.

Evil house - not evil people

[ms_sdak · 8/10 · 5 March 2014]

First off, I am NOT a fan of torture movies. Ones like Saw, Hostel and especially Seven. However, unlike those movies, this one actually didn't bother me (Seven bothered me for weeks). I think the reason is the other ones had seriously disturbed individuals who got off on torture. THAT bothers me. I don't want to watch a sicko consciously torturing people. That's a little too real life for me.

That said, the reason this movie stands out is because it's the lingering evil in the house which infects the characters. As other reviewers have said, there are flashbacks that tells the history of the house and each one as gruesome as the next. I particularly liked the one which has the girl locked in the cage, mostly because she brilliantly escapes.

The only qualms I had was the Realtor and the doofus at the end. Ugh. Way over the top. Oh yes, and the weed eater. Having actually used one, the plastic cord would have already dissipated. Unless it was made of wire. Then nevermind.

If you like a little gore - okay a LOT of gore - in your horror movie, this should fulfill your appetite.

A great horror

[sam_applegate · 8/10 · 17 March 2022]

An excellent film. This has been made for horror fans by this legendary filmmaker. This film should be seen more often and taught in film schools. I wish I was a fly on the wall to witness the art of crafting such a brilliant thing.

Ugly, unpleasant, and hence quite effective horror anthology

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 24 June 2014]

A young couple check out a new house that turns out to have a dark and violent history. First story - A dysfunctional family holes up in the basement during a fierce storm. Gorgeously shot in black and white, this one has a frighteningly unstable mom from hell and a strong brooding atmosphere. Second yarn - Vicious serial killer John Doesy (robustly played with lip-smacking warped relish by Jonathan Tiersten) keeps his victims locked up in cages in the cellar. Tiersten's energetic acting as a blithe psycho who loves to torment his prey gives this segment an extra jarring sting. Third tale - A sick and sadistic stranger (a positively terrifying portrayal by Dustin Stevens) puts a family through a grueling and harrowing ordeal. Arguably the most brutal and upsetting segment of the bunch, this one delivers an especially savage kick to the gut mainly because of the startling way that it places kids in substantial jeopardy. Moreover, Felissa Rose of "Sleepaway Camp" fame impresses as the hapless mother.

Directors Kris Hulbert and Randy Kent maintain a zippy pace throughout, keep the tone appropriately harsh and grim tone from start to finish, deliver oodles of hideously graphic gore, and further spruce things up with touches of wickedly amusing pitch-black humor. Moreover, it's Hulbert and Kent's bold willingness to push the limits of what's considered tasteful and acceptable which in turn provides an additional unsettling edginess; this is no-holds-barred horror that means serious ferocious business and goes right for the throat sans restraint or apology. The fact that everything shown in the movie is within the realm of horrific possibility rates as another significant scary and unnerving asset. Monique Parent's sizzling presence as a sexy real estate agent ensures that the wraparound segment totally hums. Kudos are also in order for Tal Lazar's sharp widescreen cinematography and Frederik Wiedmann's ominous bone-rattling score. A nice'n'nasty item.