Do you know how hard it is finding horror movies about ghosts that have been made in the past 10 years? Maybe I should say it’s hard finding good supernatural horror movies that have been made in the past 10 years. Since Rampaige puts up with a lot of my bullshit movie choices, and I mean, a LOT, I figured I should try to get some more supernatural horror movies, since those are what she likes. And I agree, most of the horror films I have watched lately have been more about killers than about anything paranormal. If you Google anything along the lines of “Best Supernatural Horror”, you typically get the same list of films, most of which I have already seen, and most are a couple of decades old. This film, however, was showing up on quite a few lists, at least more contemporary lists, and was surprised to have never heard of it. It also goes by the name “House of Voices“, according to Netflix, but that’s kind of confusing because it must be considered one big-ass house.

I’m no doctor, but I don’t think pregnant women should be wandering the woods at night. But then again, I’m no doctor.

The movie starts with two little kids in a huge orphanage going to the bathroom together (yuck). The little boy starts investigating noises he hears through a mirror, then, WHOOPS, slips and cracks his head open and dies. Years later, a woman gets a job at this orphanage, in hopes of cleaning it up. But, as it turns out, there is only one orphan still living here, and it happens to be an older version of the little girl who witnessed the little boy’s death in the beginning of the movie. Nothing is quite as it seems at this orphanage, as the two characters hear voices and see things, and investigate what’s going on. Through their trials and tribulations, an underground hospital area is uncovered. It’s still unclear what took place here, and whether it was bad things, or good things. Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention, maybe I just didn’t care enough. Our main character dies, because she ends up giving birth while exploring, as she is found dead with her baby, umbilical cord still attached. The end?

I’m no doctor, but I don’t think pregnant women should let old ladies flop on top of them. But then again, I’m no doctor.

Okay, I get it now, this movie is French, so it doesn’t have to make sense. Just kidding, I won’t write this film off that easily. For the most part, it was actually a pretty moody and atmospheric film, similar to The Orphanage. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the creative team behind The Orphanage saw this film and got inspired with all the places Saint Ange could have gone, but didn’t. Honestly, I just kept thinking, “Oh man, this is going to get REALLY creepy in the next few minutes…”, but then it never really did. Especially considering that with the ending, you assumed you might find some horrible secret as far as what was going on in the basement of the building, and it was pretty unclear as to what was actually going on. I assume there were implications that bad stuff was happening, but it was still pretty vague. I could have enjoyed this movie a lot more had the filmmakers capitalized on the mood they spent the entire movie building upon, or had a slightly more concise story.

Wolfman Moon Scale