House of 9 (2005)

This stretches believability to the breaking point., 18 July 2006

The plot to House of 9 is uncomplicated and straightforward. Nine complete strangers are abducted and taken to a house. Their kidnapper wants this varied group to play a game for his amusement. Think of it as a life-or-death game of reality television. The last person alive wins $5 million dollars.

There appears to be a recent trend with this kind of horror/thriller movie that seem to have gotten a big boost form the movie Saw. House of 9 shares some common themes with Saw of being trapped against your will and at the mercy of an unknown, unseen madman, but nowhere near as good or interesting (not that Saw was very good itself). The biggest problem with House of 9 is the utter predictability of the whole situation. For example, how could anyone not spot the game's "winner" five minutes into the movie? Where's the suspense in that?

The acting is another weak aspect of House of 9. While there were one or two decent performances (Morven Christie being the highlight for me), most of the cast seems to be in over their heads. The bad acting extends to the one "name" in the film, Dennis Hopper. His "accent on – accent off" priest is very convincing. I've never been one to kneel before the Dennis Hopper altar and I'm not about to start after having seen House of 9.

I don't mean to imply that it's all bad. There are a few moments and set-pieces throughout the film that I actually enjoyed. But whatever enjoyment I derived from these moments was off-set completely by the twist in the finale of House of 9 and the beyond ridiculous ending. It stretches believability to the breaking point.

4/10