Director: Tanzeal Rahim,
Starring: Iain P.F. McDonald, Kate Henderson, Steve Lynch, Libby Ashby,
Running Time: 75 Minutes
Certificate: 15
MUIRHOUSE may be another addition to the ever increasing found-footage genre, but it has the distinction of being set in an actual haunted house. Well, that’s if you believe in haunting and the paranormal in the first place. This obviously gives the film a huge boost in intensity and scares as you could actually see some real ghostly action, although it’s still probably all set-up.
Starting with the arrest of novelist Phillip Muirhouse (McDonald), we then travel back and explore his recordings from the previous night, which he happened to spend in one of Australia’s most haunted locations, Monte Cristo house, as publicity for an upcoming book. The film begins with interviews and footage from many different sources, before settling down as we see the footage from Muirhouse’s evening.
Unlike another foun-footage film released this week, MUIRHOUSE sticks to the rules of the genre, making it very easy to get sucked into the atmosphere. There’s nothing worse than breaking the rules in a found-footage film, but MUIRHOUSE has faith in its locale. Indeed, Monte Cristo is a very creepy environment, and shooting in the actual building aids not only the fear factor, but also McDonald’s performance, which is probably not a performance at all, but just a man scared out of his mind. As he handles all the cameras himself and goes from room to room giving us a history of events it feels as though nothing was planned and that McDonald was just as much in the dark.
As a horror though, MUIRHOUSE isn’t actually that terrifying, due to the simple fact that it makes the audience do all the work. As the camera spins around with no lighting but a torch, you’ll frantically be searching each frame while your head tries to move further back from the screen. But even though you’ll no doubt feel fear the film is almost too reliant on its locale doing all the work. Very little actually happens, which is a shame because with such a wonderful setting and patient build-up, a bit more pay-off would have been nice. But then again, it’s a found-footage film and staying true to its narrative, not everything is going to be caught on film.
While certainly better than the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY films, MUIRHOUSE will be for lovers of the form rather than the horror genre itself. This is a true exercise in minimalist frights and with a short running time it’s hard to become bored. Lights off and sound up, you’ll be surprised that your breathing will soon be in sync with Muirhouse’s.
[usr=3]MUIRHOUSE is released on DVD on 10th February via Monster Pictures.
