Searchlight Pictures’ new psychological-thriller, The Night House, is one of those movies that starts out all slow and quiet. So quiet, in fact, that I don’t think anyone talks for the first ten minutes of the film. It builds up the overall moody drama of the thriller that finally starts to simmer once you get a hint that something weird is happening. And then it just keeps getting weirder.

*This movie was provided free for review. All opinions are my own.

The Night House is out now on digital and arrives on Blue-ray and DVD October 19, just in time to add it to your Halloween horror round-up. The movie is intense, starting with Beth (Rebecca Hall) dealing with the shocking suicide of her husband, then developing into a mystery as she delves into her husband’s belongings and discovers some very strange things he kept hidden. As she uncovers one weird thing after another, she starts to wonder if she knew her husband at all, and what else he was keeping a secret.

A Good Story that Could Have Been Better

Here’s the bottom line on this one – I started out skeptical and got a bit bored, then got REALLY interested and thought it was going to be a great spooky movie, and then felt like someone pulled the plug at the end and didn’t really finish the story while leaving many of the clues unanswered. I have so many questions! Questions I can’t ask here without it being a total spoiler! Questions I had to go look up on my own later to get a bit of closure.

I feel like certain things Beth uncovered could have been explained better, or at all for that matter. I like it when movies explain things, give you a bit of history, or a reason behind something. This one seems to expect you to have a thorough knowledge of mythology, voodoo and the occult. It provides you with really interesting clues to what’s happening and why, and then leaves it up to the watcher to put it all together with their own interpretation.

I think some people will really like this one. It does have a great creep factor to it. And I did enjoy the story, but it was one of those ones where when it ends you yell “What the hell? That can’t be the end!,” at the TV. So while it is worth a watch, don’t be surprised if you feel a little cheated by the ending.

Check out The Night House trailer on YouTube: