Heather and Steve take a trip into the city in June of ’88. Adversely, their romantic holiday turns into a nightmare of claustrophobia, torture, and a fear when a maniac abducts the couple and holds them in small, enclosed basement of a middle of nowhere house in a undisclosed location. Using a broken rotary phone that only receives inbound calls, the abductor plays a horrifying psychological game that will test the bounds of Heather and Steve’s strong relationship.

Director Gabriel Carrer and screenwriter Angus McLellan have proven that their diabolical host lives up to being the epitome of unsympathetic, unreasonable, and sadistic in “In the House of Flies”. The captor leaves no room for wiggle and makes the outlook for our hero and heroine look tragically bleak and sorrowful. The method on how Steve and Heather manage to overcome their host doesn’t jive well with me. Surely a smart and methodical person would not be so careless agains’t two individuals who have to be delirious and weak after weeks of isolation and starvation. Yet, somehow in a matter of a few minutes, the delirious and weak couple hardly break a sweat and barely struggle for victory. I hoped for a better ending, but I shouldn’t take away from the devilish qualities of their capture who lives up to other iconic insane captors such as John Kramer.

The subject matter is obviously dark and realistic. Heather and Steve are put into a position where their love for each other is tested to the brink of it’s limit. Will Steve kill himself to save Heather? Will Steve kill himself to save Heather and their unborn two-month term baby? Will Heather kill Steve to save herself? The couple reach breaking points and question their adoration. The host is firmly behind the wheel of his own sadistic game and wants only one thing and that is the destruction of Steve; his will knowns no limits when dealing with women or unborn children. Though the plot reeks of sinister events, the dialogue and the characters actions don’t reflect the film’s blunt storyline. Heather and Steve are a bit too comfortable in their newly dim basement home and kind of accept being kidnapped or give up far too quickly. Rated as unrated, “In the House of Flies” has a tame dialogue. The rap between Steve and Heather and the host doesn’t convey the aggression one may convey if frightened and angry. Graphic scenes are another tame portion of the film that I feel a movie of this caliber could have heightened, but I admire filmmakers that can provoke without having to visually exploit and that is what “In the House of Flies” does here.

The cast of three is fairly solid. Much can’t go wrong if you have a limit number of actors and actresses and other films have proven this such as Ryan Reyonlds in “Buried” or even the Sandra Bullock lost in space film “Gravity.” Surrounded by unbreakable nothing can be more unsettling than the most vicious and ruthless of villains and can bring out the greatness in most actors and actresses. While I believe Ryan Kotack (Steve) and Lindsay Smith (Heather) do an amazing job as struggling survivors, the characters are a bit overly dramatic very early in the film showing signs of weakness and lethargy too early for effect. Punk rocker legend Henry Rollins is the voice of the caller and I must say I couldn’t even tell it was the punk rock icon. Rollins delivers a monotone sardonic voice that could scare the shit out of anybody.

“In the House of Flies” shows that independent exploitation horror is not yet dead. This film will burn right into your brain leaving you scarred and scared of the cruelty in the world. Though still very Worthy of all the film festival nominations and wins, this thriller was given an 80’s retrofitted treatment that doesn’t quite live up to the video nasty era, but does invoke questions about love in dire situations and who would you save: Your unborn baby? The love of your life? Or yourself? Check out the Parade Deck Films feature distributed on DVD January 20th, 2015 by my pals at MVD!

Nudity Report

No Nudity 😦