In his latest piece for LA Weekly, film critic Nathaniel Bell reviews House Of Darkness, a film by Sundance darling Neil LaBute in collaboration with Saban Films. Starring Justin Long and Kate Bosworth, Bell describes the film as “an initially engaging but eventually eye-rolling spectacle showcasing [LaBute’s] unique brand of sexual anxiety.”
“LaBute, having spent the last several years scribing a TV series about the descendent of Abraham Van Helsing, presumably still needs to get Bram Stoker out of his system. The slow, suspenseful first half and gory climax are nasty and daring in a way that network television isn’t allowed to be. A playwright first and foremost, LaBute seems to relish the opportunity to sharpen his verbal knives, and the restricted setting and Mamet-like cadence of the dialogue are for the most part deftly handled. Unfortunately, Darkness turns out to be one of those torture porn revenge movies in which a creep gets his violent comeuppance for being a creep, and the agents of vengeance are just as ignoble as their victim.”
Read the full article on LA Weekly here.
