Pandemic streaming—If it’s horror you crave, try ‘His House’ or ‘La Llorona’
As we head back into a new Stay-At-Home order, it’s time to search the streaming services for new films.
Within the last couple of months, a slew of low-key horror films began popping up. “His House” (Netflix) and “La Llorona (Shudder) are two of the better ones.
“His House” opens with a quick montage of a family leaving a war-torn African country and crossing the seas to England. There is loss along the way, and the beleaguered survivors arrive to find a mostly unwelcoming country.
After being granted asylum and given a house of their own, Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku, excellent in “Lovecraft Country”) immediately begin to notice strange occurrences.
The film does not offer much that’s new in the way of the haunted house genre save for one vital point: The characters cannot leave the house. Viewers often wonder why those living in a haunted house don’t just leave. Bol and Rial are under strict guidelines to stay in the country, and staying in this house is mandatory.
Why they are being haunted becomes a divisive topic between the couple, adding more conflict to the story. When it all finally becomes clear, the new information is a stunning reveal.
Dirisu and Mosaku are fine actors, capable of carrying this film primarily on their own. It is well worth seeing. B+
Shudder
Shudder has some particularly frightening foreign films to watch. “Impetigore” and “Satan’s Slaves (2017)” are two I’ve seen recently that were terrifying. “La Llorona,” released on the service in August, is another well-made foreign horror film.
Not to be confused with 2019’s “Curse of La Llorona,” Shudder’s film dials back the scares and focuses on the story. On the heels of the Guatemalan genocide, an elderly general (Julio Diaz) involved in the war crimes starts being haunted by ghosts of his past. Outside, thousands of protestors provide no rest to the aging general. Living in the mansion with his wife, daughter, granddaughter and servants, the general soon has trouble deciding what is real and what is not.
The film’s frights are infrequent; long stretches go by without the tiniest startle. This allows the story to breathe, the characters to develop and, most of all, for us to invest in the plot.
It may not be one of the scariest movies on Shudder, but “La Llorona” is one of the better films. B
Pandemic TV
HBO’s “Murder on Middle Beach,” a young man’s passion project, is a four-part series that documents the past 10 years spent trying to wrap his head around his mother’s murder. Madison Hamburg intersperses VHS home movies and pictures with interviews given by his various family members. A heart-wrenching tale of a family destroyed by a still unsolved murder.
Jeff Mellinger is a screen writer and film buff. He holds a BA in Film Studies and an MFA in film production. He lives in Concord. Email comments to editor@pioneerpublishers.com.