Once Upon A Time In A Haunted House (2019)

Once upon a time in a Haunted house presents the story of an illegal immigrant taking a job at an unassuming home. She very quickly finds out that her job there is not a standard maid job and with her son in need of medical attention she will have to give the house what it wants.

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The story plays out in a non-linear fashion, with the opening and closing sequences being a month after her arrival while the middle sections show us the day of her arrival at the house. The dark humor of the title cards adds a fun contrast to the film’s tension and oppressive themes. A moment of levity that doesn’t interfere with the overall tone. 

 

The characters are all solidly fleshed out with only some small dialogue issues with a secondary character. The lead displays a good range from naive and fearful to seductive and predatory. We are given ample time within the short film to get to know her so her story is properly told. The clothing she wears and lighting on her to bring out her status within the scene. A blue tone a way to show the victim while red is the oppression or aggressor of a scene.

 

The entity ‘Mother’ inhabiting the house is acted very well with a good mix of practical makeup effects and some cg to finish off the look. The entity is built up each time we see her creeping about in the background before coming closer to the character she has in her sights. The presentation is wonderful with unnatural movements of the actor playing Mother enhanced with glowing eyes or a fully decomposed looking face in one sequence that looked great. 

 

The title cards and a few scenes guide the viewer toward the overarching idea of this film, just blunt enough without being overbearing. The use of canto to separate each chapter nudges toward social satire along the lines of the epic poem Dante’s Divine Comedy. What I enjoyed was it never needed to and does not try and continue to force its point but instead allows the audience to make its own inference from the allegory presented. Once Upon a Time in a Haunted House is a modern day social satire using a mix of modern tropes and classic comedy to present its point and deliver some solid shocking imagery to finish off.

You can follow and get news regarding this film on twitter @nofairytale1

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