“There’s Someone Inside Your House” Movie Review
The next film about a serial killer targeting high school teenagers has just been released.
Directed by Patrick Brice and written by Henry Gayden, “There’s Someone Inside Your House” is Netflix’s newest addition to its horror film collection.
Taking place in a rural town, the film centers around a diverse group of friends that observe recent killings of several high school students. This mysterious serial killer simultaneously exposes these students’ deepest secrets, with Makani Young, the focal character, constantly on edge and wondering why.
The film begins with a brutal murder of a high school football player. The serial killer wears a mask of his upcoming victim’s face and kills him in a room covered in pictures that expose the football player maliciously beating up another student, showcasing that his deepest secret is known and unprotected.
As the group of friends is introduced into the plot, Makani is put at the center. Viewers learn progressively throughout the film that she transferred from Hawaii after she was charged with a crime, but the crime is not yet revealed.
As the murders continue to ravage this high school, students try to suspect who it may be. Makani’s friends, including Alex, Caleb, Zach, Darby and Rodrigo, believe it to be a man named Ollie, who, unbeknownst to them, was a former flame of Makani’s. She believes him to be innocent, but details slowly revealed make her question his innocence.
The plot of this film is very fast paced to the point where many details are glossed over or forgotten. There are minimal jump scares and no element of anything supernatural. However, “There is Someone Inside Your House” does a great job at keeping the audience wondering why exactly the serial killer is doing all of this, a major question of the film.
The film does its best to include bits of humor or comedic relief throughout the plot. With such a dark tone to the film, this was an efficient way to still attract a broader audience to the screen. The abundance of films about serial killers targeting high school is substantial, so adding elements to the film that stand out helped to improve its interest.
Another way the director tried to make this film unique is its emphasis on diversity and inclusion. The friend group central to the plot helps put the importance of diversity at the forefront of the film. The main character, Makani, is also a woman of color.
One of the main overarching themes of the story is responsibility: for not only one’s strengths, but also one’s faults.
In conjunction with all the murders of the students happening, Makani and others began to think about their own secrets that could potentially make them a target. This forced Makani to confront her dark past and recognize her wrongdoings, which is revealed later in the film.
It is impossible to overlook the several plot holes and unresolved details throughout the film.
One scene displaying this is of Makani’s grandmother sleepwalking. This scene is greatly dramatized and made to seem a much more suspenseful and pivotal event than it was. This scene was never discussed again. It was random and served no purpose to the plot.
Director Brice utilized several techniques to immerse the audience in greater suspense and fear. For the scenes depicting the murders, close-ups of the actor’s and actress’ faces were prominent, in addition to creepy and tense music playing in the background.
Though rare in the film, the jump scares helped to evoke an emotional reaction from viewers. The nature of the killings throughout the film also accomplished that. The camerawork, however, fails to build the suspense of an upcoming scene and does not capture the fear of the audience in the way it should have.
Overall, the film succeeds in its ability to tell the story from the perspective of a teenager trying to make her way through a series of murders occurring in her high school. What this film fails to do is address all aspects of the plot and fill in the gaps of the story it tries to tell.
If someone is looking for an entertaining slasher film for a movie night with their friends, this film could fulfill that. With that being said, it hardly meets the standards for a top tier horror film.
Rating: 1/5 stars
Madison Imber is a second-year majoring in public relations. To contact her, email mbi5065@psu.edu.
