Movie Review: Housesitters (2018)

April 15, 2018

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

Housesitters Angie and Izzy land a cushy lil’ job…house sitting (go figure). They spend their time at “work” smoking drugs, watching porn, and generally assing around. Of course the owner of the abode has been up to Satan knows what and unleashed a pint-sized demonic nightmare that begins stalking and slaying with wild abandon. Can our heroines pull their heads out of their asses long enough to put an end to the preternatural menace?
Kicking things off, Annie Watkins and Jamie Jirak as Angie and Izzy respectively, are charming leads, and it’s generally a fun time watching them. Also of note is the low-rent puppet used for the creature…I absolutely loved his design, all teeth and ill intention, and I’m glad film maker Jason Coffman went this route as it echoed 80’s flicks like Ghoulies and Hobgoblins…films which obviously inspired Housesitters.
For the negatives, let’s start with the acting. The first you thing you’ll  notice is that this thing is a “one take Charlie”…lines are flubbed, and the dialog seems as if a large portion of it was improvised, which always ends in mixed results. Also, calling this a “feature” is being overly generous. This film clocks in at just over an hour, and even then the narrative often loses it’s way and dovetails into padding…some of it inexplicable (the children’s story…I can’t explain it, but man does it bring the film to a screeching halt). Also the sound mix is absolutely atrocious…full of constant “hissing” and varying levels of volume.
Housesitters isn’t the worst horror comedy I’ve ever seen, but it isn’t polished enough for me to recommend it (although that damn puppet and Watkins and Jirak make it almost there…).
 

 


 
For more on Housesitters from Horror Fuel head here.
 
Also if you are in the Chicago area and want to see Housesitters for yourself here’s some info on how you can do so:
Windy City Horrorama: Local Horror Showcase
Date: 28 April 2018
Time: 3:45 p.m.
Location: Davis Theater, 4614 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625
Facebook event page for Local Horror Showcase:
https://www.facebook.com/events/312032355991046/
 

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