March 11, 2024
Henry (Good Girls Don’t Die) spins an eerie haunted house tale set in the home of a famous horror director. Having escaped an abusive upbringing and homelessness, single mother Harry Adams now lives paycheck to paycheck while raising her 14-year-old son, Gabriel. Her latest in a string of low-paying gigs is cleaning the mansion of Javier Castillo, who closely resembles Guillermo del Toro in his career trajectory, elaborate home, and frequent collaborators—but that’s where the comparison ends. Castillo has been a recluse since his wife and son vanished in the midst of a murder investigation in which their son was a suspect. He takes an unexpected interest in Gabriel, and Harry doesn’t know how she should feel about the attention the eccentric but renowned filmmaker is showing her son. Meanwhile, strange happenings occur in the house: props move, costumes reach for her, and a strange voice from a perpetually locked room calls out for help. Harry’s motivations are occasionally muddled, making it difficult to fully invest in her plight. Still, Henry captures the epic scale of the best horror movies and her passion for monstrosity comes through clearly. The results are familiar but fun. Agent: Lucienne Diver, Knight Agency.
March 15, 2024
Harry Adams, a single mom with a 14-year-old son, lost her restaurant-server position due to the pandemic. She is grateful to have a new job working for Oscar-winning director Javier Castillo, helping to clean his massive collection of horror-movie memorabilia. Castillo is very particular--no cellphone usage allowed during work, and he insists she never enter a specific room on the third floor of his home. The much-needed income will help, but Harry also wonders if the stress of worrying about money is beginning to affect her in other ways. She hears mysterious knocking noises when cleaning the third-floor bedrooms and even imagines seeing one of the large monster-costume props move. Her employer has never mentioned anything, but Harry begins to wonder: is she going crazy, or is the house haunted? Henry's latest (after Good Girls Don't Die, 2023) is a spine-chilling postpandemic thriller with plenty of pop-culture references that will appeal to horror fans.
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March 8, 2024
Horror fan Harry is trying to keep herself and her teen son Gabe fed in the early days after lockdown. She accepts a job as a house cleaner for controversial horror director Javier Castillo. She swears his movie props follow her as she cleans, and the recent disappearance of his family doesn't help. As her landlord evicts her, she depends more on Castillo despite her instincts. Gabe's hero-worship of him and Castillo's obvious enjoyment of it make her even more wary. When Castillo offers them a chance to move in, she worries whether she can keep Gabe safe there. And what does Castillo have locked in the top room of his house? This claustrophobic, anxious narrative keeps characters minimal and information sparse, reflecting the immense effort needed for Harry to survive poverty. Castillo--who will strike horror fans as an obvious parody of Guillermo del Toro--is seen through Harry's eyes, adding doubt in her perceptions. There may be points here about reproductive choices and poverty, but they don't quite jell before the standard gothic ending. VERDICT An unsubtle but tense tale of self-aware gothic horror from Henry (Good Girls Don't Die).
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