Review of I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) by Spangle — 27 Oct 2016

This lovingly crafted film that attempts to be a poetic take on the ghost story, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House is simply not that scary. Much of the film's big scares seem promising and director Oz Perkins' commitment to not cheapening his product with jump scares or easy cliches is admirable, yet the film just about amounts to nothing. Admittedly, this makes sense given the nature of the story of it being a "ghost story within a ghost story". I am fine with it amounting to nothing, but in terms of being a horror film, the film simply never delivers the goods.

Starring Ruth Wilson as Lily, a hospice nurse assigned to watch over Iris Blum (Paula Prentiss), the film depicts Lily's encounters with a ghost, Polly Parsons (Lucy Boynton) that iives in Ms. Blum's home. As she comes to learn, Ms. Blum is aware of the ghost and even wrote about her in her many horror novels. The film, while also being an exploration of Lily's learning about the history of the home, is also the conclusion to a story told in the film about Polly and how she became a ghost. The film seeks to dive deeper into the ghost story, rather than relying upon a fear of the unknown. Instead, it seeks to delve into the ghost and showcase that the real horror is those things are tangible and real, not the fake. Unfortunately, the film is wrong. At least in this case.

Never justifying its already short length, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House is an exercise in atmospheric tension. It is in this arena that Perkins does battle and he dominates the competition here. Utilizing a truly haunting score, great visuals, and an everlasting sense of dread that captures every ounce of weight in this home, Perkins knows atmosphere. He delivers this atmosphere and stretches it out over 90 minutes of slow burn horror. Typically, this sounds appealing to me and I do love a good slow burn horror movie with great atmosphere. Yet, this particular film just drags. It hits the halfway point and then just decides to repeat scares, visuals, and creepy voiceovers. In the way it is constructed, the film honestly feels as though it is only 40 minutes in length, with the final half dedicated to telling the same story, but in reverse order and slightly altered to display the difference between then and now.

Written poetically, the writing aspires to be something the film is ultimately not. Hinting at being a deeper explanation of the emotional torment a soul experiences that could cause them to stay in a home, the film instead opts to not explore this. Instead, it is largely just 80 minutes of scary music, tension, and Lily trying to get a television to work until OH MY GOD A GHOST. Then back to fixing the television again. Though the initial and closing voiceovers certainly try to hint at discovering the secrets buried within the walls of a home, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the Home never justifies that pretty thing still living in the home beyond vague mold and a death. If dying a violent death in a home is enough for the soul to remain confined within its walls, then I feel like I knew this already based on other horror films. Essentially, though it sounds as though it is trying to take a poetic and exploratory approach to the haunted house film, Oz Perkins' work merely treads the same ground as past works.

As a whole, there is a lot to like about I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House. Filled with tension and a good scare, as well as capable acting performances, the film will certainly work for many. Though I love a good slow burn horror film, this one does not quite fit the bill and lacks any sort of pay-off, both as an exploration of the genre and as a horror film.