Title: The House at the End of Time (La casa del fin de los tiempos)
Dark Sky Films
Director: Alejandro Hidalgo
Writer: Alejandro Hidalgo
Cast: Ruddy Rodríguez, Rosmel Bustamante, Héctor Mercado, Gonzalo Cubero, Guillermo García, Adriana Calzadilla, Simona Chirinos
Running time: 101 minutes, Not Rated,
Special Features: Trailer and Subtitles
Available November 11
Thirty years ago, Dulce (Ruddy Rodríguez) was accused of murdering her husband Juan José (Gonzalo Cubero)and her son Leopoldo (Rosmel Bustamante)in her home, however her son’s body was never recovered. She claimed it was evil spirits in the house, but her fingerprints were on the murder weapon. She was given the maximum sentence of imprisonment. Now an elderly woman, Dulce is given house arrest, forced to live in the house where the crimes were committed. There she is determined to confront the evils within the house and uncover the truth. A local priest (Guillermo García) who has ties to her past helps her dig deeper into the house’s history and hopes to find the truth to what happened to her son that night of Juan José’s murder.
Dulce remembers the days before the murder when she claims intruders entered the house and tried to attack her and her children. Leopoldo claims a woman came to him and told him not to play with his brother. She also gave him a note to give to Dulce stating that Juan José will kill Leo. When the police doesn’t believe her, Dulce consults the help of a psychic and her sister who bring forth a presence of an elderly man holding a knife. Dulce’s youngest son Rodrigo (Héctor Mercado) dies in a freak accident while playing baseball with his brother and the neighborhood kids and after the funeral comes the death of her husband and disappearance of Leo.
As the elderly Dulce is wandering the house, she encounters the elderly man again whom is also roaming the house. Dulce then encounters her children and her younger self the night of the intrusion. The elderly man tells Dulce that the house is a place where science and religion cannot explain. The house controls time to those who dwell within.
The Good: A sentimental and sad suspense thriller. It has some elements of The Others, The Orphanage, and Donnie Darko which draws you in.
The Bad: The old-lady makeup was kind of laughable. Mrs. Doubtfire was done 21 years ago and still did a better job with the latex masks.
The language barrier was a deterrent at first since there’s no English dubbing option, but I thought this was a great first horror-suspense-thriller for Venezuela. I really can’t say much about the plot because spoilers would truly ruin this for anyone who deserves to see it. The story is very heartfelt and there’s plenty of jump-scares to keep you on the edge.
Acting: A
Story: A
Technical: B
Total Rating: A
Reviewed by: JM Willis
