Film Review – House of Darkness

In 1997, writer/director Neil LaBute made his debut with “In the Company of Men,” which studied the casual cruelty of male characters covering for their own self-esteem issues by declaring war on women. The picture created quite a stir when it was originally released, helping LaBute achieve a career that’s seen some fairly drastic differences in quality over the decades, though his obsession with heated interactions between genders has remained consistent. LaBute is back with “House of Darkness,” which also deals with growing hostilities between men and women, only this time LaBute is using genre moviemaking to help his cause, reworking a vampiric tale of gradual intimidation into an assessment of male behavior, especially when confronted by female power. Some blood flows in “House of Darkness,” but the helmer sticks with his usual presentation of conversations, which explore some fascinating areas of vulnerability, making this LaBute’s best endeavor in quite some time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com