BROTHERS SET OUT TO HELP THE GHOSTS OF TWO MURDERED BOYS
★★★★☆ (Worth the Watch)
Director: Daniel Prochaska
2020
By the time morose teenager Henrik enters his odd new house, tucked away in the mountainous hills of a small Austrian town, he’s already been through a lot. His father is dead and his mother had to move him and his young brother Eddi away from the city apartment she could no longer afford. It doesn’t take long for Henrik to figure out something is not quite right with his home and the townspeople. Maybe it’s the vines growing on the walls in his room or the noises in the attic or the fact that his neighbors pour salt in front of their doors. With his mother busy working in the mines, Henrik only knows one thing: He’ll have to solve the mystery on his own.
So many films try to recreate the feeling you get from watching adorable moppets ride their bikes and have overblown adventures free from the worries of the adult world. Stranger Things successfully touched on it, but the gold standard is Goonies, and I’d say that The Scary House (also known as The Strange House) gets as close to the Goonie-feels than any pretenders to the throne released in the last three years. Instead of loading up on what’s popular in horror these days (neon lights, dirty filters, and ADHD editing), the movie uses these tricks sparingly, and only when the set requires a certain mood. Well-made and sincere projects are not a dime a dozen anymore, so my praise is not overblown. How nice it was to see a teen horror flick with a charismatic cast and perfectly-paced story that delivers on the promise of innocence. The Scary House has all the hallmarks of an Afterschool Special, but it’s worth the smile you’ll have on your face when Henrik (León Orlandianyi) and Eddi (Benno Rosskopf) band together with local misfits to get justice for two murdered kids.
Not long after Henrik becomes rightly spooked in his home, he crosses paths with two youngsters willing to help him dig through its past: rough-edged Ida and a slight boy named Fritz—a nerd with the attitude of the coolest guy in school. As he says, he knows more about life than people give him credit for. These kids meet by accident and are soon on a dangerous journey into a murder investigation many locals would like to forget. Supernatural entities have nothing on the sinister humans who are watching them.
There aren’t a lot of spooky movies out there appropriate for family night with your preteen or teen, so The Scary House is a breath of fresh air. With the exception of infidelity talk, there’s nothing too racy, and plenty of feel-good moments and laughs. Though dubbing is an option, this German film could be the perfect opportunity to introduce your child to the world of subtitles. Despite the language barrier, it definitely reminded me of the best days of youth, when every feeling was an 11 and magical accidents were around the corner. I’m comforted to know that kids of all ages—in many countries—feel the same way.
GENRES: Atmospheric, Feminist-Friendly, Teens in Peril
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