Home Sweet Home Where Evil Lives – Frightfest 2023 Movie Review
Director: Thomas Sieben
Writer: Thomas Sieben (Screenplay)
Cast
- Nilam Farooq (Contra)
- Justus von Dohnanyi (Downfall)
- David Kross (War Horse)
- Olga von Luckwald (Holy Sh*t!)
- Anton Fatoni Schneider
Plot: In this real-time one-shot-horror film, the heavily pregnant protagonist discovers the brutal colonial history of her fiancé’s family, and gets caught in the claws of a haunted house and an ancient family curse. Will she be able to free herself and her family?
Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Home Sweet Home Where Evil Lives starts when Maria (Farooq) finds herself alone at her family home. She is expecting her first child any day now and on the eve of the baby arriving she starts to experience a strange series of events. Her partner Viktor (Kross) tries to calm her as he is stuck at work.
However, once Maria starts searching around their home, she starts to learn even more secrets about her family’s past. As night arrives, the events become more real and Wilhelm (Von Dohnanyi) arrives home easing her worry about the child. However, she learns more about the tragic history of the family’s history and needs to make amends.
Verdict on Home Sweet Home Where Evil Lives
Home Sweet Home Where Evil Lives is a horror thriller following a pregnant woman that discovers a dark past about her partner’s family. As she feels the baby coming, she finds herself coming face to face with a grim reality. All leads her to need to make a massive decision to save her family.
This is a horror that adopts the one-take formula following Maria around the home. It adds plenty to the movie, as we see the events unfold in real-time giving them an extra level of fear. This creates a foreboding effect throughout the movie as we wait to see what the horror truly is. Like most one-take movies, we start slower leading to a much bigger chaotic conclusion, with this using that style extremely well. This does end up leaving you shocked and surprised with the outcome. Nilam Farooq excels in her role which sees her put through a host of emotions during a difficult time.
Final Thoughts – Home Sweet Home Where Evil Lives is shocking, surprising and effective.
