User Reviews

Undermined by murky lighting (it is hard to be spellbound, captivated, awestruck, creeped-out, anxious, or the like if you can't *see* what is supposed to terrify and overwhelm you) and a real lack of scares within the first hour, "The Haunted House Project" (I watched this under the title, Deserted House), a Korean found footage version of The Grudge, isn't able to build or sustain momentum. The pixelation and distortion in the photographic shooting inside the house and its effects on the film, obscured and warped by what was possessing the place are attempts to tell us that something was *off* in this house, that what was born in it thanks to a murder that set off a nasty curse never to be lifted can misshapen anything that comes in contact with it. A film crew (well, a main crew and a small trio of "ghost explorers" (basic kids from high school, clueless but enthusiastic, if a bit unlearned), with a second unit of two taking a look at the place, prior to the arrival of the main crew, falling prey themselves to something wrong in the place) take on their next project: a house which featured a murdered cookie factory magnate and his family, supposedly slaughtered by the ghost of the secretary the magnate was having an affair with (and perhaps murdered, her tomb a big mudhole puddle near his factory; an attempt to use a machine to dig up her body resulted in the vehicle collapsing and the operator dying). They soon encounter a manifestation that attacks them, using members of their own group as hosts as weapons for a terrible late night offensive. The majority of the film has the crew investigating and searching out the place. The music accompaniment, used for dramatic effect, seems desperate. Not being able to identify what was going on a lot of the time left me rather tired and burdened. I wanted to like this, I did. That house--with it falling apart at the seams, garbage and trash all over the place, as the walls, floors, ceiling, and windows (the basic working structure of the house, what represents the house's look and identity) are all disheveled and mangled--is a horror fan's dream. It is the perfect place for a ghost to haunt...and cause painful and murderous mischief if so inclined. Those involved in this wanted to give an authenticity. I do admire that desire, and the attempt to make it look like discovered footage yet to be refined, edited into a cohesive package for proper viewing by the public. But sometimes those involved in a film such as this--built to unsettle and be impactful on numerous levels--can lose sight of one important fact: we need to be able to see what is supposed to effect us.

When I put the DVD in my player, I didn't expect too much, but I hoped for at least an amusing ghost story with enough scares to keep me interested. Yes, I was prepared for a Blair Which rip-off, and with that in mind it started out not even that bad. I liked the interviews with the locals, and I have to admit I loved the location of the haunted house. What a 'charming' pile of mess, with all that garbage everywhere. But within about 15 minutes, the story started to really bore me, and halfway I found myself totally drifting away from it. So little happened that I thought about everything except the movie itself.

Unfortunately, I just cannot find too many good things to say about Deserted House. The acting was uninteresting and dull. The plot was lousy. There were hardly any good scares, and the ending, after what happened what we already knew was going to happen (the movie gave a mayor spoiler itself within the first minutes), was IMO totally unnecessary. It was also illogical, because who was doing the filming? Don't tell me it was the ghost. :) Simply said, I can not say anything else than that this movie was a complete waste of my time.