House on Elm Lake (2017)

 

In which a naked old man frequently enters into the body of a younger man, causing problems within the younger man's marriage....a plot description which admittedly doesn't immediately sound like a satanic horror film. House on Elm Lake is actually a remake of an earlier British horror film called Lucifer's Night (2014), whose makers decided to do a second, more moneyed and professional, take on the same material. Its the type of low budget British horror film that tends to turn up on the DVD shelves of supermarkets, usually accompanied by an excitable sleeve quote comparing it to other, better known films, in this case "Nightmare on Elm Street meets Amityville Horror". If anything though The Shining seems to have been a greater influence on House on Elm Lake's story of a couple, Eric and Hayley Jones, who relocate to a universally unwanted remote house by a lake with their young daughter in tow. The reason the house remains universally unwanted is that the previous occupant, Elliot Mandre had murdered his entire family then killed himself during a satanic ritual. Soon after taking up residence, the house's bad mojo takes its toll on the already troubled Eric, who begins pissing blood and under Elliot's evil influence committing adultery, rape, murder, cannibalism and domestic abuse. Elliot who is essentially an amalgamation of The Shining's Grady and the naked lady in room 237 also makes his own presence felt in the household. Cutting an obscene, sexually threatening figure throughout the movie. Whether he is perched naked on the end of a girl's bed or murdering the babysitter by gouging out her eyes. Tony Manders, a former civil servant turned British horror film regular, gives a particularly fearless performance as Elliot Mandre, a role that requires him to be fully naked for the majority of his screen time.

To give an idea of what a small world the current British horror scene is...House on Elm Lake was filmed at the same house as Mother Krampus (2017) which shares at least four cast members with this film, and was recently remade as 'The Candy Witch' by this film's leading lady, Becca Hirani, who also directs and produces films under the name 'Rebecca J Matthews'. At 100 minutes, House on Elm Lake is leisurely paced, but has its rewards for those prepared to stick around. Just don't go in expecting an Evil Dead type ride in the fast lane without any brakes, this is more like a Sunday afternoon drive with your grandparents, albeit one where they end up going insane, taking off all their clothes and gouging out eyeballs.