The Perfect House

DIRECTED BY: Kris Hulbert and Randy Kent
REVIEWED BY: Mario Dominick

Recently premiered via Video-On-Demand on Facebook, director Kris Hulbert and Gratwick Films have made The Perfect House available on DVD. The Perfect House is a balls-to-the-wall gory horror anthology that really delivers in the brutality factor.

The Perfect House tells us the story of a young couple looking to buy a house. A real estate agent (played by B-movie leading lady Monique Parent) leads the couple on a tour through the house which has a history that proves to be quite horrific. Whether one buys the house or declines, the basement appears to always be a deciding factor.

We are lead through three vignettes that focus on the past owners of the house. First is the story of a family living there with a dad, son and daughter and a bitch of a mother who is always making things difficult for them. One night the power goes out and the dad loses his head and the mother is viciously hacked up. It’s clear that the son and daughter were deeply fed up with both of them. What happens next is rather surprising.

The next segment focuses on a serial killer (Jonathan Tiersten of Sleepaway Camp) living in the house who keeps his victims caged up in his basement where they go through various brutal and vicious tortures leading to a slow agonizing death. A woman who he’s been holding in captivity the longest has grown to know his motivations and weaknesses and tries to figure out a way to outsmart him.

The third segment delves into a family of five (the mother and father played by John Philbin and Felissa Rose) living next door to the house where an old hermit is residing. As we find out at the beginning of the film, this man living there seems to be upset by a decision his neighbor made to throw away a weed whacker he borrowed from him. When he has the family over for dinner, all hell breaks loose in which the family is decimated in outrageously gory fashion by a bloodthirsty psychopath.

The Perfect House is one of hell of a nasty and violent picture with some really well-done gore effects (some of them of the Olaf Ittenbach caliber) and intense performances. It’s definitely among the best indie horror features in recent years and is proof the low budget scene is churning out some of the most effective and well-crafted films as has been seen with the likes of The Super, Mutilation Mile, and Revenge Is Her Middle Name.

The DVD release of The Perfect House contains an alternate ending and multiple trailers and promo spots as extras. Go to the film’s website at www.theperfecthousemovie.net for downloads, merchandise, and to order the DVD.