Customer Reviews

House of 9

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised by House of 9. As the movie begins, I saw the premise unfold and thought... what a great idea... sort of SAW 2 meets BATTLE ROYALE meets SURVIVOR.

Although more of a ripoff of SAW 2 (or maybe SAW 2 was a ripoff of House of 9? Not sure, maybe it was unintentional), HOUSE of 9 approaches the subject with fresh ideas and MORE REALISM. Where Saw 2 struggles to be commercial and come up with BIZARRE and MORE BIZARRE ways to kill people with the funky contraptions and riddles, HOUSE of 9 keeps it real.

As 9 unwitting people are snatched off the streets and wake up in a house that is sealed and unescapable, they are told that one person will be allowed to leave the house, and that person will be given $5 million... that one person is the soul survivor... meaning... the only way out... is for them to kill each other.

Where Saw 2 wastes no time getting into the depravity and murder and the thin assumption that a bunch of criminals will want to murder the son of the man who put them in prison, HOUSE of 9 keeps it real. It explores human nature and the unwillingness to comply and wait it out. How long would it take for a house full of strangers to actually want to kill each other? And how? there is one gun, with few bullets.

The mostly unknown cast, with the exception of Dennis Hopper and Kelly Brook, deliver well. As time goes by, the food is minimal, the personalities are clashing and tensions are building. Violence is coming and you can feel it, despite the members of the house's relucatance to participate in the sick game.

Unfortuntaley, the director relied to heavily on a couple of MTV montage moments that seemed to go on forever, the movie is actually a really good comment on human nature, madness, survival and what happens to a person when they've taken the life of another.

I'll admit... 4 stars... may, just may be a little too strong, and 5 stars is WAY TOO STRONG... but the movie was entertaining and better than most of the little straight to video movies that hit the video store shelves. I never once wished I was watching something else. I wanted to watch it unfold and see what was in store.

Not to mention, the ENDING was FANTASTIC! The ending... the final scene when the winner picks up their money... was the best part of the movie.

Rent it, watch it, I only recommend to buy if you're a big Kelly Brook fan. And who isn't?

House of 9 offers very little but a slightly new twist on an archetypal horror motif and some pretty incomprehensible casting. Dennis Hopper as a priest? I mean, come on, a priest? Hopper? Casting really dropped the ball all the way around on this one, I'm afraid. Hopper is probably the best actor of the whole bunch. They should have called this movie House of 9 Bad Actors, or House of 9 Characters You Desperately Want to See Die. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you actually have to slog through the entire first half of the movie to get to the first of the characters' eagerly-anticipated deaths. The first forty five minutes is basically these nine people moaning about their fate and verbally attacking one another.

So here's the premise. Nine individuals are randomly chosen to partake in a little contest, and by chosen I mean kidnapped, drugged, and deposited within the confines of a mysterious house. Once they all awaken and gather together, they learn that one of them will win five million dollars. There will be no consolation prizes for the losers, however, as they will all be dead. You see, in order to win, you have to outlive the other eight people in the house. So who are these lucky people chosen to take part in this deadly little game? Well, you have a priest (Hopper), a dancer, a criminal, a pro tennis player, a fashion designer, a cop, a composer and his wife, and a would-be rapper, each and every one a total stereotype, especially the rude, vulgar, selfish, cop-hating rapper (honestly, I'm surprised someone in the black community hasn't protested this film's racist characterization of the offensive rapper).

Once they're satisfied that there is no way out of this place, the group comes together and sort of decides not to play the madman's game, as he obviously wants them to turn on and kill one another. That spirit of mutual cooperation amongst suffering doesn't last long, of course. These characters are all so incredibly annoying, there's no way anyone could put up with them for long. You'll be ready to reach in and strangle every last one of them yourself long before they stop bickering and get down to the business of showing audiences the ugly side of human nature.

Once characters start dying (immediately after taking a quick break from their verbal sparring in order to bump and grind against one another to some really bad rap music), the movie finally finds a little traction in the blood that is spilled. The second death is a particularly brutal thing to watch. It's all downhill from that point, though, as the filmmakers dropped whatever pretense of character development there was and just had everyone start killing each other. It leads up to a fairly decent ending, but there was really no way for the film to recover from its disastrous first half.

Dennis Hopper does provide some unintentional entertainment, though. He plays what I assume is an Irish priest, but he has a habit of forgetting his fake accent - and when he does actually remember to use it, he sounds more like some Indian chief out of an old western than an Irishman. I guess I should mention the fact that all of these characters are European, so you've got accents flying all over the place in this one.

Definitely, those entering the House of 9 should beware of stereotypes, clichés, accents, and overused horror motifs. And don't go expecting a nice nude scene or two to help you over the rough patches, either. There were only two women in the film I would even want to imagine naked, and neither one comes close to revealing anything at all. It also bugs me that "the Watcher" can afford this big, escape-proof house and five million dollar payouts, but the cameras he has installed in every room are no better than the crappy security cameras you find in banks. All in all, I think I'm being pretty darn generous in giving this film three stars.

Movies not bad and I do like the cast, all but Dennis Hopper who can be the kiss of death in my mind.
D. Hopper gives a so so performance and really does not get the chance to chew up the screen as much as he could have so I can not blame this movies let downs on him, but man does this movie seem like everything else I have seen lately, Saw comes to mind.
The Cop and the black kid were stand outs but the French dude just got on my last nerve.
Watch it and let us know your thoughts on it.
Barry

Well I liked it. And the endings a real big....well, see for yourself!!! Alternate possible title: Survival of the Meanest...or of the Luckiest! Just watch it. BUT RENT IT FIRST BEFORE BUYING IT. That's my opnion. The ending will kill ya. I just couldn't beleive it. AWESOME & SURPRISING ENDING! Give it a try.

There are some really good elements to this movie. Strangers randomly kidnapped and put into a locked home with only one survivor to earn the $5 million prize. Simple enough. There is a fair amount of tension among the protagonists, and the performances are effective enough to be believable. The buildup is slow, pervasive, and really not predictable. There is always a sense that something could happen at any moment, and the movie preys on that atmosphere. And I was suprised by the ending, which revealed a truly creative twist.

Having said that, the most horrifying part of this film is Dennis Hopper's attempt to maintain an Irish accent as the completely out-of-place priest. Just plain bad as his character is oddly juxtaposed against the other youthful cast members. And while there is tension, there is also a considerable amount of brooding, where the characters simply look unhappy, drink, or console each other quietly while overbearing music plays in the background. And for a film that feeds off the intensity of the feelings hopelessness, fear, and isolation, the deaths come suddenly over a brief period and in a rather hurried fashion.

All in all, a good rental that ultimately hit its target despite a few significant stumbles along the way. You'll be forgiven for hitting the fast forward dial a time a two when things get slow.

What an intense movie! The whole time I was watching I was leaned forward with my palms sweating! The plot was deliciously unpredictable as well, especially with the ending.

Basically the movie involves 9 strangers getting locked into a mansion and are forced to kill each other in order to leave, while the lone survivor is promised 5 million dollars in cash prize. The cast in this movie was amazing, especially Dennis Hopper, who played an Irish catholic priest who seemed to be losing his faith. You really get to know each of the characters well as the movie progresses on too, and as more and more people begin to die off you feel the intensity grow along with it.

In my opinion the director really did a good job in showing the power of greed and the savagery of the human nature in this movie. The soundtrack for the movie was also totally awesome, with genres spanning from hip-hop to piano sonatas. It really stands out compared to other films.

Speaking as a Kelly Brook fan and not as a movie critic I'm going to say thumbs down to this one.

Okay. I have to admit I was expecting/hoping to see Kelly in some sexy clothes and maybe a bikini or even a nude scene. There was none of the above.

This movie has a very thin plot. A bunch of people get locked into a house and resort to killing each other. There is a lot of "B movie" grade acting but I will admit I liked the surprise ending! Just when you think you know how it's going to end...Bam! You will get blindsided by the unexpected finish!

If you like B movie thrillers with at least one pretty girl then you should add this movie to your collection.

If you are fan of Kelly Brook you should check out Survival Island.
Survival Island
Survival Island is an adventure movie and Kelly is in a bikini showing off her nice legs and everything else for the entire film.

It was an okay movie for a horror; however, the plot is very similar to SAW 1-3, and I did not find this very amusing. If you have nothing better to do then this movies is for you, I would not recommend it to anyone.

A brilliant premise. Recreate reality tv in a movie. Yay!

A bunch of people are kidnapped, locked up in a house, and left to their own devices. The one who is still alive at the end wins the prize money. Yes, it's like Saw 2, but without the sadistic violence. It plays out like most reality shows. The participants party, get drunk, throw up, argue, and fight. It's about as boring as reality tv too, but at least here the participants die and don't just get voted out.

Dennis Hopper feels misplaced as an irish priest, but he does add some weight and depth to the film. Without him, this would not be worth watching.

One could be excused for thinking this sounds overly familiar. Nine strangers find themselves trapped together inside a manor, where the voice of the unknown mastermind who's gathered them there soon addresses them over the intercom system. Definately shades of both "Saw" and "Cube" already, and, apparantly, of a movie called "My Little Eye" as well (which I'm not familiar with) according to a blurb on the DVD case.

Early attempts to break out of the house prove it's pretty well impossible to bust through the reinforced walls and shuttered windows, and then the mastermind on the intercom lays out the rules of the 'game' that's being recorded. Nine people in. Last one alive is the only one to leave, and leaves with a five million dollar prize. Naturally, no one is thrilled at the concept layed out before them.

From there, the way events unfold is in the hands of the 'players'; their abductor doesn't attempt to communicate further, although a strange device does provide food for the players, and the mastermind is apparantly still deciding what and when. To encourage the group to enter tense situations and make the game interesting, the mastermind has chosen the participants well. A couple of socially maladjusted, hostile individuals are in the mix to ensure that the group won't be able to smoothly function as a group toward a single goal (like getting free without killing each other) while a cop in the mix is the only one with a gun, sowing seeds of suspicion. Dennis Hopper, in an interesting change of pace for the actor renowned for some very villainous roles, plays an Irish priest attempting to use reason and faith to convince the other members to resist playing into their captor's hands, and to resist the urge to mistrust and turn on one another. Well acted, well written, and skillfully directed, with attention to detail and several surprise twists, "House Of 9" distinguishes itself from other gems like Saw and Cube and emerges as a distinct, and great, movie of its own. And one very much worth getting.