The Perfect Host

source: The Perfect Host: A Southern Gothic Tale

Where did the funding for this tragedy come from? The little girl was a good actor, but everybody else must have come from some Theater 101 class at the local community college. I will also say that the cameraman knew what he was doing, but overall the best actor was the old Victorian house itself. I kept watching thinking the story would get better, but I should have known that it wouldn't. There were some really promising elements such as a locked room, a crochety old man, a doting grandmother type, and a barroom in an old factory building which could have housed some colorful characters, but all of these were not explored.

This is old fashioned (is it set in the 70s? Early 90s?), slow moving, atmospheric and mysterious. A huge crumbling mansion, a funeral, a woman mourning, a warning, mysterious motivations, a lonely child, thunderstorms and pouring rain. There is not a jump scare, thunderous sound effect or digital special effect in sight. So...not to most modern horror tastes. Production standards are high, though there are some sound problems with some of the dialogue. The ending is perhaps not unfamiliar, but the whole thing is well handled and acted. Definitely worth a look for fans of the Gothic.

Absolutely b o r i n g ... The actors playing the elderly couple were very good but the movie is sloooow with no plot . Just a good scene before the ending . A waste of time.

Nothing happens in this movie. Unless it all happens at the end. We quit halfway through. The lead is not likable and she doesn't act. She simply mumbles her lines so inaudibly we had to turn on the subtitles. Don't waste your time.

Whoever wrote the screenplay should have remembered to add a plot. Maybe something to hang on to. Something you could at least understand. This had a mean, bratty mother who stays at a house with a nice old lady and a creepy mean husband. If it wasn't for the music, you wouldn't have expected anything but good food and a cool old house to explore and hang out in. Then the ending happens. Spoiler alert. The mom looks in a book. I gave it 2 stars because it was filmed pretty well with their budget. I have to add when told my wife the last line, she said, "well that's what happened to the plot, they forgot to buy it."

This was a surprisingly good film with strong acting and a creepy atmosphere. The house and the elderly couple were the most interesting part of the movie. The big problem is that there were a lot that was not explained. Why did the sister/cousin, whatever she was throwing the main protagonist out? What was the history between Johnathan and Julie? Why didn't she stay in the grandmother's house when her sister/cousin stated that she did not want it? There should have been a little more backstory, but other than this, the movie itself was pretty good with a strong build up and some strong action at the end.

Well, the budget for the film wasn't that huge, however, the film was quite good. So I gave 6 stars without a bad conscience!

This is a slow-moving tale that is hard to follow at first if it was done differently it might have been more interesting of a story. If you can make it to the end the story comes together to be sure to pay attention to the ending. I still believe if done differently the interlude from the beginning to the near end could have been an adventure to get to the truth. It actually gets exciting at the end of the movie, the grand old house and women have some surprises for you. The Culmination of the storyline is somewhat worth the interlude it takes to get there, the tale becomes complete a chilling ending in store for those who stay alert. All in all, for an indie movie it's not bad my wife and me tend to like thrillers, horror movies, and lower budget films.

I enjoyed this film, the acting was good, the cinematography was excellent and created a spooky atmosphere. My only real problem with this film is they introduce a character at the beginning who may be a sister or cousin who throws her and her daughter out instead of letting her stay with her for a few more days, there is never an explanation of the problem. The main character also calls on a former boyfriend whom will do anything for her but still holds back and at one point she says "well you weren't the one that had to leave" this is never explained. She also owns her grandmothers house but doesn't want it, I just wish they had let us know what these incidents were.