68
Metascore
36 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangBruckner’s elegantly crafted film falls some way short of its grandest ambitions, but still sends you out into the night with a chill in your bones and the hairs stiff on the back of your neck.
- 70SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSlashfilmChris EvangelistaThe horror on display here is so powerful, and Hall’s work is so strong, that you’re bound to come away from The Night House properly haunted.
- 70Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzThe destination is a letdown, but the journey there is harrowing and rewarding. Hall’s powerful and affecting performance is the biggest reason why.
- 67IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichGreat horror movies should feel unsafe, but this one just leaves you feeling beaten down.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThe Night House serves up the subtle horror of expectations, invites us to join our heroine in fearing the worst, perhaps simply resigned to it. And Hall makes everything we see and that Beth experiences credible, which may be the creepiest thing about it.
- 60VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyThough this tale of a new widow’s apparent haunting gets progressively lost in a narrative maze that’s complicated without being particularly rewarding, director David Bruckner suffuses the action with enough dread and unpleasant goosings to make this an above-average genre exercise.
- 60The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeThere are enough crafty surprises buried within The Night House to just about outweigh the elements that don’t work quite as well, mainly because it’s all delivered with such fiery conviction by Hall. The house might be built on shaky foundations but its inhabitant is utterly unshakable.
- Whether it’s because of the script or David Bruckner’s so-so direction, its attempts at eschatological dread don’t quite stick.
- 58The A.V. ClubA.A. DowdThe A.V. ClubA.A. DowdUnfortunately, the script by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski is clunky—in the convoluted nature of its reveals and also in the sometimes-baffling behavior on display.
- 50Film ThreatNorman GidneyFilm ThreatNorman GidneyHolding the entire movie together, Hall delivers an exceptional performance as a woman grieving, sliding in and out of reality. But her talents are eventually no match for a runtime that stretches things a bit and story beats that we have seen before.