H.P. Lovecraft's Witch House

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” - H.P Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

Opening with a quote from the master of horror by way of pseudo-documentary-like wordplay and then doubling on the grotesque with a scene in which someone gouges out their own eyeball, H.P. Lovecraft's Witch House, based on H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dreams in the Witch House, arrives with a proclamation of sorts when it comes to terror.  This opening might be ripped straight from the pages of Lovecraft’s own short story, but it works to cast a spell over the audience as a cultist begs to see that which he ought not to.

"blurs the boundaries between reality and dreams"


 

Are we to be included in that wish?  Already, we are tangled inside of an independently produced fever dream of pure fiction finesse involving the supernatural.  It is a place where anything can happen and, as is the case here, so much does!

From Horror Wasteland Pictures International, releasing for the first time on digital and DVD this July 5th, H.P Lovecraft’s Witch House arrives as graduate student Alice Gilman (Portia Chellelynn, Hematic Web) puts down Lovecraft’s book and goes over her latest drama with an abusive boyfriend.  To be clear, she is running from a very abusive past with him and, as a result of her final meeting with this abuser, the loss of an unborn baby.  

But where can she turn?  

This is where her thesis (and belief) that structures are built for different (read as unknown) purposes comes into play because the answer lies within the walls of the infamous Hannah House; a historic home in Indianapolis, Indiana (where the film was reportedly shot) which has an ominous past of its own, already documented in other well-known paranormal cases. 

Soon enough, Alice is making a home in one of the rooms in the house (the attic!) and starts meeting other people, including a Jesus freak named Joe (Joe Padgett) and Tommi (Julie Anne Prescott, Hi-Fear, Bloody Summer Camp) whom she quickly enters into a relationship with.

Already, the meta is strong with this one as Lovecraft leanings (and tons of nods) combine with the authenticated paranormal activity of the Hannah House!  Director Bobby Easley (All Sinner’s Night, The Devil Dogs of Kilo Company) and co-writer Ken Wallace (Belly Timber) might not be faithful in their adaptation of Lovecraft’s short story, but it matters little when the horror elements are as strong as they are here.

And the spooky stuff happens fairly quickly as Alice discovers artifacts of transcendental magic in the house!  At the same time, the town itself is getting rocked by child abductions.  Leave it to this graduate student, whose thesis involves connecting the threads of architecture and geometry with those of alternate dimensions, to unknowingly unlock a gateway to the worst kinds of terror as she seeks to find an explanation into what is happening here.H.P. Lovecraft's Witch House

With Professor Sherfick (John Johnson, The Boogeyman, Belly Timber) as her mentor, Alice soon finds herself facing a series of bizarre and violent events and is plagued by nightmarish dreams by evil entities as she finds herself trapped between the 4th dimension and reality where the diabolical truth is revealed as Alice fights for her sanity and her very soul.  

Witch House blurs the boundaries between reality and dreams, and it does so on a shoestring budget yet manages to provide just enough good haunts to burn this flick into our eye sockets thanks to beings - Andrea Collins as a servant girl burned at the stake for witchcraft, Bill Levin as a sorcerer, and Solon Tsangaras as Brown Jenkin - invited into this world!

The Witch House opens its doors on digital and DVD this July!  Sometimes, the truth is within all of us, begging to be - as so much of Lovecraft’s fiction pointed out - recovered from the recesses of our own mind.

3/5 stars

Film Details

H.P. Lovecraft's Witch House

MPAA Rating: unrated.
Runtime:
82 mins
Director
: Bobby Easley
Writer:
Bobby Easley; Ken Wallace
Cast:
Portia Chellelynn; Julie Anne Prescott; Andrea Collins
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
Alice Just Opened a Gateway to Unimaginable Horror.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor:
Horror Wasteland Pictures International
Official Site:
Release Date:
Digital and DVD July 5
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Digital and DVD July 5.
Synopsis: Graduate student Alice Gilman (Portia Chellelynn, Hematic Web) is running from an abusive past. She seeks refuge in the infamous Hannah house; a historic home with an ominous past. Determined to prove the possibility of alternate dimensions, she unknowingly unlocks a gateway to unimaginable horror. Facing a series of bizarre and violent events, Alice is plagued by nightmarish dreams of these evil entities. Trapped between the 4th dimension and reality, the diabolical truth is revealed as Alice fights for her sanity and her very soul. 

Art

H.P. Lovecraft's Witch House