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Dwelling
USA 2017
produced by Brandyn T. Williams, Arlynn Knauff for BeWILdered Media
directed by Kyle Mecca
starring Erin Marie Hogan, Mu-Shaka Benson, Devanny Pinn, Abigail Mary, Bill Brown, Josie DiVincenzo, Alexandra Merritt Mathews, Emma Stablewski, Makenzy Glover, Fattie King, Leora Owens, Ava Sammarco, Raven Khreis, Carly Illos
written by Kyle Mecca, music by Steven Borowski, special effects makeup by Lauren Schindlbeck, Amy Berent, Jess Vega ("Thin Man" design), visual effects by Joe Blodgett
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Ever since her childhood, Ellie (Erin Marie Hogan) has been haunted by
the mysterious death of her mother (Josie DiVincenzo) in a fire. And if
Ellie got it bad, her sister River (Devanny Pinn) got it ten times worse,
having spent most of her life being handed from one asylum to the next for
hearing voices - which might or might not made her burn down her mother's
house. Presently, she's at Dr Thorn's (Bill Brown) clinic, spending most
of her time drawing creepy pictures with headphones on to block out any
voices, while her daughter Izzy (Abigail Mary) is in Ellie and her husband
Gavin's (Mu-Shaka Benson) care. Now Ellie wants to put an end to all of
this, even if it means to risk everything, and thus she and Gavin and Izzy
move to a house that's allegedly haunted in the neighbourhood of where Mum
died years ago, and Ellie hopes to find some answers or even get in touch
with her mum. But it's not that easy, because Izzy, who's always been
talking with her dolls, gets a new, local one, who soon takes the reign
over her life, while Ellie has extremely disturbing nightmares that are a
bit too close to reality to be of no consequence, and even Gavin
eventually feels a presence - violently. Somehow it might all be tied to a
mirror painted all black in the place, but that knowledge alone doesn't
get one very far, and trying to figure it out might be a dangerous
enterprise indeed ... Now on the story side, Dwelling
might be a tad confusing - but that actually serves the movie as a whole
very well, as it's not so much about spoon-feeding the audience ready made
answers as it is about building up a creepy atmosphere ... and the more
there is left unanswered on that account the better. But creating the
proper eeriness is of course also helped by wonderful sets and properly
subtle direction and cinematography, as well as well-set shocks to keep
moving, and a truly first rate cast. Definitely worth a look ... if you
don't want to go to sleep that night ;)
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