Educational Media Reviews Online

There are currently three general types of horror movies. The first kind groups together the ones that are meant to scare. The second type makes fun of the first type by imitating the genre and making the viewer feel clever by catching all the references. Thus, what is funny is not necessarily anything specifically comedic in the films themselves but the inference of prior knowledge about other horror films. The perfect example of this is the Scary Movie franchise which has progressively ended up by parodying itself, or its much better predecessor, the Scream series. The third, more elusive type of horror film is one that is both scary and funny but where the comedy is narrative-driven and innovative, such as the much imitated Shaun of the Dead (2004, Edgar Wright), or to a lesser extent, the charming Warm Bodies (2013, Jonathan Levine). Then there is The Happy House, which, could have fallen into this last category had it been successful.

There are a number of problems with this film even though the cinematography is as a rule professional, although occasionally over-lit; the editing is mostly adequate; and the sound is generally not problematic although it tends to have an amateurish quality to it, particularly in the almost arbitrary insertion of music for effect. These can be overlooked if there were a strong script or outstanding performances. Unfortunately, the main problems are indeed the script, the acting and directing. All the actors have some television and, probably for a couple, even theatrical experience but their delivery is mostly flat. For the most part, they are unable to rise above the student-film level of the script written and directed by D.W. Young. A real breath of fresh air, however, is Kathleen McNenny as Linda, whose portrayal of a harried professor is the only enjoyable aspect of this film. The other actors simply make the viewer conscious of how badly directed they were and how they were woefully unable to come off as anything but amateur. The completely uninspired plot revolves around a couple from New York ending up at a bed and breakfast in Upstate New York where the authoritarian proprietor and her Neanderthal son uphold house rules. Add two more houseguests: a harried academic and a Swedish butterfly collector for a mix of clichéd characters and then proceed to include an escapee from an insane asylum known as The Decapitator, who immediately rings the doorbell after the policeman brings the news of his escape to the B&B. There are absolutely no twists or turns and mercifully the film is only 80 minutes long.

It is not the case that every bad horror film, or one hedging its bets by calling itself both horror and comedy, can be easily transformed by the viewer into a film making comments about the horror genre. Some horror films just don't work successfully either as a horror film or even, in this case, as a standard narrative film. You cannot simply say that the film was so bad that it's good in the Susan Sontag "camp" sort of way. The most facile excuse then would be to provide the defence that the film is being "ironic" by pretending to be a "bad" film and referencing all the bad films before it. The only irony in The Happy House is that it was directed by D.W. Young, whose first and middle name initials are the same as D.W. Griffith's, the father of American narrative film. The special features on the disc provide a corrected blueberry muffin recipe which in the film’s narrative omits essential ingredients, and Mr. Young’s 8-minute film Not Interested (2010). There are also some outtakes. The Happy House is not recommended.