For a few moments -- longer than the brief, fleeting, blink-and-miss-it moment when it seemed Nazis at the Center of the Earth was a good idea -- The
Haunting of Whaley House plays almost like a real movie, a fairly low-end, direct-to-video sort of movie, but nevertheless a real, honest,
movie with
identifiable directorial skills at work, a handful of actors who give off a feeling that they at least know what they are doing, and a story that has the
potential to draw in its audience while in the process of at least recycling old ideas, not completely ruining them. The Haunting of Whaley
House rises pretty far above the average Asylum title, or maybe it just appears that way in the wake of two of the most abysmal
movies ever unleashed on mankind, Alien Origin and 100 Ghost Street. Nah, this one's actually not bad in the grand
scheme of Asylum things. It's not as entertaining as Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies (probably the best thing The Asylum has
ever done) but it at least holds its own for a while. Plus, it doesn't reuse the same awful digital effects shot eighty gazillion times like American Warships does (and in fact, practical effects rule the day in this
one).
The old Whaleys aren't likely to spook audiences or haunt dreams, but the movie at least serves as an example that The Asylum can make movies
that are merely bad and not downright abysmal.
Spooky.
It seems every town has a haunted house, but only one town has The Whaley House. The place was once a morgue and the site of innumerable
deaths. Teenagers are always eager to break in and have a look around, maybe even stumble onto a scare or two by night. By day, the place is a
tourist
attraction. Elder tour guide Bethany Romero (Lynn Lowry) welcomes Penny Abbot (Stephanie Greco) into the tour guiding fold, the latter a teenager
who has
her doubts about the
validity of the spooky stories that surround the house's legend, but who enthusiastically shares them to earn some summer cash and pay her way
through medical school. One afternoon, telling her friends about her new job, she's pressured into opening the house at night for a little look-see.
Her friends are more than curious -- or the guys are at least hoping to scare their girlfriends just enough to earn them so sugar later on -- and set
out to
spend the evening perusing the purported haunted house. Along with them comes a nerdy ghost hunter and a television personality who, together,
dare to
uncover the truth of Whaley House. Little do they all know that the legends are actually true, that the house is a death trap, and that one of the
guests in particular has a
date with destiny inside the haunted walls.
There's an odd dichotomy at work in The Haunting of Whaley House. The movie plays things straightforward and honest (as much as may
be
said of an Asylum movie) and efforts to work in a legit story and a few real scares and spine-tingling plot developments. Yet after a decent open with
three hoodlums arguing about whether to break into the supposedly haunted house, the credits shift tone and play with a circus-style music that's
light and jovial, not at all identifying with what just happened and what's to come. It largely ruins the tone, setting audiences up for a more
lighthearted, comically-inclined fare that never materializes. Then, when the movie's over and the dark and dreary and deadly and haunting
scenarios
have all played out, yup, it once again turns to music better suited to a comedic parody than a straight Horror/Haunting picture. It's just one of
many
things that are out of whack in The Haunting of Whaley House. It never quite adds up, despite a decent if not generic and overdone story,
well-above-average direction (for an Asylum title), and an honest scary movie atmosphere that sometimes works in mood-setting and sometimes
doesn't. Overall, the scares are rather weak and the plot is largely predictable as the movie maneuvers through the usual array of genre cliché
elements, like the phony Ouija board sequence (here with a glass rather than the actual board) in an effort to summon the spirits, the "professional"
ghost hunters with their thousand dollar gear and ten cent brains, and the action which shifts from one room to the next, usually as a character dies
and the others run to find safety in another area of the house. It's very stale and largely uninteresting, but credit the filmmakers for trying
not to make a terrible movie.
To be sure, there's an air of professionalism about The Haunting of Whaley House. Director Jose Prendes doesn't have much to his credit,
but he shows a steady hand and a technical know-how that's often glaringly absent in these Asylum features. Perhaps the studio has found its
director of the future; at least a basic understanding of filmmaking techniques and an ability to get more out of a script than is there would benefit
these bottom-barrel pictures. The movie additionally shows some honest production values; it's all simple and the one location means there's less of
a chance of blowing the thing on bigger shooting stages, but the house looks good and emits a genuinely creepy air. The spirits and gore and such
all
appear practical rather than digital, and that eschewing of the computer medium in favor of real, tangible effects boosts the movie in a way rarely
seen in an Asylum title. Good makeup goes a long way over bad digital. Unfortunately, the movie is hamstrung by an unimaginative script that, as
noted,
merely maneuvers through the teenagers-in-haunted-house movie scenarios. It's populated by a collection of actors who aren't very good, but who
are a step above the usual array of nobodies and washed-up has-beens that normally populate Asylum movies. They are given little with which to
work but do manage to eek out a few honest emotions along the way, which is about all one can hope for in a movie like this.
The Haunting of Whaley House checks in with the Asylum-standard MPEG-2 encoded, 1.78:1-framed transfer. As always with this studio's
recent films, this picture was shot digitally, and it's one that shows a slightly glossy façade and evident flatness but at the same time steady and
accurate details and fine colors. The star of the movie is the house, and it's also the highlight of the video transfer. When the lights are on and the sun
is out, audiences will appreciate the upped resolution of Blu-ray when the image reveals very nice wooden textures and various other accents around the
house. It's very stable and clear, doing a fine job of transporting audiences into the haunted abode and showing off with much clarity and stability even
the finest details on curtains, blankets, and the like. Faces and clothes are fairly resolved, too. They're not as complex as film or higher grade digital, but
audiences familiar with the usual Asylum video quality output know what to expect. Colors fare well in the brightest scenes; there's a good deal of
vibrance and brilliance, whether speaking of garish reddish/orange hair or brightly colored attire. When the lights dim, a warmer shade takes over that
accentuates the wooden accents around the home. Blacks are fine, and flesh tones are reflective of light sources. There's some scattered banding, but
overall this is another very good transfer from The Asylum that nicely replicates the original source quality.
The Haunting of Whaley House doesn't scare up a very memorable soundtrack. As is the case with Asylum titles, this release features only a
Dolby Digital 5.1 offering. The track certainly suffices for a low-end budget Horror picture, but accomplishes little more. The track remains mostly the
property of the front speakers. Music, ambience, and effects don't venture too far into the rears. Light haunting refrains do drift nicely across the front,
and the low end manages some positive rattles and rumbles and thuds, an example being a scene when the uninvited guests challenge the spirits to
thump "yes" and "no" answers to questions. Dialogue is even and remains focused up the center speaker. This is an unremarkable track for an
unremarkable movie. A livelier, more immersive presentation might have helped improve the movie, but at least this lossy soundtrack never finds any
major technical bumps in the road.
The Haunting of Whaley House contains a nice little collection of extras, far more than is the norm for Asylum titles.
Audio Commentary: Director Jose Prendes; Actors Stephanie Greco, Carolina Groppa, Graham Denman, and Alex Arleo; Editor Bobby
Richardson; Casting Director Jessica Prendes; and others discuss shooting in an alternate Whaley House, the rigors of the shoot, editing, writing and
casting the film, and more. There's some drinking, shouting, and other unusual commentary happenings. It's a fun track; fans should give it a listen.
Making of Featurette (1080p, 10:02): Cast and crew recount the plot, discuss the film's look and style, the challenges of the shoot, the
making of various effects scenes, cast camaraderie, applying ghost makeup, and more.
True Ghost Stories (1080p, 6:15): Cast and crew share their views on the paranormal and their own personal ghost stories.
Lynn Lowry, Cult Icon (1080p, 8:46): Jose Prendes interviews the actress.
Director's Video Diary (1080p, 33:02): A lengthy, comprehensive piece that takes audiences through the day-by-day filmmaking process,
beginning with a day one read-through and moving on to look at the entire twelve-day process.
There's not a lot to love about The Haunting of Whaley House -- at its best it's a run-of-the-mill direct-to-video Horror movie -- but there's not a
lot to dislike, either. This is pretty high up on the list of Asylum titles. It's passable Horror fodder, made better by good direction and acceptable
performances,
both masking an otherwise dull script that was probably cobbled together over a weekend and built from other, better, and still overdone sources. It's
not really the sort of movie one makes an effort to watch, but if there's nothing else on TV or the video store shelves are bare, give this one a try: it's
better than most Asylum movies, which means viewers at least won't want to tear their eyes out when it's over. The Asylum's Blu-ray release of
The Haunting of Whaley House features decent video and audio. In an unusual move, The Asylum has included a fair package of extras,
including an audio commentary track. Rent it.
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