The House at Hallow End review home renovation horror finds emotional heft among the terror

"New mum Harper (Katie Parker) and her baby daughter move in with her mother Sadie (Patricia Heaton) to help finish sorting out an old fixer-upper of a home, bought with intent to flip. Also along for the ride is Bette (Emma Fitzpatrick), a live-in carer who turns out to be pregnant. But the path of property renovation never did run smooth, and soon, the weird noises and shadows and visions of a strange figure with a beak-like face start to take their toll on Harper."

"Initially, it seems that writer and director Angela Gulner's debut (previously titled The Beldham) is akin to a low-budget version of The Babadook, the breakout hit from 2014 that saw Essie Davis's young widow living perpetually on the verge of a breakdown. There is indeed a similar interplay here as to whether what is tormenting Harper is an external menace or has to do with her own mental state but the situation is revealed to be a much sadder one than is initially apparent."

"This is a film that sits in a subgenre that you might term tragi-horror, a properly emotional tear-jerker that sits within the broader horror genre though even the big grief-horror classics like Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now are normally stronger on the chiller aspect than on making the audience weep. The House at Hallow End reverses this proposition, with some familiar horror imagery preceding a strong closing plot twist that gives a barnstorming emotional heft to everything that precedes it."

New mum Harper and her baby move in with her mother Sadie to finish renovating a fixer-upper bought to flip. Bette, a live-in carer, joins them and is pregnant. Strange noises, shadows and visions of a beak-faced figure begin to torment Harper, raising questions about supernatural presence versus psychological breakdown. The story evokes The Babadook in its interplay between external menace and frayed mental state but unfolds into a sadder trajectory. The film occupies a tragi-horror niche, emphasizing grief and the parent-child bond. A strong closing plot twist delivers emotional weight that reframes preceding horror imagery.

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