The House on Dark Hill

Directed by Adam Turner

2024

Written and directed by Adam Turner, The House on Dark Hill is an introductory short horror film hoping to set up a series of anthology films based around a haunted hotel. We take a look at this new perspective of a familiar tale...

We open with a radio DJ announcing Smells Like Teen Spirit (don’t forget music licensing folks!) as a woman drives down a barely lit countryside lane. After passing many road signs she arrives at a bar and asks for directions after becoming lost.

The woman (Sarah Elizabeth as journalist Nicole Thomas) explains she is staying at the May Estate with the landlord clarifying it has a much more sinister name for locals: The House on Dark Hill. The solitary farmer at the bar instructs her to find a small opening along the road but after being creeped out she leaves to find this ominous turning to the hotel.

Off the bat, the short unfortunately has a number of clichés in the script and set up. It’s the kind of thing Cabin in the Woods poked fun of. We get the classic “harbinger” – an odd local warning the protagonist of their ill-fated, and sometimes cursed, destination – and more besides.

BUT in it's favour, the technical side of things are solid. Conversations are easily followed, scenes are blocked well, the shots are sharp and nicely framed and the story basic but very much clear.

As we see our protagonist eventually find the road she needs, we also notice some decent nighttime shooting, which can all too often be murky and underlit with low budget filmmaking.

Not so defined is the editing with certain shots being held on for what seems too long. Unless a key part of the plot, shorts don't often have time for the lead to pull up in a car, park it, get out of the door, walk around to the boot, open the boot, get their luggage out, close the boot and then walk out of shot. A few quick cuts could show the exact same thing yet keep the pace moving forward to more important scenes.

Our lead finally heads to her room after a burly security guard passes her the key. And as she inspects this ropey abode, a phone rings with a second man telling her she cannot leave the room – adding to her already immense frustration. (N.B – the telephone call probably needs a sound edit here as the ambient noise is cut off between lines of dialogue).

As we come to the end, a knock at the door and a random item in a box leads to a mystery that finishes the short – with viewers’ expectation that more will hopefully be revealed in subsequent instalments. With the outro music of Don’t Fear the Reaper (another famous track) I can see why this version wasn’t on YouTube – it’ll be copyright-striked in an instant.

The House on Dark Hill is a passable short that's in need of another draft at the script and/or plot. We’ve all come across similar horror elements a hundred times before and there are no particular surprises, or scares, along the way. But hopefully this can be addressed in the follow ups.

In short, the film acts as a sturdy proof of concept for Turner’s larger goal to create a series. The fundamentals are more than apparent but a bit more flair, and care, would go a long way to sharpen up its seen-it-all-before moments.

★★½

2.5 / 5

Midlands Movies

To follow the film’s progress – and to watch the short in full – check out its official Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/thehouseondarkhill/