House of 9 (2005) | (DVD) | USED

Title: House of 9 (2005)

Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Horror

Plot Synopsis
Nine strangers awaken in an eerie mansion, each with no memory of how they got there and find every exit sealed. A disembodied voice over an intercom informs them they must murder one another until only one remains—the winner granted five million dollars. As panic spreads, fragile alliances form and break, desperation leads to violence, and survival becomes a brutal game of betrayal. The walls of the house conceal secrets, and the final moments reveal that escape may not mean freedom.

Cast and Crew

• Director: Steven R. Monroe

• Writers: Philippe Vidal

• Cast:

  • Dennis Hopper as Father Duffy

  • Kelly Brook as Lea

  • Hippolyte Girardot as Francis

  • Susie Amy as Claire Leevy

  • Peter Capaldi as Max Roy

IMDb Link: House of 9 (2005) 

Reviews from Letterboxd

1. Nick – ★★☆☆☆
   “Poor pacing, bad acting, bad writing, annoying score, weird cinematography. I really love these “people trapped in a room/house and have to figure out how they got there” films and the best ones are typically from around this time…”

2. MartianScuba – ★½☆☆
   “There was a music sequence OUT OF NOWHERE where the characters are all chilling and it basically plays the entire song. 2000s dad rock. The characters are just sitting around, drinking… pondering. Tbh not a damn thing was going on. Then directly after that song ends, they play an entirely different song (2000s hip-hop) and do it again. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The absolute madlad Hippolyte Girardot, though! 2000s horror was so weird, man”

3. JakubM – ★★☆☆☆
   “On the whole, House of 9 is a pretty underwhelming take on the post-Cube/post-Saw “strangers gathered in mysterious environment and forced to do bad things to themselves/others for a reward” sub-sub-genre of horror films. I have a lot of love for this concept, and as my run through the adventures of Jigsaw has taught me, a lot of patience, too. But despite generating some solid claustrophobia and tension in the first half, particularly as characters adjust to their environment, ration baked chicken and potatoes, and drink themselves into oblivion, this film builds to the most perfunctory and unimaginative climax possible. Not even Hippolyte Girardot‘s transformation from smarmy executive to a shirtless, lipstick-smeared madman distracts from how little substance there is here. The two stars are for the first act and the unadulterated mid-aughts energy of the partying montage.”

4. Kaydin – ★½☆☆
   “I was rooting for the movie to end.”

5. Bill Ryan – ★☆☆☆☆
   “This movie is so stupid and it’s also hilariously serious, and it features a couple of the most irritating performances of the modern age. Also boasts a real “the room was full of milkmen, some of whom were very old”-type ending.”

Meta Description:
Psychological thriller where nine strangers are trapped and forced into a brutal game of survival—with a $5 million prize for the lone survivor, but escape may not mean freedom.