House of Darkness (2022)

There is probably no one working in mainstream media today whose artistic sensibilities are closer to mine than Neil LaBute. I’ve got some Lynch-y tendencies that he lacks, and LaBute’s only interest in laughter is making it uncomfortable, but still… nothing he does surprises me —because I share the same writerly impulses— and yet all of it satisfies me, because he pursues his impulses perfectly.

House of Darkness is nothing like LaBute’s Van Helsing TV series, for the record. Aside from the common thread of vampirism, the performances and tone and purpose are radically different.

Where Van Helsing leaned more into the populist comforts of his Nurse Betty —for all the sadism and guilt and people-eating, VH has a certain sad, sentimental sweetness to it— House of Darkness sticks to what made In The Company of Men and Your Friends & Neighbors so good… an unblinking examination of socio-sexual power and the assholes who wield it.

And turns out, Justin Long was put on this planet to speak LaBute’s dialogue… who knew? He’s a rambling, mansplaining, condescending, defensive, and deeply stupid little weasel in HoD, and he’s perfect at it. Meanwhile, Kate Bosworth shocked me with a quiet, confident, smooth performance that makes Long’s character look like a hyper-verbal puppet dancing on broken strings. I’ve seen reviews complaining about the ending, but seriously, how can you watch 87 minutes of this movie and not know what’s going to happen in that final minute? It’s inevitable from the start.

(Vampire movies with characters named Mina and Lucy aren’t there for their twists and turns.)

Next on my list is LaBute’s I-Land, which some people consider to be Netflix’s worst original series, ever. I’m actually looking forward to it, ‘cause even if it’s an utterly failed experiment, LaBute’s failures have much to teach.