In A Stranger’s House likely isn’t a film you’ve ever heard of before. Mainly because, well, up until yesterday nobody even knew it existed. The latest feature from Irish filmmaker Richard Waters was made in complete secrecy before being unleashed on the world on the spookiest day of the year (of course). And we’ve got the trailer to ease your post-Halloween hangover.
In A Stranger’s House comes to us courtesy of Weird Pretty Pictures, the same super cool folks who gifted us the sublime, cerebral Sodium Party, on which Waters worked as producer and editor, among other things.
The premise is devilishly suggestive:
Centred on the strange and horrific goings-on of a man house-sitting in the middle of nowhere, the found footage film sets the nerves on edge as the situation gets more and more harrowing
The flick marks Waters’ second feature following rom-com The O’Briens but, suffice to say, it’s a major departure from that sunny outing in the country. Although a handful of other actors appear onscreen, from filming to performing, editing to sound design, and the film’s Cloverfield-style surprise release, Waters did pretty much everything, making this a real passion project for the young filmmaker.
Speaking about what inspired him to get cracking, Waters was refreshingly frank:
The film started out as a challenge for myself. After The O’Briens, I’d been burned by a lot of potential opportunities. I needed something to get that fire inside me going again, and this was it. I did one scene (where strange things happen with a doll) and I was so happy with the results that I decided to just keep building it up until I had something I could stand behind and go ‘Yup, that’s mine’
He also divulged how difficult it can be to get projects off the ground without any kind of reliable backing from investors:
What happened to me was what happens to a lot of indie filmmakers; you end up sitting around waiting for someone to give you the go-ahead they promise is coming (but never actually arrives), and you waste so much time and energy on pipe dreams. That must have happened with a dozen different projects, so I had to take control
As for why Waters chose the much-maligned, but still incredibly fruitful, found-footage genre:
I love horror and found footage, particularly more realistic and raw films like The Blair Witch Project, Creep, The Borderlands and Willow Creek, so this was a challenge that became a passion project
In A Stranger’s Land features a particularly noteworthy, completely unbroken, 21-minute elaborate take that the writer/director/one-man-band promises must be seen to be believed.
In A Stranger’s House is available now worldwide from irishhorrorfilm.com and in the U.S. and U.K. on Amazon streaming. A DVD release is expected in 2019.
Check out the super spooky trailer for the flick below, and stay tuned to Wicked Horror for our full review very shortly.
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