House on Eden

Holy motion sickness, batman. If unsteady camera work makes you ill, skip this movie. I know they were trying to go for "authentic" found-footage, but they erred on the side of far too much shaky-cam running and it got to the point where I was seasick and honestly baffled (and getting increasingly annoyed) by how much time the cameras were out of focus.

Anyways, we watch as a group of ghost-investigating youtube vloggers head towards some little-known abandoned haunted house they NEVER give any background on, but somehow believe will be their biggest break and best video ever. We are then treated to a pretty classic haunted house story, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

There are some glaringly odd choices which reveal the budget and the makers' lack of experience/ nuance. Such as the vloggers walking to the 'derelict' house on an obviously-just-mowed-and-maintained trail, and the house being absolutely, immaculately clean, with fresh linens and pristine, well cared for, potted flowers; the artistic flop of having all of the characters use huge, bulky cameras with different resolutions instead of their phones; an inability to get the viewers to like and care for the characters; some plot gaps; and a fumbling of the ending typical for this genre.

But there are some genuinely creepy moments and the acting and editing are better than normal for this kind of movie. If this were just a freebie on Prime or found on a random TV channel with completely unknown actors, people would think it was pretty good. But the 'hollywood' hype and expectation for what is, essentially, a self-produced, amateur movie, are likely leading to many finding it disappointing.

So despite the flaws, this slots in as a solid-enough example of its type and a decent option for someone wanting a low-budget, classic-style haunted house type movie to watch.

House on Eden isn't the worst found footage film I've seen, but it's nowhere near the best. Ambitious but hollow.

House on Eden is the latest entry into the increasingly crowded found footage subgenre and another notable step in the growing trend of YouTubers crossing into feature filmmaking. This time it's Kris Collins (better known as KallMeKris), teaming up with fellow digital star Celina Myers (CelinaSpookyBoo) in a haunted house setup that blends The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and the kind of chaotic energy you might expect from content creators who built their names on short-form, personality-driven videos.

To her credit, Kris Collins doesn't just appear in the film-she wrote and directed it as well. Unlike other creators who leave their YouTube personas behind (like Chris Stuckmann or the Philippou brothers), Collins tries to fuse her online presence with the cinematic experience. It's a bold move, but unfortunately, the final result is more of a jumbled collision than a successful fusion.

The core premise, paranormal investigators documenting a malevolent presence inside an abandoned house using a mix of Super 8mm, Hi-8, and modern digital cameras has its appeal. The use of varying formats is visually interesting at times, and when it works, it evokes an eerie, fragmented sense of dread.

But Then There's the Execution. The first act spends far too long in the woods with jittery, poorly framed shots and confusing direction. Sure, the characters are supposed to be content creators, but shaky cam does not equal immersive. Instead of drawing us into their world, it just makes it hard to follow what's happening. Bad angles, awkward cuts, and aimless dialogue slow the pacing to a crawl.

The biggest problem House on Eden faces-by far-is its lack of likeable or compelling characters. For a film so focused on "real" personalities, it's bizarre how hollow the leads feel. I didn't care if they made it out. I didn't care if they didn't. There's no investment and there for there is no tension built.

As a fellow YouTuber prepping to make the leap into filmmaking myself, I'll say this, my hat's off to Kris and Celina. This kind of project is hard. Most people just talk about making a movie... they did it. And that deserves respect. There's ambition here. There's effort. There's even the seed of a great idea. But in the end, House on Eden feels like a first draft of something that needed a clearer vision, better character work, and more time in the editing room.

....don't do it. The movie has no good reason to exist. Thinking witty banter and charm would get these three through any half baked concept I went to the theater and was gravely disappointed in how pointless the movie could be. It's a ghost hunters/Blair Witch Project mash up with KallMeKris and Celina and Jason yucking it up in the woods. Jason's male gazing Kris with his cam and.....Kris finds a house in the middle of nowhere that appears to be lived in but no one is there so it MUST be haunted.

Nothing of interest happens in the movie. Ghost Hunters, a show I don't even like would be better than this. The movie comes across as having unscripted dialogue for the most part as there is a threadbare plot creeping along. It does come to a wordless, silent, suspense-free head at the end. While I like her comedic short form content, Collins displays no ability for feature narrative work with this movie.

While there may have been a point intended, it is lost on the audience for having to endure the meandering banter back and forth. At least the movie likely cost less than a million to make. I don't think it'll turn a large profit theatrically.

This does not meet the standard of a horror movie. It is not scary and doesn't even seem like it wants to scare, set a creepy tone, or even be an interesting paranormal investigation piece.

I very much love the story of YouTubers growing their brand, establishing themselves, and making enough money to create a passion project such as this movie. This is no easy thing to do. They absolutely deserve props for the hard work. Hopefully they learned a lot in the making of this movie and will use that knowledge to keep getting better.

Having said that, they could benefit the most from an editor. House of Eden was filled with unnecessary shots, loooooong scenes, stuttering story telling that was obvious within the first few minutes where this was all going to go. Someone needed to stand up and say "This shot doesn't move the story forward." or "This shot is confusing and not conveying the message you might want." or "This is an ancient and tired plot point told 1000 times. Surely there is a more unique way to tell a Lilith story." Hell, they straight up had a direct scene from The Blair Witch Project.

Kris did great being super annoying and demanding. Celina sold her gross scene well and in general added decent flavor. Jason-of-Two-First-Names was fine, if trying a little too hard.

Keep going y'all!

I hate writing this because I love these two women, but I could not get into this movie. The writing wasn't bad, it was just a bit juvenile and cheesy in many places, especially the beginning. I see what they were going for here, but it wasn't executed well. The hide-and-seek part was really weird.

And then it just goes downhill further. No memorable jump scares or spooky moments, and the ending has been done so many times already. It felt very Paranormal Activity.

Honestly, I could see them nailing a comedy/horror. Something like Dale and Tucker VS Evil or Army of Darkness. I want Kris to keep at it. Very creative person. Just needs to focus on what she's good at, which is comedy, and then fuse that with your interest in horror.

Don't give up!