When moving from a house, you are expected to take all your stuff out of the building. There are cases where it’s been negotiated that the new owners get to keep the washer, dryer, refrigerator or a piece of furniture that “belongs” to the room. Other than those exceptions, everything must go with you. No new homeowner wants to open up the door and feel a cast member of Storage Wars. The Mistress is a horror film about the nightmare of buying your dream home only to discover the former occupant has left a lot behind.
Parker (First Cow‘s John Magaro) and Madeline (Paterson‘s Chasten Harmon) are a newlywed couple who buy a beautiful old home in Los Angeles. It’s the kind of place people search for on those house hunter shows. They can afford the place because Parker’s written a non-fiction best seller. The couple discover that while the most recent owners took all their modern stuff, there’s a few items left behind from the people living there 100 years ago. Parker locates antique photography equipment and a pile of letters. Their new nosy neighbor Dawn (The Deuce‘s Kat Cunning) among her many talents is a touch psychic and swears the place might be haunted. Are these left behind items connected to the spirt activity that might be in the house? The letters are rather haunting as they recount an affair a woman named Rebecca with a previous owner of the house. Parker and Madeline are glued to each page as the mystery of what happened to Rebecca evolves. Being an old house, there’s plenty of creaks and bump noises in the night. Parker is a bit nervous about them since he had been stalked by a woman. He’s got two options when a bench swing outside the house is rocking at odd hours. It’s either the ghost of Rebecca (Siren‘s Aylya Marzolf) or the stalker. If it’s the ghost, Madeline seems bent on getting a refund on the house since nobody mentioned the spiritual action.
The Mistress reminds people why they need to buy brand new houses bought with freshly made boards, drywall and plywood. You don’t want any ghosts in your house. You want to be the only things that haunts your house. Parker and Madeline have to learn the hard way that a ghost can really mess up your life. Things get really weird when Parker gets a little too close to the ghost. Seems the ghostly Rebecca still has a thing for married guys.
The cast does a fine job of mixing the anxieties of buying a new home with the creepy fear of a former occupant not quite moving out. It’s great to see Rae Dawn Chong (Tales From the Darkside) appear as Madeline’s mother. Kat Cunning gives us a reason why you shouldn’t hang out with your new neighbors. John Magaro seems like he’d get involved with a very clingy and homicidal ghost. Chasten Harmon has an amazing scream when she sees what “the ghost” has done in her walk-in closet. The Mistress properly mixes real estate craziness with supernatural horror. The moodiness seeps out of the frames. If you just bought an old house, you’ll skip thoughts of renovations and go straight to demolition.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. You’ll see the shadows shift in the beautiful old house. The Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround so the bumps can come from around the room. The movie is Closed Captioned.
The Mistress Trailer (2:13) has a newly married couple buying the home and discovering that their house might be haunted.
Blue Fox Trailers (3:21) are for Jane and The Silent Forest.
Breaking Glass Films present The Mistress. Directed by Greg Pritikin. Screenplay by Greg Pritikin. Starring John Magaro, Chasten Harmon, Aylya Marzolf, Kat Cunning, Eddie Alfano, James Carpinello, Jake Sidney Cohen, Tina D’Marco, Alexandra Grey and Rae Dawn Chong. Running Time: 106 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: January 16, 2024.
