Geno Walker is Ken, suffering from social anxiety following a breakdown and the ending of his marriage. He hopes to make a new start of things in a new town and new apartment. Despite encouragement from his best friend Terry (Felonious Monk) and ex-wife Kelsey (Kate Arrington), Ken is resistant to leave the house to get a new job, he instead puts his hopes on getting some money doing video blogs. When Terry spots one of Ken’s stuffed birds fall from a shelf behind him in one of his videos, they entertain the idea that the flat might be haunted. Looking into the history of the place, Ken discovers a dark past. His videos begin gaining traction when he focuses on the paranormal side, but when an expert on the subject (Lawrence Grimm) takes an interest, things get out of control.
Single-location horror certainly isn’t a new concept, but with what we’ve gone through globally over the past two years, we can no doubt expect a whole lot more to appear. Director Jennifer Reeder (who helmed the fantastic Knives and Skin) attempts to make things bigger than they are by including the other participants via video link, but sadly it occasionally makes the film look cheaper. As do the effects that appear in the film’s climax. They look as though they were created with the most basic of After Effects filters. It’s a shame, as there are some creepy moments to be had at times and highlighting mental health struggles in males is particularly admirable. Walker, however, is consistently excellent in the lead role.
There’s an interesting concept in Brett Neveu’s script, but it would have likely worked better as a longer short than a feature.
Night’s End streams on Shudder from March 31st.


