In her feature debut, Izzy Lee (Innsmouth) presents a haunted house story with an edge. The director is no stranger to staging things with a pertinent, political slant, and it’s this angle that propels things above the standard horror fare.
Mia (Fanya Sanchez) has lost her husband, Adam (Mason Conrad), to what is ruled suicide, but not before being hounded on suspicion of murder. She’s now on a year-long house arrest after being found guilty of losing her baby (this is set in a ‘fictionalised’ town where abortion or even miscarriage is illegal). Her parole officer (Lee Boxleitner) epitomises the aggressive misogyny of the town and the ‘system’ that has convicted her. Trying to make things easier for her is her new boyfriend, Marc (Vincent Stalba, who disconcertingly looks a little too much like a young Jeremy Hunt for our liking), an old high school friend. Promising to look after her, things get strange when his phone and keys go missing and Mia begins to believe Adam is still around.
Opening strongly with a distinct sense of injustice, House of Ashes manages to play to its strengths throughout without bludgeoning you over the head with them. Beautifully filmed by Sophia Cacciola (The Once and Future Smash), there’s a sense of claustrophobia in Mia’s situation. Incredibly relevant, the story highlights the misogyny women find themselves subjected to in the US and elsewhere. From victim-blaming, anti-body autogamy, gaslighting, and white knight syndrome, Izzy Lee’s film brings the threads together perfectly, the politics not overpowering the fantasy elements, and vice versa. The haunting she suffers reinforces the patriarchal system she’s experienced all her life and continues to do so. An obnoxious social media ‘influencer’ (Laura Dromerick) who invades Mia’s privacy for her own profile hits the mark perfectly. We’ve all seen something similar in real life.
Although House of Ashes clearly has a low budget, the production value is much higher than expected, proving Izzy Lee has a bright future ahead.
HOUSE OF ASHES screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest Glasgow 2025.
