Staci Layne Wilson’s The Night House review says the story of a new widow haunted by memories of her husband may be a bit too slow and complicated.

Teacher Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a woman dealing with the sudden suicide of her architect husband Owen (Evan Jonigkeit), whom she senses has come back from the grave to haunt the maze-like house he built for them. As his spirit grows increasingly restless, she decides to do some digging, and she discovers dark secrets about his past.

With definite nods to Suspiria (1977), The Entity (1982), and What Lies Beneath (2000), The Night House is a creepy suspense thriller that is ultimately too twisty for its own good.

As the story slowly unfurls—and I do mean slowly—we get intriguing little hints about the motivation behind Owen’s awful act and why Beth never saw it coming. She puzzles over the clues he left behind, from his perplexing riddle of a goodbye note—“You were right. There is nothing, nothing is after you.”—to an unknown double life she discovers while going through his phone. She wonders who she was really married to, and why, if he wanted to leave her permanently, is he still lingering in spirit?

There are a lot of layers and enthralling detail in regard to a murderous past, blueprints to an impossible house, old black magic books, odd images in a camera roll, etc. But The Night House is directed and edited in such a slack, leisurely way that the inherent tension is mitigated. The sleek, shadowy cinematography and subtle special effects help, but the loud “jump scare” music, while reasonably effective, can’t quite make up for The Night House’s shortcomings.

The best thing about The Night House is the acting. Hall is excellent at showing a combination of fear and curiosity as Beth gradually loses her grip on sanity and succumbs to her obsession to find out what drove Owen to suicide. She’s almost like a restless spirit herself, not only dulling her pain with alcohol, but using drink as “liquid courage” to delve into her husband’s grim, hidden side.

Despite its curb appeal, the tidbits of supernatural suspense and murderous intrigue within The Night House never pay off, leaving the viewer feeling dissatisfied. There’s enough for horror fans to like and it’s worth a look, but it’s unlikely to be revisited.

Rated R

1 Hour 50 Minutes

If this The Night House review makes you want to step inside, get times and tickets for a theater near you on Fandango.

Staci Layne Wilson’s The Night House review says the story of a new widow haunted by memories of her husband may be a bit too slow and complicated.