WHALEY HOUSE on DVD Today!!!

That's right, my fellow faithfully-committed, if it's Tuesday it must be time for another Asylum new release. This week it's the righteous haunted house flick, The Haunting of Whaley House, from writer/director Jose Prendes. Now, if you scroll down a few centimeters past the bottom of this post you'll find my glowing review of the film, which is absolutely a must-see for fans of the genre: great story, great cast, great scares, great film. So get thee to a DVD outlet be it rental or retail, and get your hands on this one while supplies last. Also on Blu-Ray and VOD.

observation notes: THE HAUNTING OF WHALEY HOUSE

Coming this Tuesday to DVD is The Asylum's The Haunting of Whaley House, an original ghost story from writer/director Jose Prendes (The Terminators, Haunting of Winchester House stories) based on the real-life history and lore of an historic home in San Diego. The plot is straight forward enough - "When a tour guide breaks into America’s Most Haunted House, a bit of amateur ghost hunting with friends turns into more horror than they could have ever imagined." - but the results are far from expected or ordinary: HoWH is an intelligent, paranoid and horrifying thriller, well-steeped in reality and thus resonant with authenticity.

Now, as you know, Committed is 100% anti-spoiler, so I won't delve on the details, but I can say in sweeping generalizations that Prendes has built a ghost story classically constructed, confident and fluid, and paired with lively, fast-pace and quick-witted dialogue rife with horror- and pop-cultural references that together create a delightful amalgam of old and new. The scares are smart, abrupt and startling - no corner or shadow is safe - resulting in a palpable tension from the first frame to the last; and believe me, once shit starts popping off in this one, SHIT STARTS POPPING OFF.

One of the major strengths of the picture outside Prendes' talents is the ensemble of actors he's assembled. Admittedly, there's been an over-saturation of ghost hunting in popular media over the last decade; and more often than not, when such characters are presented, it's with a dash of humor/pity. But Whaley House is how ghost hunters should be represented - passionate, scientific, meticulous and above all hungry for proof - and manages to an authentic and even admirable portrayal of such persons. The chemistry between the actors - Stephanie Greco, Alex Arleo, Arielle Brachfeld, Graham Denman (who also scored the film), Carolina Groppa, Howard McNair and Jason Owlsley - is believable and relaxed, while the individual characters themselves are nicely balanced, equally valuable and distinctly drawn; this is not your typical cast of ghost hunting characters, and the film is richer for their uniqueness. 

As a director, Prendes is obviously well-versed in all the classic horror films, domestic and foreign, and he brings his experienced eye to every frame, the result of which is perhaps the most suspenseful Asylum film to date. I honestly didn't know what to expect here, and Prendes and team surprised me at every turn, often to my nerves' chagrin. There is a creeping, anticipatory direction that transforms the camera into a pensive voyeur almost afraid to progress through the story, but unable to turn away. This one raises the bar, for real. It's lusciously atmospheric, rife with the best elements of its old-school influences, all the while breaking some scary new ground itself. And it's filmed in a really good looking house.

So then bottom line - stop what you're doing this Tuesday and rush to wherever you procure your home rentals and wrestle for your copy of Haunting of Whaley House; I can't imagine a world in which you'd be disappointed. Highest possible recommendation.

inmate profile: Arielle Brachfeld

T-minus two weeks until The Haunting of Whaley House drops on DVD, Blu-Ray, and VOD, and given that the advance copies at Comic Con sold out fast, seems like there's a mighty fine film headed our way. So here at Committed we continue to educate and inform you about the creative talents behind this impending ghostly greatness; already we've profiled writer/director Jose Prendes and actors Stephanie Greco and Alex Arleo. Today we feature actress Arielle Brachfeld.

Ms. Brachfeld began acting professionally in 2005 with a couple of shorts that lead to a role in the indie comedic homage, Return of the Ghostbusters. From there the parts came rolling in, including The House That Jack Built alongside Joe Mantegna and Gail O'Grady, the horror anthology Evil Deeds 2, indie comedy/horror Blood Effects, and Love, Gloria, with Asylum-alum Heather McComb (2012: Supernova). 

In addition to her work in Whaley House - which from the picture below looks pretty pivotal, not to mention blood-curdling - Ms. Brachfeld has several other projects in various stages of development: InSpectres, a comedy; Live-In Fear, a supernatural adventure flick; The Obsession, a drama alongside yet another Asylum-alum, Dominique Swain (Nazis at the Center of the Earth); and Love: As You Like It, "a sexy, bold reimagining of Shakespeare's romantic comedy..." Can't got wrong with that, right?

Until then, check out Arielle Brachfeld's next performance in The Asylum's The Haunting on Whaley House, out July 31st.

inmate profile: Alex Arleo

Next up in the Committed spotlight from the cast of The Haunting of Whaley House is actor Alex Arleo, who plays the awesomely-named "Jake Wildman" in the film.

Arleo made his on-screen debut back in 2009 in George Anton's Dracula, in which he played "Holmwood." A couple years after that he made his first film with The Asylum, the riotously raunchy Barely Legal (that's him below). Then 2012 hit, and Arleo started popping up everywhere, first for The Asylum again in Celebrity Sex Tape, then alongside Michael Madsen in the drama Sprawl. Four episodes of Girls of Sunset Place followed that - another co-star of the series was Gary Stretch of Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus fame - then Bert: The Emotion Picture from Barely Legal director Jose Montesinos and co-starring Barely Legal's Jeneta St. Clair, and now he's back at The Asylum for the Haunting of Whaley House.

 
Obviously Arleo's becoming quite the in-demand young actor. Witness the chops that has casting scouts scooping him up when The Haunting of Whaley House dominates DVD, Blu-Ray and VOD charts everywhere starting July 31st.