HNUM²

The second episode in the Fear Itself DVD set is Brad Anderson’s Spooked.
Going in, I had the expectation that this would be one of the better episodes of the series. Everything I’ve seen from Anderson has been good, to great. And with Session 9 being one of my favourite horror movies this already had promise.

Harry Bender is a private detective with a violent past. He makes his living on adultery cases, with a bit of blackmail thrown in for good measure.
He’s hired by a woman to keep an eye on her husband who she suspects of cheating. Arriving at the location he’s going to be working from, he finds a rundown, graffiti covered house. Settling in for a night of observation he gets a glimpse of the target. Only problem is, his partner down the street sees no lights on in the house. As the investigation continues what he’s seeing becomes stranger and stranger until his haunted past catches up with him.

This episode definitely lived up to my expectations.  Anderson knows how to compose a shot.  The episode is great to look at.  Shots inside the old abandoned house are creepy and fascinating.  He also knows how to create some nice tension.  There’s some similarities with Session 9.  It’s never quite clear whether there’s some outside influence in the building, or it’s all in the mind.  Until we get towards the end that is.
The scene tracking through the house with the thermal goggles was well done and the ending of that scene was pretty damn creepy.

There’s not a whole lot to the effects in the episode, but what there is, they’re done adequately.  A knife wound here, a gunshot wound there. A creepy graffiti movement.  Never too overdone.

The sound design was creepy.  Something Anderson does very well, and I’m sure knows how important it is to the overall effect of movies.  None of the loud crashing jumpscares but more subtle, creepy.  Gives the whole thing a more lasting effect.

As the episode goes on and on, Harry gets more distraught.  Eric Roberts plays the role very well and his reactions are very believable. In fact, all the cast do great jobs.

Anderson is more and more one director that will have me anticipating about anything he has his name attached to.  His TV work is great.  His Thrillers, too.  But I think where he shines is with the more subtle horror he’s made so far.  Session 9, Sounds Like (from Masters Of Horror) and now this.