Romania, 2024
Review:
JA Kerswell
This new Romanian comedy slasher was a big hit in its native country, but its charms are likely to be lost on anyone not a fan of the cast. A group of social media influencers - playing (perhaps) exaggerated versions of themselves - participate in the latest round of a popular reality TV show - the Buzz House of the title. However, someone intends to scare them for real after they steal the production’s Gruffalo-like costume. Marooned on an island, the cast has to tear themselves away from mirrors and their phones long enough to survive the night. Blessed with fantastic production values, BUZZ HOUSE: THE MOVIE looks amazing, but it falls down in pretty much every other department. Yet, if you ever wanted to see a slasher seemingly made for 11-year-olds this is the movie for you.
Selly (Andrei Selaru) is the producer of Romanian reality TV shows and is casting the latest season of Buzz House - where contestants are scared for the cameras for cash prizes. Ever looking to cut costs, he has hired a remote lakeside cabin for the show. Four of the contestants turn up by boat ahead of the rest of the production. However, the actor supposed to play the mad killer in the show is murdered and dumped in the lake by someone who takes his costume. The contestants are so self-absorbed that they don’t notice one of their number being whacked with an axe. When the killer attacks they believe it is part of the show and realise too late that it’s not.
Selly turns up the next day with another boatload of contestants, only to find that the others are not there. They are greeted by a cheery older woman called Natasha (Tania Popa), who tells them that their cast mates have taken a walk in the woods and then feeds them meat pies of suspicious origin. The group settle in after receiving the news that the camera crew have been delayed, but discover their biggest influencer fear has been realised - there’s no phone coverage and no wifi in the cabin.
However, the shaggy-arsed killer has not finished and soon the contestants are dropping like flies …
Did you ever make comedy sketches as a kid and record them with a video camera for your own enjoyment? Of course, they were hilarious to your 11-year-old self and your friends, but anyone else would be non-plussed - or, after a while, irritated by the sheer self-indulgence. Now imagine that being stretched to 90 minutes. The bones are here for a good slasher comedy, but the execution is severely lacking. Being charitable, Romanian humour may land differently - and there are a couple of OK jokes. Your mileage may vary, too, if you are a fan of any number of the real-life social media and YouTube influencers that pepper this film. Yet again, if you’re not Romanian - like myself - you’ll have no idea of who any of these people are.
BUZZ HOUSE: THE MOVIE’s scatological bent seems to suggest that 11-year-old boys were its target audience. Someone is seen on the toilet with sound effects (a tribute to Harold’s plops from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 (1982)?); one character gives away their location to the killer by accidentally farting and another mistakes the sounds of someone being attacked for them having a dump. There are even two scenes featuring urination which turns out to be someone pouring water from a can. I know, hilarious! Not. The film is also very coy with its violence. Again possibly in a move to try and not alienate its target audience, most of the plentiful kills are implied or obscured in some way. The killer is also mostly played for laughs, as they hum to themselves and bumble around the woods in their oversized costume; alternating with axe throwing and constant pratfalls. The best horror comedies have a sense of threat or genuine scares to counterbalance the humour. The problem is that BUZZ HOUSE: THE MOVIE is largely missing both suspense and laughs. Even worse, the killer’s motive is weak and doesn’t make any sense. It’s all been done before and done a lot better.
In a particularly meta move, the cast of BUZZ HOUSE: THE MOVIE actually took part in the fourth season of the reality survival show of the same name. It is a shame that the innovation stops there. The film was shot and edited in 21 days, which makes its cinematography even more extraordinary - it is the film’s best asset. Much was made of the fact that the cast was made up of popular real-life vloggers, social media influencers and real actors - and, to be fair, the non-professionals aren’t that bad. Although, what’s with those six-inch fingernails? It initially became a big hit in Romania partly because many of those same influencers turned up at screenings throughout the country - although it was savaged by critics and dropped by 92% in its second week.
I can’t pretend that I’m the target audience for this movie. Maybe this will be lauded as a classic by the TikTok generation. Saints preserve us! But, for me, BUZZ HOUSE is ultimately more of a BUZZ KILL than anything.
BODY COUNT 14:
Female 5 / Male 9
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