Film Review: A House on the Bayou

The adage about “sticking the landing” is virtually always applicable to any form of art or entertainment. In the case of 2021’s, A House on the Bayou, they looked like they were going to stick the landing and then veered off the runaway into the swamp, so to speak.

The film is written and directed by Alex McAulay. This is the third film he’s written and only the second he’s also directed. He’s also a co-executive producer. I haven’t seen his prior two outings, but this film’s plot is simple enough, which is fine for a horror film: Jess (played by Angela Sarafyan of Westworld fame) learns her husband, John (played by Paul Schneider), has been having an affair with his student. Instead of divorcing him, Jess wants to go on a vacation with their daughter, Anna (played by Lia McHugh), to a house on the Louisiana bayou, where they can hopefully fix their marriage.

Upon arriving at the house and going to a general store down the street, they encounter Isaac (played by Jacob Lofland) and Grandpappy (played by Doug Van Liew). Isaac and Grandpappy invite themselves over for dinner, essentially. So, through the early portion, the horror film has the vibe of Deliverance meets The Strangers, with that overriding sense of foreboding. Isaac, who claims to be 18, is weird and creepy the way he’s flirtating with Anna, who I believe is only 13 years old. Then, there’s weird moments where Isaac seems to know things about the house he ought not to, like where the candles are kept and that there is a locked room of the house nobody can get into.

When Grandpappy busts out the shotgun, things really escalate, but still, weirdly, because Grandpappy tells the story of how Isaac just showed up one day, and is like a demon with “magic tricks.” One trick is when Grandpappy plays what seems to be a normal music record, but is instead John talking to his love interest, Vivienne (played by Lauren Richards), and telling her he plans on divorcing Jess. At this point, Jessica and John start arguing, and Jess is obviously upset. But I felt like they were the two worst parents in that moment because they were viciously fighting in front of Anna. Not to mention, I get it Jess, but you have two bigger problems in the form of Isaac and Grandpappy than your cheating, scheming husband.

Then, the film takes a 180 I didn’t see coming when John and Isaac go outside to investigate the coyote situation, and instead, we learn they are in cahoots. John has paid Isaac to “rob” his family and kill Jess in the course of said robbery. But Isaac isn’t really going along with the plan. Instead, upon entering the house again, he locks John in the locked room where he’s feasted on by a wolf.

Meanwhile, Vivienne shows up (more Isaac trickery), and Grandpappy makes Jess burn her alive in her vehicle. Then, Jess gets the better of Grandpappy and bludgeons him to death with a hammer. She goes back inside, realizes John is dying, and then goes back outside to confront Isaac who is trying to take Anna on a boat with him. She’s able to one-up him, too, and shoot him with his shotgun.

All worked out, right? Grandpappy and Isaac thought they were killing people who weren’t Christian and righteous enough, like John and Vivienne, and Isaac oddly took it a step further by thinking he was the son of Satan. He even mutters before his death that maybe he’s just a confused kid. I like that! I like the confused kid angle. Horrifying and tragic in equal measure.

Instead, when Jess and Anna go to Sheriff Torres (played by Rhonda Dents) to tell her what happened, she doesn’t believe them. Then, when she drives Jess back out to the “house,” it’s gone. There’s no evidence of a house, dead bodies, or anything to indicate something untoward happened. As they’re driving back to the sheriff’s office, Isaac and Grandpappy pass them in their truck. The Sheriff reveals to Jess that they tolerate whatever Isaac and Grandpappy are (indicating they aren’t human, at least) because they clean the town of “evil-doers.” I prefer the of the potential of the grounded ending instead of the supernatural. Plus, the supernatural explanation allows for Grandpappy and Isaac to still be “alive,” and that takes away from the bad-ass self-defense killing of them Jess did. That said, at least John’s plot was foiled, although, in hindsight, was John conspiring to kill Jess or did Isaac’s presence influence him in that direction?

Overall, it’s hard to complain about an 88-minute horror film. Even if it didn’t stick the landing, it certainly didn’t overstay its welcome. The reveal mid-way through that John was seemingly “in” on the scenario unfolding was nice and unexpected unless my alternate interpretation holds. The visuals were great, too.