THE HOME (2025)

3 stars

Signature Entertainment. Digital Platforms 22 August and on DVD & Blu-ray 29 September.

Opening film at FrightFest 2025.

Max (Pete Davidson) is an artist who breaks into places and paints large murals. Which tends to lead to trouble… He is busted on his latest escapade but luckily (or maybe unluckily) his foster father persuades the judge to give him community service.

We get flashbacks and discover his older brother Luke committed suicide when he was young. We know this will play into things later.

Max is sentenced to several months working at Green Meadows Retirement Home as the on-site super, doing odd jobs etc. Given a master key and instructions – he is warned not to go to the fourth floor as they need special care and it is off limits.

The residents give Max a nice welcome and introduce themselves and he also meets Dr Sabian (Bruce Altman), the head of the facility.

Inevitably freaky things start to happen and wouldn’t you know it, he keeps hearing screams from floor 4. Flaunting the rules he goes up there and see something he probably shouldn’t – a room full of old wizened drooling folks in wheelchairs, bleeding from their eyes. He is freaked out by what he sees – luckily for him he doesn’t lose his job.

What has he discovered…?

Davidson, better known as a comedian on US TV institution Saturday Night Live, is surprisingly good in the central role and also notable is John Glover as Lou.

The script by James DeMonaco and Adam Cantor (who also appears in the film) builds the mystery and tension as Max tries to find out what is happening, however it takes too long to deliver its gore soaked finale – there are some freaky often bloody images along the way and, as the poster image shows – prepare for some ocular horror. Ultimately the journey doesn’t feel wildly original, despite the twist near the end. Director DeMonaco, best known for THE PURGE movies, directs with a sure hand. Effective music score by Nathan Whitehead – who also worked on the PURGE movies.

Steve Kirkham