Spooky Season 2024: House of Spoils Early Review

House of Spoils is Prime Video’s newest original from Blumhouse which arrives just in time for Spooky Season. The film tells the story of a Nameless Chef (DeBose) who in preparation to opening her first restaurant has to battle kitchen chaos, a dubious investor, and self doubt but the pressure begins to quickly heat up as the spirit of the estates previous owner who threatens to sabotage her and her restaurant at every opportunity. Very much a slow burn, it certainly will not be for everyone but that being said, it is refreshing to see its story and characters develop and breathe without having to instantly rush into the scares. While the story may not be the most original, it is still engaging throughout from the moment Chef first appears on screen. Creating a great setting with an eerie atmosphere and plenty of spooky vibes, the film offers a unique mix of culinary drama and horror with all the intense kitchen action and delicious looking food one could ever hope for in a post The Bear world.

Led by arguably DeBose’s finest performance since her Oscar win, she gives it her all here as Chef. Though some may criticize her for overselling it or doing too much in certain scenes, it is exactly what her role demands of her and DeBose commits to it every step of the way. Meanwhile, Moayed chews up the scenery in a supporting role as Andres, excelling at once again at playing a fast talking, untrustworthy slime ball. The film makes it clear that audiences are not supposed to like the character, however, one can’t help but be amused by Moayed. Also, Marton Csokas is fun in a small role as Marcello, a character that the film could have used a lot more from, while Ferreira is solid as a sous chef named Lucia.

Where this film ultimately suffers is with the horror side of things, specifically how they are implanted in the story. Not well-executed and few and far between, the film fails to lean into horror as much as one might expect in what, for the most part, feels like an afterthought by the end. Its horror sequences, when they do come along, are both not overly scary and also not that intense. The third act loses a lot of steam, where certain events that occur don’t make a whole lot of sense or just end up going unexplained. The film ends on both an abrupt note that does not quite leave the impact it is clearly going for, while only leaving audiences with questions. All of this amounts to yet another case where the journey is well worth taking even though the destination may not live up to it and isn’t as entirely satisfying.

At the end of the day, House of Spoils is far from perfect and never really as scary as it should be, but in spite of those issues, the film is nevertheless a fun enough watch around the Halloween season led by a committed Ariana DeBose. While it could have done more with its premise and added some better scares, it is still a decent time to be had this October.

still courtesy of Prime Video

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/