July 25, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Kris Collins
Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. city, the horror film “House on Eden” features an all-white cast of characters representing the middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: Three young adults, who have an Internet show about paranormal investigations, go to a house that is reportedly haunted and experience strange things.
Culture Audience: “House on Eden” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of “found footage” horror movies, but “House on Eden” is one of the most boring and unoriginal films ever made in this subgenre.
If you want to see a weak, pointless and dull imitation of 1999’s “found footage” classic horror film “The Blair Witch Project,” then look no further than the idiotic and unoriginal “House on Eden.” And be prepared to possibly fall asleep from boredom. “House on Eden” is barely a horror movie. It’s mostly a series of increasingly irritating scenes where thee emotionally immature people in their 20s walk around, say mindless things, and hope to film something scary.
Written and directed by Kris Collins, “House on Eden” (her directorial debut) doesn’t even seem like it had a completed screenplay before filming began. A lot of dialogue looks very improvised. And there are times when it looks like the cast members ran out of things to improvise so they just started babbling a bunch of forgettable nonsense. “House on Eden” is only 78 minutes, but most of it is wasted on annoying conversations and scenes that go nowhere.
Just like the plot of “The Blair Witch Project,” the plot of “House on Eden” has three people in their 20s going to a remote wooded area with a video camera to investigate and make a documentary about a story about a disappearance in the area. In “The Blair Witch Project,” there’s an unsubstantiated story that a witch called the Blair Witch kidnapped seven children in 1941. In “House of Eden,” there is no suspected villian who is actually given a name, but the three people end up investigating the disappearance of young woman who went missing in the mid-1960s. There are noticeable similarities in what’s presented as the answer to the mystery in each movie.
In “House on Eden,” the three “investigators” have a video channel (probably on YouTube) called Spooky AF, which delves into paranormal stories. The channel is co-hosted by Kris (played by Collins) and Celina (played by Celina Myers), while their friend Jay (played by Jason-Christopher Mayer) is the show’s camera operator. Kris is the bossy leader of the group. Celina often acts like she’s drunk or high on some unknown substance. Jay has a generic personality.
The beginning of the movie shows the trio on a road trip to visit an unnamed cemetery. However, Kris decides they should take an unplanned detour and go to a reportedly haunted house that’s known to locals as the House on Eden Road. According to legend, about 60 years ago, a young woman who lived in the house mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again.
Before they arrive at the abandoned house, there are time-wasting scenes of the trio goofing around. At one point, they get out of the car and play Rock Paper Scissors more than once. Seriously. Are these people 8 years old?
When they finally get to the house, they find out the house is mysteriously very clean, with no accumulated dust, and doesn’t look like it’s been abandoned for years. And then, it’s just more blabbering from this witless trio, some unimpressive jump scares, some arguing, and a little information about the missing woman. Only her first name is revealed.
At separate times, at least two of the “paranormal investigator” characters pass out or go into a trance at the house. Meanwhile, Kris has been vomiting periodically during this trip. And when a woman of child-bearing age vomits in a movie, she’s either pregnant or intoxicated. If Kris is pregnant, don’t expect any more explanation about it.
By the end of this wretched movie with bad acting and no suspense, you will feel like you watched a terrible mishmash of recreated scenes from several other horror movies that are superior in every way to “House on Eden.” Simply put: If you saw “The Blair Witch Project” and liked it, then you won’t like “House on Eden.” If you saw “The Blair Witch Project” and disliked it, then you’ll really hate “House on Eden.” And if you want horror movies to be entertaining, then it’s best not to watch “House on Eden” at all.
RLJE Films and Shudder released “House on Eden” in select U.S. cinemas on July 25, 2025.