- Release year: 2024
- Director: Steffen Haars and Flip Van der Kuil.
- Producer: Maarten Swart.
- Screenplay by: Steffen Haars and Flip Van del Kuil.
- Cinematography by: Joris Kerbosch.
- Music by: Michiel Marsman.
Synopsis: the Christian family of a sitcom gets kidnapped and exploited by a family of Russians who are searching for something in their house.
Shotgun Commentary: catered for a very specific audience, one with the mindset of a 13-years-old boy, to be exact.
Review
Krazy House is essentially what you would get if you ask a bunch of teenage boys to make movie with a big budget and their only briefing was “try to offend as many people as possible”. And offend they do, but not for the reason one might assume.
Offence by the fact that Nick Frost and Alicia Silverstone would waste their talent on a film as cringe and boring as this one. Don’t get me wrong, yours truly is as much of a fan of dead babies on fire being thrown around like The Duke as the next guy. However, if that’s all you have to offer, you might wanna rethink your script.
Small comment for European audiences here: “The Duke” is the American football ball.
Dusty and dull
The movie follows a family of supposedly very Christian people who get in trouble for trying to follow “God’s commands”. Being completely honest, it’s more about one guy dragging his family into the darkest pit of hell one can get to without leaving one’s home. All because of his blind faith in Christianity. While this might sound quite fun, the type of humour displayed is for a very specific audience. An audience in which this author is not included.
Before getting into why this feature can be considered a piece of…unsavoury content, it is important to highlight that some jokes do land, some situations are funny in their absurdity, and some violations of the sacred can give you a tingle of satisfaction. That being said, most of the humour featured in the footage is so old it smells rancid.
Triumph or turd?
Much like it happened in Poor Things (2023), this movie is covered by a stench of desperation. Every joke is less funny than the previous. The line between challenging your sense of humour and that one co-worker who says stupid, sexist comments and expects you to laugh because “lighten up, it’s a joke”, gets blurrier and blurrier. In fact, they are so indistinguishable that you might find yourself wanting to punch the man next to you. Yes, the one still laughing at the 103rd “shut up woman” of the film.
Of course, the whole work can be framed as a satire of the hypocrisy of religion and old-school values, now exposed as the bullsh*t they are. Still, the line between commentary and perpetuation is always a tricky one. If a content that is supposed to mock these practices and prejudices isn’t funny at all, but boring and uncomfortable to watch for the victims of those practices…is it still commentary? That is a conclusion you will have to draw yourself after the film. You might find that it is a hilarious piece, or a complete waste of your time.
The horror factor
One of the factors that make Krazy House so hard to watch is the character of Mrs. Christian, played by Alicia Silverstone. The beginning of Mrs. Christian is quite fun. She is the sitcom cliché of a mother who works. That is, a woman suffering an enormous amount of stress due to having to work both at her job and at home. If that wasn’t enough, she is also gaslighted and disrespected in every way possible by her husband, who’d rather drug her to death than admit he’s wrong.
From her perspective, this is a horror film. One that gets darker and darker until, for no reason at all, it stops making sense or being interesting. She suddenly, and inexplicably, decides to beg one of the raiders for sex and attention like a horny chihuahua. When did she become a brainless nymphomaniac? No one knows. Is this some kind of comedically enhanced Stockholm syndrome? Yes, very likely. Does it read as yet another female character written by a man who’d rather think they are all evil sluts than actually meet a real-life woman? Also, yes.
The funny man… in theory
As for the main character Mr. Christian, portrayed by Nick Frost. He is the one that will determine if you enjoy this film or not. This decision is a lot more personal since it doesn’t involve any topic outside of comedy itself. Are you the kind of person who finds useless people who only make things worse funny, or not? Simply put, if you still think Steve Urkel (Family Matters, 1989-1998) was hilarious. Or if you laughed out loud every time Jesse (Breaking Bad, 2008-2013) screwed up a perfect plan with his stupidity, chances are, you will have a riot with this one. If, on the other hand, you feel like strangling someone when people reach insane levels of nonsensical behaviour, you might wanna stay clear of this one. Your heart and mental sanity will thank you.
All in all, Krazy House is an average movie with an unexplainably good cast. Its message is simple, yet its position confusing. The lines between good humour, bad taste, and a desperate need for any kind of attention are almost invisible in a work that seems to be more keen on ruffling anyone’s feathers than on actually telling a story or making you laugh.
Advice to take from this movie:
- There’s nothing worse than a comedy that tries too hard, it’s awkward to watch.
- Some types of comedy are reserved for a very specific type of person.
- Trying to watch a movie surrounded by men with Michael Scott (The Office, 2005-2013) complex will 100% sour your experience.
What’s your take? Have you watched Krazy House? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀