I just finished Home, a lesbian-themed supernatural horror movie. It has bad reviews on IMDb, but I’m here to tell you those reviews are wrong. Despite its low budget, Home is actually a solid horror film with a lot going for it.

We’ve got:

• A stressed-out interracial lesbian couple who bought a home on the cheap, as is.
• Their judgmental, super-religious daughter, who complains that everyone else in the house isn’t religious enough.
• A cute and innocent younger daughter about to start her first day at a new school.
• A nosy neighbor—a single guy who’s perving out over the lesbians.
• And, most amazingly, a beefcake with a fauxhawk who dresses like a youth pastor and clearly exists so the fundy daughter can relieve those forbidden desires.

And wow! The fundy daughter really gets wrecked while her lesbian moms are out of town and she’s babysitting her younger stepsister.

Now, full credit to the lead actress, Kerry Knuppe, who plays Carrie—the religious girl. Because she sells this character. The whole movie pretty much lives and dies on her motivations—being a judgmental but sexually frustrated Catholic girl who really wants to get plowed. I am incredibly convinced she sees our Christian beefcake as a big slab of man meat because trust me, there is nothing to this guy’s personality. He’s just as horny as she is.

And honestly? Carrie is painfully accurate to my experience living in religious communities. Spend any time among religious people, and you quickly realize sex is an undercurrent of everything. They say premarital sex is a sin and should only happen within marriage, but wow, do they love playing with fire. I have met my fair share of Carries—girls barely holding it together, fully willing to sin with just a little push.

Now, at this point, you’re probably thinking: Wait, I thought this was lesbian-themed? Where’s the horned-up lesbian innuendo?

Well… there is none.

To be perfectly honest, the lesbian moms seem pretty chaste—they might as well be roommates. The film kind of delves into how Carrie’s mom has changed, how she’s no longer religious, and how she’s built this new life. There’s some domestic squabbling, but I don’t feel any tension. And I think there’s a good reason for that: the lesbian relationship is secondary—it’s just a plot device to set up the conflict with the main character.

It’s very clear this film wasn’t written for a lesbian audience—or even for people who enjoy a little lesbian tension. No, no. This film was written for heterosexual women. The actual focus is on Carrie—a heterosexual woman—struggling with her religious beliefs while fighting her attraction to Christian Beefcake. And that character? She was written spectacularly.

That said, the lesbian moms do have their moments. I especially liked Heather Langenkamp (yep, she was in Nightmare on Elm Street), and it was great seeing her in another horror film, even a low-budget one. Samantha Mumba, who plays the other mom, does a fantastic job too. In less capable hands, her character could’ve been one-note. And maybe she was one-note—perpetually annoyed—but if she only had one note to sing, she sang it with all the spirit and aplomb available.

Now, the big question: Is this movie actually scary?

There were some jump scares, and yeah, I jumped a few times. The special effects were minimal but effective. And the twist ending? It actually unnerved me. It wasn’t what I expected, and that’s a good thing. Most horror movies are painfully predictable, but this one pretends to be predictable before sideswiping you.

That said, I do have a major bone to pick: the audio mix was terrible. The dynamic range was all over the place. I had to crank my theater system way up just to hear dialogue, and then—BAM!—a jump scare would blast through my entire room. And the worst part? The jump scares weren’t frequent, just sporadic enough to be really annoying. I hate when movie dialogue is barely audible. I’m already annoyed at how muffled Netflix and Prime Video audio is, but this was especially bad.

But, if you ignore the sound issues… ignore the fact that this film only has stereo… ignore the fact that you’ll have to crank the volume up way too high to hear anything…

It’s a solid horror movie. Compelling characters, ridiculous moments, and some legit scares.

Home is a recommend from me. If you like supernatural horror, go watch it.

@movies@lemmy.world