House of Darkness

The movie House of Darkness is a psychological thriller written and directed by Neil LaBute, who also directed In the Company of Men, The Shape of Things, and The Wicker Man. It was released in theaters in September 2022 and then released digitally later the same month. The movie was filmed in Fayetteville (Washington County) and co-produced by Rockhill Studios of Fayetteville.

After a seemingly successful pickup at a bar, the confident and handsome Hap (Justin Long) drives the young bombshell Mina (Kate Bosworth) back to her house with the hopes of having sex with her. Her house turns out to be a multi-million-dollar castle in the woods. Once invited in, Hap begins to see mysterious figures in dark hallways but decides to let it go when Mina comes back to the room with a whiskey and a seductive smile. The two talk for a while until things begin to heat up, but they are soon interrupted by Mina’s sister, Lucy (Gia Crovatin). Having been under the impression that he was alone in the house with Mina, Hap is spooked by the sudden appearance of Lucy. But, while mortified they got caught in a compromising position, Hap is relieved that those earlier visions of his now have an explanation.

The three sit together for a bit in the thick tension until Mina offers to get the group another drink. While Mina is away, Hap briefly dozes off into a disturbing dream. Then while still waiting for Mina with the drinks, Lucy takes Hap on a tour of the castle. The two explore and flirt until they meet with Mina back in a larger living room. Now under the impression that both the sisters are wanting to spend the night with him, he shares a fake story of how he imagines the night will go under the guise of it being the “ghost story” they requested. In return, Lucy tells Hap a far more haunting tale of two sisters who, after finding a young girl on the brink of death in the forest, nurse her back to health “drop by drop” and spend the next hundred years hunting down men like the girl’s abusers and doing to them the same thing Hap experienced in his dream.

Feeling the more sinister tone in the room, Hap explains that he is lucky the story is not real and that there are only two sisters in front of him. Unfortunately for Hap, the third sister, named Nora (Lucy Walters), appears behind him. Now thoroughly freaked out and one drink too deep to think clearly, Hap wants to go home, but the sisters refuse to release him. He begins to curse and scream, until Mina opens the previously locked door for him, then takes his moment of relief as he is about to leave to sink her teeth into his neck. Knocked down by the pain and shock, Hap skitters away, only to find himself cornered by the three vampiric sisters, who devour him.

House of Darkness had its premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2022 and then its international premiere in Vancouver, Canada, at the Fantasia Film Festival, where it won the Cheval Noir award for best cinematography. The movie was entirely filmed on the property of the Dromborg Castle in Fayetteville. Constructed in 2008, the stone building sits on nearly forty acres of wooded hills.

For additional information:
“House of Darkness.” Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18224610/ (accessed September 11, 2026).

Sobczynski, Peter. “House of Darkness.” RobertEbert.com, September 9, 2022. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/house-of-darkness-movie-review-2022 (accessed September 11, 2026).

Samantha R. Lindstrom
Little Rock, Arkansas