They Live Inside Us
Halloween is right around the corners. Apart from the cute Halloween costumes of children trick or treating, it is again the time of the year where scary clowns, masked serial killers, deranged psychos, and supernatural beings walk freely on the surface of the earth, but in costumes, of course. However, just the thought of these creatures, even though it is not yet Halloween will make anyone cringe with fear. Imagine being alone at night, or maybe driving in the middle of nowhere, visualizing them will trigger a certain feeling with elevated emotions, and creates unwanted apparitions then ignites fear. But are these fears activated because of the presence of these entities, or is it within us? Are we being manipulated by our minds or hounded by our thoughts from our own darkness within? I hope you are up for a scary and mind-boggling story because we are about to tackle a horror feature titled “They Live Inside Us” written and directed by Michael Ballif.
They Live Inside Us takes us on the eve of Halloween, where our lead characters Jake and his daughter Dani, are set to spend the night at an abandoned house. Jake, being a writer, is looking to find inspiration for his horror story. He finds interest in a photo of a woman who was standing in front of the house. He started creating different terrifying stories with the woman as the protagonist. Tales of her being chased by a psycho, hounded by a masked killer, and hunted by a scary clown, to name a few. However, there is something with this woman that he seems unable to finish his work or makes him discontented by his story. So he explored more of the house. He started experiencing out of this world scenario which also included the apparition of his deceased wife. The energy of the haunted house began to take its toll on Jake, and unfortunately, he exhausted it out to his disabled daughter Dani. After their heated and emotional exchange, Jake diverted to writing. But it only led him to more unexplained activities and occurrences inside the house, which became more extreme, and led him to discover the disappearance of his daughter. The house starts to play with Jake’s mind more as he is unable to find Dani. He began to re-lived the context he has written, and then gradually unfolds the truth about his story.
Michael Ballif killed it in creating and directing this film. I super enjoyed watching it. I love how the story is kind of manipulative in a way because it will divert your attention to the stories that Jake is creating, when all along, the real events are pieces of puzzles from each of them. I also enjoyed watching James Morris and Emily Broschinsky (Jake and Dani). Both of them superbly delivered the father-daughter act and pulled off an excellent performance on every scene. Lastly, I’d like to give commendation on how gripping the events in this story was. The horror, the intensity, plus the drama seriously oozes intrigue that had me at the edge of my seat until the last minute. Amazing, Amazing movie, not just in time for Halloween but recommended all year long!
