Blumhouse Blues: A Review Of Welcome To The Blumhouse

Of course, the Indian(-ish) segment of Amazon Prime’s horror-lite Welcome to the Blumhouse series would have to be titled Evil Eye and tackle the subject of arranged marriage too. It begins like one of those bland American-desi romantic comedies—replete with cliches such as the Indian mother who thinks and talks about nothing other than getting her daughter married off, the rational, relaxed father who appears to devolve parenting entirely to his wife and the equally amused children, rolling their eyes at their mother while going along with her every wish. But there are hints of disquiet and past trauma: Sarita Choudhury, too often relegated to roles that belie her talents, plays the mother whose daughter resists her nuptial nagging, eventually meeting a handsome, ostensibly perfect, man, but ...

The other new feature, Nocturne, is more promising—pairing together the intensity of a sibling rivalry and that of a concert pianist aspiring to life. But, atmospheric as Nocturne can sometimes be, it seems to think that it is enough to gesture at infinitely superior films such as Rosemary’s Baby, Carrie—and Michael Haneke’s profoundly unsettling The Piano Teacher—to be ranked in the same company.

The Blumhouse production company’s reputation rests on its sharp, schlock-savvy horror movies, particularly the acerbic Get Out. But, despite being competently made, it is hard to think of a reason to watch any of these films, especially when there are so many better genre classics on the same platform.