Nesting

The Nesting (1981)

Lauren is the author of a popular book who is suffering from some writer’s block as wall as agoraphobia (she is afraid to leave her apartment in the city). Eventually her therapist convinces her to move to the country for a while, hoping this helps with her condition. So she and her boyfriend go looking at rentals and she accidentally finds a house that looks just like the one from the novel she wrote. Of course she rents it and soon starts to suspect that it is haunted. And it also seems that she might have some kind of connection to the house, it’s past, and the ghosts that haunt it. This leads her to do some digging, which the locals aren’t happy about. She does unravel the mysteries of the house, but will she survive to tell anyone?

I hadn’t heard of this movie when the screener from Blue Underground showed up in the mail. So I didn’t have any expectations when I sat down to check it out. Honestly The Nesting is a surprising little movie. Basically what we have here is an old school ghost story with some restless spirits roaming around a house looking to set some things right. The pacing of the movie is perfect with a slow build up while the story is unraveled for both the main character of Lauren and the audience as well. Of course this might bug some viewers that aren’t into a movie that is a slow burn, but I liked it. It gives us a chance to get to know the characters and when the big secret is revealed at the end it makes it all the more satisfying. Though be warned that The Nesting is one of those movies that is in love with dream sequences and other plot devices like this. So often it can be confusing trying to figure out what is real and what isn’t. Other then that I have no complaints about the story.

The movie does a good job of creating some jump scares and is kind of creepy at times. This is a good thing and is what I would expect from a haunted house movie. The scenes are light in such a way that it creates a lot of atmosphere and tension. Unfortunately there are also scenes with the ghosts that are set during the day that I didn’t really care for. The movie uses that soft focus technique to try to give the movie an otherworldly feel. It didn’t work for me. Since this is a horror movie so I wanted to talk about the effects. We do get a couple of interesting scenes with a pike thru the neck, and some bullet hits. Other then that not so much in the way of gore. The Nesting is a splatter film, so be warned.

In spite of the issues that I had with the movie I still really liked the Nesting. The story was interesting and kept me guessing right until the end. And the way that they tie things up just works. There is nothing worse then watching a movie that doesn’t give you a satisfying ending. I’m going to recommend The Nesting. For more information on the release check out the Blue Underground website at http://www.blue-underground.com/

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer