“The film is a marvel. For its horror and much else besides, consider this a standing ovation … Writing of real skill, clichés upturned, pearls of detail scattered … a showstopper of a ghost story.” ★★★★★
Danny Leigh, Financial Times
HIS HOUSE (2020)
Three BAFTA nominations, including Outstanding British Film • Four BIFA wins • No.2 in UK Netflix movie charts • No.3 in US Netflix movie charts • 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes • Daily Telegraph Top Ten Movies for Halloween • Rolling Stone’s Ten Best Horror Movies of 2020
“Creepy and disorienting… Superlative horror.”
★★★★★
Anton Bitel, Little White Lies
“One of the best British horror debuts in years … Fuses the ghost story with a moving and impactful story about grief and guilt … a fresh twist on the haunted-house movie.”
★★★★☆
Chris Hewitt, Empire
“A tenacious calling card that should pique the interest of observant Hollywood execs.”
★★★★☆
Benjamin Lee, The Guardian
“A very scary, very smart movie – one that will linger long after the credits have rolled.”
★★★★★
Allen Adams, The Maine Edge
“A remarkable piece of British horror cinema.”
★★★★★
Katherine McLaughlin, Through the Trees
“His House is a brilliant first film.”
★★★★★
Carolyn Mauricette, View From The Dark
“A terrifying ride with an ambiguous, unsettling conclusion.”
Kim Newman, Sight & Sound
“Genuine jump scares are bolstered by the film’s spooky sound design, as well as terrific performances from Dirisu and Mosaku, whose terror is palpable.”
★★★★☆
Simran Hans, The Observer
“An absolute knockout. When we’re looking to the horror genre to tell us stories with such emotional resonance… This film does it just fantastically.”
Amy Nicholson, FilmWeek
“A terrifyingly effective evocation of horrors real and imagined.”
Leslie Felperin, Hollywood Reporter
“Electrifying, moving and very, very scary, His House bleeds heart-stopping fantasy into bleak reality.”
Jamie Graham, Total Film
“The mark of an excellent movie is if you’re still thinking about the story and the characters long after you’ve finished watching, and His House will certainly have that effect. Unmissable.”
10/10 Paul Kane, Sci-Fi Bulletin
“A chilling haunted-house horror movie with more on its mind than ghosts and jump scares.”
Tim Grierson, Screen Daily
“Twisty, absorbing and full of high drama.”
Jessica Kiang, Variety
“This is exactly the kind of quality film that Netflix needs. His House is a terrifyingly disturbing film that will move you to tears.”
Sheena Scott, Forbes
“#HISHOUSE will be compared to Get Out, but it is so much more than that.”
Rafael Motamayor, The Playlist
“Ratchets up the tension as fantasy bleeds into reality, and Weekes conjures up a welter of nightmarish tribal imagery. A seabound SFX sequence is a particular stunner.”
★★★★☆
Matt Glasby, Total Film
“#HisHouse is the real deal. Scariest #Sundance2020 flick by far — and one of the most beautiful and most moving.”
Joel Meares, Editor-in-Chief, Rotten Tomatoes
“A terrifying and emotional haunted house horror masterpiece.”
Corrin Rausch, geektyrant.com
“I can’t remember the last time a horror movie made me scream out loud, and then proceed to watch much of it in between my fingers. A major new vision in horror … as thoughtfully executed as it is terrifying.”
Nick Allen, rogerebert.com
“A very different kind of fright from start to finish.”
★★★★☆
Chris Knight, National Post
“His House is beautifully made, and its scares are monstrously effective, but its images of real-world dread remain unresolved, its specters unvanquished. The film leaves you with wounds that won’t heal.”
Bilge Eribi, New York Magazine
“Terrifying, heartbreaking, and utterly captivating – it’s one of the best movies of the year.”
Allen Almachar, The MacGuffin
Reviews of novels
“Just to be clear, The Viking Dead is about Vikings… fighting zombies. And, just to be completely clear, it is awesome … Pure, unadulterated, ludicrous fun.”
Jared Shurin, pornokitsch.com
“A novel that defies expectations and feels genuinely original in nearly every respect. It also manages to be by turns exciting, dramatic, romantic, complex and unpredictable.”
GoodReads review of Knight of Shadows
“I gave the first book a good review. This one is better, but I don’t have the option of a sixth star … Venables is going places in the action/horror/fantasy genres; you might as well get on board now.”
Blair Hodgkinson on The Red Hand
“I’ve read so many versions and watched so many movies. But these – the Guy of Gisburne novels – are my far and away favourites … A wonderful novel that brings to a close a thoughtful and fascinating series.”
GoodReads review of Hood
“Venables doesn’t miss a trick, pitching his dramatis personae from one frying pan into another fire with commendable zeal, and throwing a vividly realised assortment of threats at the page – zombies, Vikings, berserkers, traitors, flesh eating insects, a darkly brooding forest, and then something even worse than all of that … Each character is well drawn, with signifiers that help to make him real to the reader and give us reasons to care when the shit hits the fan, as it inevitably does … and kudos to Venables for giving us such a fully rounded nemesis for his heroes.”
Peter Tennant, Black Static