In a world where auteur-driven horror is on the rise and franchises seem to be declining, there’s never a shortage of original, spooky stories on the horizon. Marking yet another collaboration between writing and directing duo Gerald Crum and Michael Crum, The People in the Walls has no shortage of outstanding ideas but lacks the ability to deliver on them.
Rachel (McKenna Smith) finds herself indulging in the occult, conjuring people from walls, just as the title implies. Her newfound obsession isn’t necessarily a popular one, but she soon finds solace with Nancy (Natalia Santacoloma) and her brother Chris (Cole Crum), who share her fascination. These dark escapades do have some deadly caveats, though, and the three youngsters unknowingly set themselves up to pay the price for upsetting the other side.
At first glance, The People in the Walls looks and feels like a corny throwback horror flick with mature themes weaved into its plot. It’s almost like A Nightmare on Elm Street or Poltergeist. However, as the characters introduce themselves and the ghostly antics intensify, everything fails to come together cohesively. The performances are subpar and do little to convince the viewer of the odd happenings. While it would be a stretch to describe them as one-note, the actors struggle to deliver their lines when the terrors begin. Quieter moments are more effective, particularly when Smith and Santacoloma must make sense of their surroundings. These are the instances where Crum’s screenplay effectively balances the uneven tone of the feature.
Annoyingly, the sound design is all over the place, so the actors don’t even get a decent boost to their lines. Dialogue can feel distant, while the ill-timed jump scare sound beats suck all the tension out of scenes. It’s a real shame too, as the production design and general atmosphere of the film are quite serviceable. A scene in the woods, for example, with a bunch of missing persons posters hung on trees, is very well thought out. Wendigo wall art adorns a well-lit bedroom. However, poorly balanced audio further offsets these detailed set pieces that lead absolutely nowhere. Even if you were to crank the volume all the way up, it still wouldn’t save a plot riddled with inconsistencies.
Viral supernatural sensations are nothing new; in fact, characters embracing the paranormal can lead to some intriguing storytelling. The setup here is incredibly promising, but Crum’s screenplay seems to make up the rules as it goes. The entities that appear don’t follow any binding principles whatsoever, appearing from solid matter and empty spaces at will, even ignoring the level of light on occasion. Yes, forces like these are supposed to possess such abilities, but somehow the film just never provides any explanation for what their limitations are. Mythology can make or break a horror movie monster, and in The People In the Walls, the lack of cohesion is the ultimate undoer.
Perhaps undone by its own ambitions or a multitude of technical shortcomings, The People in the Walls let’s its potential slip away into the abyss, but not without showing flashes of excellence along the way.
