With the overturning of Roe vs Wade and the US government increasingly encroaching on citizens' bodily autonomy, horror dealing with the subject of pregnancy and parenthood has risen as a way to explore the very real-life horrors hitting the headlines. Kicking off the Friday of this year's FrightFest Glasgow is Izzy Lee's latest genre offering House Of Ashes, a film with a chilling and heartbreaking premise that should be firmly in the realms of fantasy, but as the 2021 case of Brittany Poolaw proves, can be a terrifying reality.
House Of Ashes begins with Mia Sheldon (Fayna Sanchez) sitting on her bathroom floor with blood spilling from beneath her dress. She looks at her hands and weeps, mourning the loss of her unborn son. Rather than being supported through her tragic loss, Mia is arrested for the death of her child as well as that of her husband Adam Sheldon (Mason Conrad), whose death by lethal injection obtained from the couple's veterinary surgery is later deemed to be suicide. The film starts as Mia begins her house arrest, with new partner Marc Winters (Vincent Stalba) moving into her home to help her through the difficult time. As well as working through her grief and dealing with the hatred she faces from the general public – including true crime obsessives banging down her front door – Mia soon begins experiencing strange phenomena which could be the work of humans, or something far worse.
The horror of House Of Ashes goes beyond its ‘is it, isn't it' dance with whether Mia is being hounded by a supernatural entity or not, forcing viewers to face the uncomfortable issues women in the US face when it comes to their bodies. At a time when Mia is at her most vulnerable, she is dehumanised even further by laws which reduce those with uteruses to incubators, stripping away their identities. In the current socio-political climate, what should be a situation firmly placed in the realm of nightmares is a sobering reality for those across the pond. Mia's heartbreak at the loss of her family compounds the sheer cruelty she is subjected to. While the paranormal activity she faces is enough to raise the hairs on your arms, watching a bereaved mother pack away her deceased child's belongings with a resigned look in her eyes will stick with you far longer.
Sanchez's performance as Mia is captivating, bringing to life the jaw-dropping difference between Mia before the tragedy, and then after. It's almost impossible to believe it is the same person in both scenarios, such is the range Sanchez brings to the role. Stalba delivers a similarly strong performance as Marc, whose simmering resentment towards Adam and impatience towards Mia's situation and mental state create much of the ticking time-bomb tension throughout the narrative. Despite some plot threads feeling less developed than others, creating a lull in parts of the narrative, Lee's ability to invoke terror on multiple levels is palpable throughout House Of Ashes which acts as a defiant statement against those stripping society of the humanity day-in, day-out, and a terrifying look at the ghastly treatment of women.
House Of Ashes had its international premiere at FrightFest Glasgow on 7 March 2025
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