A House on the Bayou is an Epix original that recently showed up on Hulu so I gave it a try. And I must be a crazy person, but I really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t expect that from a direct-to-streaming Blumhouse pic, especially one with a pretty average rating. But here we are.

The flick is about a couple in a troubled marriage who take their young teen daughter on a family vacation to an old house (on the bayou). They quickly encounter an older teen named Isaac and his grandpappy who invite themselves over for dinner. And won’t leave. Odds of them being normal human beings are low.

This movie lives and dies on whether Isaac and Grandpappy are good characters and they totally worked for me. They are creepy and mysterious… I was never sure what they were going to do next… and what they could do or just make happen. Isaac in particular is a great, punchable evil little bastard.

The rest of the movie is basically a twisted morality play. A great big setup to teach this messed up family some lessons. And I was hooked. I found it mysterious, creepy, eerie, and unpredictable. Yeah, sometimes it gets really extra with the editing, the score, and the acting… but generally speaking, the movie manages to hold on. Maybe the ending was a little on the nose, but it’s a fun way to set up a possible franchise for the villains (which I doubt will happen).

I was quite impressed by this film. I didn’t see it coming and I wonder if it just caught me in the right frame of mind. Might be worth checking out if you like creepy flicks and/or alternate home invasion type films (where the nightmare is not being able to get rid of unwanted visitors).

Score: 85