Hausen (2020)
5/10
Watchable, but ultimately falls short.
10 May 2021
This is gloomy stuff, the atmosphere is so relentless in its grimy aesthetic that you'll feel like you need a really good wash after each episode. The titular housing block itself, along with the evil gooey-goop monster that resides there are presented as a good metaphor for grief, poverty and addiction, all of which are well explored. Light entertainment, this is not.

The trouble is, it's not really entertainment of any sort. The dialogue is sparse, which adds to the general ambience I suppose, but there's not enough here to otherwise keep the viewer engaged.

Hausen is fine as a collection of what are essentially moody horror-lite sketches, but to be honest, there's only about 2 hours-worth of actual stuff here. Stretched out over 8 long episodes, it does become tiresome.

Be warned, there is no pay-off here and you won't be rewarded for your patience come the finale. In fact, the ending isn't really an ending. It's plain wackery, weirdness for its own sake in a similar vein to Space Odyssey. It doesn't invite you to speculate on what it all means, as much as it just gives up on trying to make any sense whatsoever.

It's a shame really. The atmosphere created is unique, the script is decent and well acted, it just never realises its potential. Not something I'd recommend unless you're super stuck for something to watch in the horror genre.
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