’Tis the season of the haunted house, and audiences too afraid to visit one in person have plenty to choose from if they prefer to stay home and visit Amityville or Hill House.  Creaky floorboards and eerie shadows chill the bones by what they leave unseen send shivers down our spines.  The finest of these horror house tours allow our minds to conjure the creepies lurking in the crawlspaces. Indie efforts often stand out for their ability to do a lot with a little, which is why I Will Never Leave You Alone piqued my interest. It presents a unique twist on the typical narrative of this genre: Why don’t they leave?

Writer and director DW Medoff offers an intriguing premise: Richard Marwood (Kenneth Trujillo) is a parolee placed under the supervision of a realtor (Kimberly Maxwell).  She takes him directly to one of her properties for sale, which is rumored to be haunted by malevolent spirits and is making it impossible for her to sell. If Richard can spend six days alone in the house, he’ll help cleanse it of its supernatural occupants. However, if he leaves, he risks returning to prison. Embracing the challenge, he willingly locks himself inside, prepared to exorcise not only the ghosts but also the personal demons from his past.

While the set-up holds the promise of a taut and terrifying thriller, Medoff’s film takes a different turn, descending into a confusing mix of themes, never quite finding a comfortable place to land.  The concept of being scared and unable to scream could have created nail-biting tension.  Instead, it’s more a quirky plot device limiting his ability to communicate with a genial handyman (Christopher Genovese) than representing a genuine source of fear.

To his credit, Trujillo helps to sell Richard’s inner turmoil even without the use of his voice.  His facial expressions and body language convey the torment absent in Medoff’s script and direction.  Anytime he has to interact with others, like the realtor or the handyman, the tone takes an awkward shift, as though the characters were spliced in from a less serious movie. 

Initially, the frights hit their mark – the jump scares are effective, thanks to the atmospheric and claustrophobic nature of the setting.  There’s a real sense of menace as dark hands slink out of shadows and the face of a witchy Crone (Emma Anne Wedemeyer), stares back from across a yard cloaked by night.  However, when the suspense should be escalating, the film veers into bizarre territory.  Horror is replaced by grotesque scenes designed to shock—nails driven into eyes, microwaved horrors, a crown of thorns—all of which derail the tension and tip the story into absurdity. 

Tonal confusion continues in the film’s emotional beats, especially evident in its attempt to explain Richard’s grief and trauma before going to prison.  The death of his wife (Katerina Eichenberger) was a catalyst. Still, to get to that plot point, you need to wade through scenes of questionable taste and half-hearted melodrama, which are underdeveloped. Without Medoff delivering the emotional or psychological punch that should accompany them, a series of monstrous spectacles in the final act feels like chaotic macabre props rather than anything effective or focused.

Starting with a clever twist on cliché conventions, in the end, I Will Never Leave You is a haunted house best left unvisited.  Despite a somewhat successful performance by Trujillo, the over-the-top shocks and confusion in tone will leave horror fans hoping for a spine-tingling experience more bewildered than afraid.  Pack your bags and find another place to spend your evening.