Eloise (2016)

Eloise has the rare kind of haunted-house pull where the setting isn’t just creepy wallpaper—the abandoned asylum feels like a labyrinth of bad history, and every corridor seems to breathe out secrets. It starts with a simple, almost greedy premise (four friends breaking in for a document) and patiently tightens the screws into a mystery-thriller that’s as much about unraveling buried truths as it is about surviving the night. Director Robert Legato leans into atmosphere and disorientation—flickering lights, echoing halls, unsettling glimpses—while Eliza Dushku and Robert Patrick give the story a grounded center amid the panic and dread. It’s not for viewers who want clean, bloodless scares or a gentle ride, but if you like your horror moody, grim, and laced with sinister institutional lore, Eloise is an invitingly dark place to get lost in.

Eloise wants to be a grim, twisty haunted-asylum mystery where greed and family secrets collide with the building’s ugly history, and on paper that’s a solid hook. In practice, it leans hard on familiar “creepy institution” tropes and jumpy imagery without building much tension or emotional investment, so the scares can feel more noisy than unsettling. The writing and performances don’t consistently sell the characters’ choices, and despite a potentially rich real-world location, the film rarely turns the setting into something truly memorable. If you’re happy with a slick-looking, mid-budget spook ride to kill 90 minutes, you might get by—but if you want smart plotting, strong acting, or a genuinely chilling asylum film, this probably isn’t your stop.