House of Little Deaths

Scout Tafoya seems to be aiming for two simultaneous and seemingly incongruous approaches here, mixing an intent eye on the prostitutes at the heart of House of Little Deaths with a more experimental and abrasive tone. The first half brazenly rejects all attempts at narrative, consisting solely of a single night in the brothel that forms the base of the film, as the prostitutes turn their tricks for a seemingly endless parade of men. Despite the observant shots of them as they get ready for the night, the women all seem to coalesce into one many-formed entity—perhaps for the best. The second half unfortunately does decide to venture into narrative, with increasingly diminishing returns from the already admittedly punishing first half. However, this is somewhat offset by the startling disruptions, such as the repeated shots, the extreme close-ups, the cuts to silence/mismatched shots with dialogue, and especially the colors, which are repeatedly tinted in many different hues, from blinding white to deep reds. House of Little Deaths is more than likely an hour too long and too impenetrable for its own good, but it is an admirable, worthy effort nonetheless.