The House of Yes (1997)

Directed by Mark Waters. Starring Parker Posey, Freddie Prinze Jr., Josh Hamilton, Tori Spelling, Geneviève Bujold. [R]

Bizarre black comedy of incestuous twins Posey and Hamilton, obsessed with the Kennedy assassination to the point where Posey dresses up as Jackie Onassis, and they get off on “reenacting” the fateful convertible ride through Dallas. Freshly released from a stay at a psychiatric hospital, she’s shocked to learn that he’s now engaged to a “lowly” waitress (Spelling), and he’s invited her to meet the family over Thanksgiving. Taking place over the course of a long night spent in a Virginian manor during a hurricane, this “The Fall of the House of Usher”-inspired narrative’s stage roots are never in doubt. Director Waters’ script adaptation is as hit-and-miss as the acting—Posey and mother Bujold are both very good, but Spelling and second brother Prinze seem unnaturally lost and anxious in their roles. If the events didn’t seem so contrived and the behavior didn’t seem so mannered, it might have been an amusing twist on the dark, stormy night cliché; as is, it’s just as easy (or hard) to embrace as it is to dismiss. As seen in flashbacks, Posey’s character is played as a teenager by Rachael Leigh Cook.

50/100