Forever Home is a 2023 horror-comedy film which he directed and co-wrote with Drew Leatham. The film attempts to satirize the famous haunted house trope by interfacing scares with comedy.
Plot Summary
In this horror satire, a young couple, Jules and Ryan, invest their life savings into their dream home, only to find out that it is haunted. They hire a medium named Meg in an effort to help them get rid of the ghosts, but the séance goes horribly wrong. They become trapped in the house and uncover a terrible secret that puts their lives and afterlives at risk.
Cast and Crew
Sammie Lideen as Jules
Drew Leatham as Ryan
Alison Campbell as Meg
Michael DeCamp as The Dead Man
Shelly Boucher as Peggy
Cody Hunt as Max
Sean Oliver simultaneously directed the film, and added it to his portfolio of screenplay and production work along with Drew Leatham. Daniel Mendoza did the cinematography, while D.A. McCormick did the score. Produced by Amoroma Productions, Third Productions, and Phoenix Palm Productions the film was a collaboration of many.
Critical Reception
Both critics and fans of the genre received Forever Home with mixed reactions:
A reviewer from Rotten Tomatoes critiqued the film saying, “The directing was abysmal, absolutely no vision throughout the film.”
In contrast, one user review on Letterboxd commended the film stating, “this was an incredibly fun, lovingly-crafted horror comedy that is equally scary and funny.”
Another review from Morbidly Beautiful described it as “full of humor, charm, and heart” noting that while it lacked scares, it was brimming with creativity and fun.
Conclusion
Forever Home tries to blend horror and comedy with a haunted house story. It is clear that humor and charm have been infused into it, but reception of the execution and overall effect tends to differ among viewers.