Undermined by murky lighting (it is hard to be spellbound, captivated, awestruck, creeped-out, anxious, or the like if you can't *see* what is supposed to terrify and overwhelm you) and a real lack of scares within the first hour, "The Haunted House Project" (I watched this under the title, Deserted House), a Korean found footage version of The Grudge, isn't able to build or sustain momentum. The pixelation and distortion in the photographic shooting inside the house and its effects on the film, obscured and warped by what was possessing the place are attempts to tell us that something was *off* in this house, that what was born in it thanks to a murder that set off a nasty curse never to be lifted can misshapen anything that comes in contact with it. A film crew (well, a main crew and a small trio of "ghost explorers" (basic kids from high school, clueless but enthusiastic, if a bit unlearned), with a second unit of two taking a look at the place, prior to the arrival of the main crew, falling prey themselves to something wrong in the place) take on their next project: a house which featured a murdered cookie factory magnate and his family, supposedly slaughtered by the ghost of the secretary the magnate was having an affair with (and perhaps murdered, her tomb a big mudhole puddle near his factory; an attempt to use a machine to dig up her body resulted in the vehicle collapsing and the operator dying). They soon encounter a manifestation that attacks them, using members of their own group as hosts as weapons for a terrible late night offensive. The majority of the film has the crew investigating and searching out the place. The music accompaniment, used for dramatic effect, seems desperate. Not being able to identify what was going on a lot of the time left me rather tired and burdened. I wanted to like this, I did. That house--with it falling apart at the seams, garbage and trash all over the place, as the walls, floors, ceiling, and windows (the basic working structure of the house, what represents the house's look and identity) are all disheveled and mangled--is a horror fan's dream. It is the perfect place for a ghost to haunt...and cause painful and murderous mischief if so inclined. Those involved in this wanted to give an authenticity. I do admire that desire, and the attempt to make it look like discovered footage yet to be refined, edited into a cohesive package for proper viewing by the public. But sometimes those involved in a film such as this--built to unsettle and be impactful on numerous levels--can lose sight of one important fact: we need to be able to see what is supposed to effect us.

A team of ghost hunters is followed by a film crew to an abandoned cookie factory to investigate some supposed paranormal occurrences after some murders years earlier.After they arrive, a lot of time is spent exploring the factory and surrounding buildings, and not much happens for a while. This is the build-up stage of these types of found footage horror movies where usually some suspense is created, but not really in this case.Eventually it gets dark and things start to happen but it falls in the too little too late category, and I think it falls a little flat as the conclusion is not as scary as the filmmakers intend it to be. Another complaint I have is that once things start to go down, a creepy musical track is added to the mix, which detracts from the found footage experience.While not a terrible movie, I feel it could have been done much better.

"Pyega" ("The Deserted House") tells the story of a group of filmmakers that set off to film a documentary about a team of paranormal investigators. The team decides to visit and investigate a factory where a whole family was slaughtered and a ghost is said to appear and drive people insane. Well, it's safe to say that it doesn't go well.It doesn't go well for the team and the movie itself. Although a decent horror movie, with some very creepy situations (that are sometimes ruined by horrible visual effects - i.e. the camera pixelizing) the only thing that saves this film is the overall atmosphere of the place. I've had my own paranormal adventures with a group of people, going to supposedly haunted places and recording EVPs and etc, and this atmosphere was top notch, so I connected with it at some point. Although some of the activities they set out to do while on site are ridiculous and unheard of, which can break the atmosphere at times.The movie is also a slow builder, which makes it a bit predictable. The scares are a mix of original and cliché moments, although I've got to give props, because there are times where the movie is supposedly preparing for a hugely done cliché and then strays away from it, building up the tension once again.The ending was tad disappointing, and I enjoyed the overall exploration of the site a lot more. I also think that the characters could have been a lot more developed, even though this is a "Blair Witch" kind of film with a documentary theme, they could have evolved the characters a bit more for the viewer, because it doesn't make the viewer care at all for them when horrible things happen.Overall it's a good experience. If you like good atmosphere and psychological horror, watch it, it's not even that long.6 out of 10.

'Pyega' follows the Blair Witch Project formula almost to a t. From the setting of a documentary about a haunting to the first person hand held camera perspective to dimly lit scenes and plenty of screaming: the recipe for this type of horror has become common place at this point. Although this is a Korean movie it has none of the hallmarks of Asian cinema, instead it insists on adhering so closely to Blair Witch that it becomes nothing but an exercise in tedious repetition.The haunted house in question is half ruined to such a point that it is already dangerous without any claims to a supernatural entity with a malign intent. Perhaps the one saving grace of this movie, apart from the decent acting, is that despite a good one third of it being too dark to see anything at all in the final scenes the viewer does get to glimpse at something disturbing.Ultimately, there is not anything new or exciting about this movie and it ends up being rather disappointing. Coming in 2010 it is something of an anachronism in the world of horror in the way in reiterates well treaded ground without a hint of originality.