House of 9

A young woman, Lea, is kidnapped and awakens in a mansion-like house. She leaves her room and finds other people who are still asleep. Attempting to flee, she finds that all of the exits are sealed and panics, resulting in her fainting. Lea is awakened by a priest, and finds that the other seven people have awoken too. A voice comes over a speaker announcing that they are to play a game. The voice states that they must kill one another until only one is left, after which the survivor will go free and be compensated with five million dollars.

The players attempt to escape by breaking down the door using a dining table as a battering ram and digging through the basement, but to no avail. A sound from the kitchen reveals a dumbwaiter with food. In the dining room, the players introduce themselves: Father Duffy is a priest, Jay is a cop with a pistol, Lea is a dancer, Claire is a tennis player, Francis is a musician and Cynthia is his wife, Al B is an ambitious rapper, Shona is a drug addict, and Max is a fashion designer. Shona's ankle bracelet monitor gives some players hope that this may attract outside help. After dinner, the players choose who sleep together in the bedrooms with Cynthia and Francis taking one, Father Duffy getting his own while the others share.

The next morning, an unknown assailant sneaks in and attacks Jay. The stranger flees and Jay and Lea assemble everyone in the hallway where they all argue. Afterwards, Jay confines in Lea that she and Duffy are the only ones he trusts. Soon the group hear noise from outside and try to get their attention, but fail. Disheartened, they open the wine cabinet and get drunk, except for Duffy, Lea, and Jay. When Francis returns, he finds Al B making advances on Cynthia, causing the two men fight. When Cynthia intervenes, Al B pushes her and knocks her head against the stone railing, killing her. As punishment, Jay locks Al B in a room using a pipe to hold the door shut. Later during dinner, Al B screams to be let out. Duffy brings him food, but he escapes and savagely beats Jay with the pipe. Everyone, including Al B, becomes visibly distressed by this. With his dying breath, Jay gives Duffy his gun.

The next day, the six remaining players find food and wine. Francis visits Al B, who is remorseful over what happened with his wife while the former apparently forgives him. Later Father Duffy and Lea find Al B hanging from the ceiling, apparently having killed himself. After another group argument, Francis retreats and show signs of a mental breakdown. Shona and Claire argue in their room, escalating to Claire stabbing Shona with a cork screw. Meanwhile, Francis visits Lea in her room in her bathroom, ripping the light fixture from the wall and throwing it into the sink, electrocuting her. Father Duffy finds Claire, who claims it was self defense. He leaves to look for Lea and finds her on the bathroom floor. Claire goes to get food and finds Max and offers to form an alliance with him.

Francis attacks Father Duffy, but the priest shoots him in the stomach. Father Duffy returns to the foyer and sees Max strangling Claire, causing him to shoot Max in the head. Francis stabs the Father and retrieves the gun, killing Claire and then Father Duffy. Lea, who survived the electrocution, his I a bathroom and discovers the glass shards that Francis had hidden earlier. Francis discovers that Lea is alive and goes after her. As he toys with her, Lea stabs him in the ensuing struggle and runs to a balcony. Francis charges at her and they flip over the railing. Lea lands on top of Francis, but when she gets up, she realizes the shard had pierced Francis in the heart as he dies.

The front door opens, revealing a bright light and a bag on the floor: presumably with the money. She walks through the corridor to another part of the house, finding four others with bags and visibly shaken. The film ends with a fearful Lea realizes that the game is not over.

• Dennis Hopper - Father Michael Duffy[1]
• Kelly Brook - Lea[1]
• Hippolyte Girardot - Francis[1]
• Susie Amy - Claire Leevy[1]
• Morven Christie - Shona[1]
• Peter Capaldi - Max Roy[1]
• Asher D - Al B[1]
• Raffaello Degruttola- Jay[1]
• Julienne Davis - Cynthia[1]
• Jim Carter - The Watcher (voice)[1]

Filming for House of 9 took place in Romania.[2]

House of 9 received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. An especially harsh review from the web site Film Verdicts called the film "preposterous pretentiousness".[3] Dread Central said, "House of 9 does what it sets out to do, and that’s to deliver to its viewers a movie that sucks you in until you cannot breathe."[4] DVD Talk said, "See it for the hotties, for the nasty kill scenes, and for the always-insane Dennis Hopper at his most adorably weird."[5] The Hartford Courant reviewed the film, noting that "As with "Saw II'' (and almost any slasher movie these days), the killings become tedious, something to be endured so you can see how it ends."[6]

The DVD was released on 14 February 2006 in the US.

• House of 9 at IMDb
• House of 9 at AllMovie
• House of 9 at Rotten Tomatoes