#31Days: This House Has People In It (2016)

"This House Has People In It" is a short analog horror film from writer/director Alan Resnick and writers Robby Rackleff and Dina Kelberman. After an opening scroll of white data on a black computer screen, we see the film unfold from the perspective of nine different security cameras. A birthday party is going to happen. Everyone is getting ready except for the teenage daughter. She is laying on the floor of the kitchen, alive but unresponsive, as the world keeps moving around her.

I often find myself thinking about "This House Has People In It." This is another one of the Adult Swim-broadcast specials that leans into the absurd, the weird, and often the disturbing, like "Too Many Cooks" or Holiday Yule Log. The use of analog horror as a medium to explore this particular nightmare is the perfect choice.

The cameras become an objective witness to deep-seated family conflict, rotating to follow the action, zooming in and out, even falling out of focus when too much happens at once. These parents are clearly struggling with their teenage daughter. They talk about her friends, her behavior, and her attempts to essentially sabotage big moments by pulling attention. The daughter is clearly used to this and doesn't respond.

Meanwhile, the birthday boy waits patiently by the sliding door for his guests to arrive, left alone as his parents are too busy trying to "solve" their teenage daughter to be with him. A grandmother or other older relative sits in the room with him, tuning out the escalating conflict while watching TV on a comfy chair. The baby sits in the high chair alone. They're all clearly used to this constant fight happening around them.

There are other witnesses too, but they don't necessarily have the connection, let alone the responsibility, to step into family conflict. A handyman is working in the basement, occasionally stopping to stare up at the noise coming from the kitchen. The boy's guests start arriving for the party with no one to let them in. They can hear the screams from outside, but have no way to really step into another family's business.

"This House Has People In It" is as brightly lit as it is disturbing. We watch in real time as the family's flimsy hold on what they should actually be, a family, falls apart. There is no way to stop it. The world keeps moving around them. The party guests play in the yard. The smoke from the pots keeps rising. And those damn cameras keep rolling, capturing every moment of the slow-building disaster.

"This House Has People In It" is available to stream on the Adult Swim YouTube channel.

#31Days is an annual tradition around here, even if the results aren't always published. For decades now, I've watched and reviewed a different horror film every day in the month of October. 2026 sees the return of the reviews to Sketching Details in real time.