Rent Constantine: The House of Mystery (2022)

Constantine: The House of Mystery (aka DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery) review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

It’s weird how much closer these animated DC Comics movies come to the feeling of reading comic books. Constantine: The House of Mystery exists as a short story as well as a tie-in epilogue issue to the events of the DC Animated Movie Universe. It’s kinda fun to have a film that feels connected to this universe but also experimental enough within its own realm. The result is a rather refreshing dose of occultic horror that can still interact with the world of Superman and Batman.

If you’re not updated on the demise/rebirth of the DCAMU, here’s the brief review the film gives you. The universe turned into a bloodbath when Darkseid attempted to invade Earth, resulting in the gruesome deaths of many, many heroes. With the Earth beyond repair, The Flash made the controversial call to go back in time and change the events of the universe, essentially resetting the timeline before Darkseid did all the damage. That’s where Justice League Dark: Apokolips War ended. The House of Mystery is where it continues, at least for Constantine.

Constantine, the supernatural detective, finds himself awakening in the House of Mystery. He can’t remember how he got there or what he’s doing there. He does find all his old friends and his lover Zatanna in the halls, as well as some kids he apparently had. It seems like a happy life for himself so Constatine runs with it. That happiness is brief, however, as his kids and friends turn into monsters that devour him. It seems like the end for John Constantine. Except it’s not.

John awakens back in the house with memories of his premature death. He’s treated to a different time in the House of Mystery. The ending, however, is the same. If his friends and family don’t kill him in their monster forms, then demons from another realm will. Again and again, John finds himself being lured and murdered for what seems like an eternity. The deaths are quite violent as well but grow to a point where John almost takes humor in the absurdity.

Throughout his dismal journey, there’s a questioning of what he did to deserve this and if this is his own hell. It’s only once he finally breaks away enough to make contact with the supreme being Spectre that he realizes this is all a punishment for trying to play God with the universe and that his soul will be forever tormented. However, in true Constantine fashion, he finds a few loopholes considering his soul has already been bartered by more than a few dark forces. How John escapes the House of Mystery is both clever and very telling about John’s perceptions of life.

The film proceeds rather briskly at 27 minutes long, rarely outstaying its welcoming or lamenting too much on John’s suffering. It lingers just long enough to be an entertaining dose of dark horror and humor. As a little addendum to Apokolips War, it’s quite pleasing, especially when considering the meandering nature of previous DC Comics animated movies. To fill out the rest of the DVD, other DC Showcase shorts have been included to fill out the running time, per the usual DC Showcase format. While that may be disheartening that Constantine’s story is brief and shares time with other DC Comics heroes (who have next to nothing to do with his occult-like nature), the short film itself is worth watching just to get a quick and witty dose of John in a film all his own.