The Strange House Plot Synopsis
The story begins like many other haunted house horrors. A family move to a quaint little village in the South of Austria. The house they’ve moved into is unfortunately cursed, at least if the locals are to be believed. Forced into packing up his old life and starting anew, 16 year old Hendrik and his brother Eddi have a tough time of it. Things take a turn for the worst though when Eddi starts acting strangely and begins sleepwalking. After being joined by Fritz and Ida, the group set out to uncover the mysteries lurking in the house.
What does Gobe mean?
Gobe is the word that Eddi scribbled on the wall during his sleepwalking stint early on. This is Slovenian for “mushrooms”, which is what Ralf and Roland’s crazed Mother, Amalia, allegedly used to kill her sons. Both Hendrik and Eddi wind up possessed through the movie, and the two characters essentially hint that poisonous mushrooms are what killed them.
What do the slugs and snails mean?
Throughout the movie, both slugs and snails are used as a recurring motif. Early on the kids step on a slug outside the house and Eddi actually draws a slug at one point too. These essentially foreshadow the arrival of the snail pendant, which belongs to Ms Rockl. She used to be the housekeeper for Amalia before everything turned sour.
How does The Strange House end?
Authorities race to the scene where Hendrik is trapped under water in the cave. This is the cave that his Mother Sabine has been working at earlier in the movie. Anyway, the water is up to his chin and Hendrik struggles to stay above water. Glancing over to the other side of the pool, he notices Ralf’s ghostly face in front of him and apologizes. Hendrik is saved from his fate, while Eddi awakens from the backseat of the car still possessed. He speaks Slovenian to Ms. Rockl and her son while they’re sat in the back of the police car. It’s Roland and he tells them “it was you.” Yes, it was Ms. Rockl all along and her snail pendant was the big giveaway over what happened. Interestingly this also ties into the salt too, which is used to ward off spirits and stop them crossing boundaries. This wraps up the mystery and explains who the murderers actually are.
What happened to Ralf and Roland?
Apparently the kids dying was all a big accident. Amalia was indeed crazy and Ms Rockl decided to poison her to save the kids, in her twisted ideology. Only, she didn’t bank on the kids being home and they ended up eating the poisoned food. Ms Rockl has been repenting ever since that happened and regrets her actions. After her confession, the poisoning case is re-opened and resolved. Amalia’s memory is salvaged and the final shot of the movie shows the ghostly remnants of the family all together by the gravestone outside. They can now rest in peace knowing that the truth has been told. To read our full thoughts on this movie, check out our spoiler-free review HERE!) Thanks for reading our Ending Explained article! What did you think of The Strange House’s ending? Did you guess what the snail pendant meant? Or were you caught off-guard? Let us know in the comments below!
