DC Showcase Animated Shorts-Constantine: The House of Mystery

• Directed by Matt Peters
• May 3, 2022
• Based on the character created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben

Voice Cast

• John Constantine-Matt Ryan
• Jason Blood/Etrigan, Richie-Ray Chase
• Gary Lester, Negral-Robin Atkin Downes
• Beelzebub, Little Della, Little Jack-Grey Griffin
• Zatanna-Camilla Luddington
• Ashox, Chas-Damian O’Hare
• Spectre-Lou Diamond Phillips

For his actions during the Apokolips War, John Constantine is trapped in the House of Mystery-a domain from which no one can escape.

Constantine: The House of Mystery is around 30 minutes making it about as long as a Twilight Zone episode. And when you think about it, this bit of animation pretty much is a Twilight Zone episode but using DC characters. This is a sequel to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War and is about the consequences to the character of John Constantine for what he did. And that was getting The Flash to cause another flashpoint in order to have a second chance for the world.

At its core the narrative is how guilt can prevent us from being happy and our personal baggage is the greatest threat to us. Constantine repeatedly has everything he could possibly want but it’s always ruined by demons. A bit heavy handed in that imagery there.

There is an element in this where it becomes for John being not what he thought. The thing is the dialogue that sets up the situation made it sound like a punishment and I have a little trouble understanding how it is actually not based on what was said. It what was first said was there wording that could be interpreted as it being a reward rather than a punishment.

Spectre, a long-running DC character has been tasked by the universe to imprison John Constantine in the House of Mystery. The Spectre, though, didn’t stick him in this dream-like reality to punish him with endless nightmares but to give him a bit of a reward. However, John’s personal demons keep him from being happy. They warp what he wants into a punishment. Good idea but they force that revelation.

That creates another issue. Spectre sounds like he knows such a situation would arise. He knowns John can never really be happy and carries guilt over the mistakes of his past, yet creates a scenario where that guilt would easily manifest into something that would torment him.

Despite these concerns this 30 minute or so short works. While not gory (that tends to happen off screen), the story is engaging. What sells it is the ending. The creativity of it mixed with humor brought it all together.

Constantine: The House of Mystery is entertaining, despite my problems, works on something deeper than simply a comic book story. One of the finer entries in the DC animated catalog.