Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

The 1970's was an optimum year for horror films in almost every country in the world. From a social stand-point you could blame A LOT of things on why there were so many violent and shocking films, but personally I'd have to say that directors back then just knew how to bring chills up your spine. Such is actually the case in Don't Go in the House, a bizarre little low budget psychological horror/character study film about a quiet, little guy who was tortured as a kid by his mother using fire and the night his mother dies he just... snaps.

One thing I find interesting about Don't Go in the House is that it's NOT a Slasher film; in fact there's little Slasher film about it. There isn't even any blood! Well okay, one nose bleed, but that's literally it. The movie isn't trying to scare you with bodily fluids, it goes a completely different angle and DAMN does it work... The killer isn't some goofy super man in a mask or wearing flamboyant colors, he's a normal, ordinary guy. If anything makes him stand out from the crowd it's the simple fact that he tends to be a pretty snappy dresser (nice disco duds). His methods of murder are closer to realism, too. He doesn't go on random kill-sprees in populated areas that just HAPPEN to be isolated, he doesn't hunt, he lures. He lures women into his house, knocks them out and then... guhhh, ick... he INCINERATES them... That may not sound creepy, but the way the bodies are made in the film they look pretty realistic.

Of course, the small budget on this title shows immensely. There aren't too many notable performances save for maybe the main character, the main character's friend and one cute drunk girl ("It's a bar, dummy!"). Oh, and the main character's boss, but he was only in three scenes. The rest of the acting is mediocre at best and some of the dialogue can be grating at times... did they really have to compare idiocy to homosexuality?

One particular issue with the movie is the film is down right misogynistic. There are few females who aren't antagonized in the film either they be shoppers or mothers... in fact the only really nice ones were the killer's victims, attempted or murdered! Also, the ending didn't have much of an impact, it felt like one of those 'yeah, right' moments in attempt to insert last minute social commentary.

Despite all this though, the movie has got a very creepy atmosphere. The soundtrack actually helps a lot in establishing the dormant fear and some of the notes even give the implementation of heat. One thing I admire about the film is that the movie seems to remember that the main character is a homicidal killer; despite his evident point of childhood trauma, we're not fed any further information beyond that point and it is all left to the imagination. If anything, I felt the tie in to his childhood punishment being religious to be a bit of a cop-out, but I know for a fact it could've been a lot more hammy than that (at least no stupid mystical cult is fueling it... I hate it when serial killer based media does that). Even better is that you can hardly hear what the voices in his head are saying and they rarely make sense... it's almost like you're LITERALLY hearing what he hears.

So, if you have the room for it, get it because Don't Go in the House is one of those strange little gems of a horror film that has a lot going for it in atmosphere and originality.

Back when I was a small child in the mid 70's, Horror movies expectedly frightened me. Big time. Even movie trailers on the TV would have me running into another room. But by the time I reached ten or eleven something happened, my Dad got us cable. There I was barraged by uncut Horror classics running 24 hours a day, on several channels, and I couldn't escape. Nor did I want to.

One of the first then-modern day Horror films I saw there was 1980's Don't Go In The House. While films like Halloween and Friday The 13th were already made by the time this movie came out, it was this movie with it's strange feel & it's one shocking scene that stuck in my head for years to come. Now after one completely botched earlier DVD release, Horror King Wannabe's Shriek Show has released the film in a special edition that may have you asking was it worth it in the first place?

Starring Dan Grimaldi, who eventually would go to play key-character Patsy Parisi in The Sopranos throughout it's entire run, this film is about Donald Kohler, a young man tortured throughout his life by his smothering & abusive mother. During a key moment in his youth, his mother punishes him for having "impure thoughts" by holding his arms above a burning flame. Eventually it's this flame that warps his mind and leads him down his insane murderous path. As a man, he has a job as a garbage man incinerator operator (surprised?). One day he sees a co-worker catch on fire and instead of helping him, he just stands there mesmerized by the flames and goes home. But at home he discovers that his mother has died in her sleep, and he's finally free of her...or is he? But in true "Psycho" fashion, he decides to not tell anyone, keep the body (not without a payback first), and live out his dark burning fantasies. After seeing a flamethrower with full uniform in a shop window (not the usual window shopping affair), he brings it home, sets up a steel wall plated room in he and his mother's huge creepy old-style house, and lets the revenge begin.....

DGITH is NOT a superb film. In fact at times it's slow, Grimaldi's acting is as stiff as his victims, and for a Horror film doesn't have many scenes that would qualify it, especially in this day and age. But it's it one redeeming yet deplorable scene involving Donny's first female victim in gruesome detail that in my opinion makes this film memorable. For 1980 I don't think a film ever went this far into what we now would now consider "torture porn", yet miles away in degree of what we'd see a just few years later. Without it, the movie would probably be pretty much a waste of time to all but the most dedicated Horror fanatic.

And I think that's why Shriek Show has given this film the "golden" treatment. Originally released back on DVD in 1999 with a terrible 4:3 picture and no menus to boot, this time it gets a new 1.85:1 presentation that looks miles ahead of it's original, yet not without it's flaws. While the color quality and high bitrate are excellent, the master still has print damage that was not corrected, but considering how it was made to begin with, it should be forgiven. Also are a new commentary by Grimaldi, an 11 minute video interview with him, trailers, and one interesting yet unadvertised feature called "Hidden Behind The Matte". Y'see, even though the cinematographer insisted that this DVD release be shown in it's "original" ratio, certain scenes seem more appropiate in the 4:3 format. So what Shriek has done is give you those two scenes in that format here as well. One being the most famous scene now being shown in it's full in-the-buff glory, the other the disco hall one that just shows now the discoballs on the ceiling. But these are from the 4:3 master and remind you just how bad this film once looked. So for extras, this movie's on fire!

Oh and by the way, this film has one Easter Egg, and I'll be happy to give it to you! Choose "Extras" from the main menu, then go all the way down until you highlight "Main", then press up to highlight a yellow button in the shape of the original movie poster's image in the upper right hand corner (be careful though, once you highlight it you can't get out of it without playing the Egg or pressing "Top Menu" on your remote.). There you will see the film's Ad Sheets, newspaper advertisements. Not the greatest Easter Egg, but yeah, this Disc has them too!

Overall, this film has stuck with me ever since that midnight showing over twenty years ago. It hasn't aged well, in fact it's disco scenes seems more dated than Xanadu! But to a fan of 80's early Horror, it's it's one shocking scene that puts it on the bloody map. As a whole not so much, but still worthy of a watch to see where films like Saw & Hostel may have received it's inspiration.