DEATH HOUSE Review

DEATH HOUSE

Film Review by FIORE

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to interview B. Harrison Smith.   At the time, our interview encompassed his use of music in creating a film.  In fact, he often started with a music score and built the movie around it.  Exactly the opposite of normal procedures.  I haven’t spoken with Harrison is over a decade, but if he is still making movies the same way, his latest DEATH HOUSE, is rock mixed with steam punk.  It’s as unsettling a film as the music combo suggests.

The method use in making this film is fun; find about ten stars who agree to appear in ten minute cameos and then tie them all together.  You have a modest film that can boast an all-star ensemble cast.  Appearing in DEATH HOUSE are: Danny Trejo; Adrienne Barbeau; Bill Moseley; Tony Todd; Dee Wallace, who looks uncannily like Nurse Ratchet from ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST;  Barbara Crampton; Sid Haig, who has the best cameo as the ice cycle killer; Cody Longo; Cortney Palm; Michael Berryman; Kane Hodder; Gunnar Hansen, who passed before the film was released; Vincent Ward; and Felissa Rose.

 

DEATH HOUSE is a gore fest.  Fans of the genre will revel in the cannibal room scene, the army march of Hodder and the attack of the zombies. 

Director of Photography Matt Klammer shoots much of the film with little or no lighting to accentuate the bloodletting.  Unfortunately, it also makes it very difficult to see the action.  In a recent review for HALLOWEEN, I mentioned the effective use of “flashlight POV”.  Its used here in DEATH HOUSE, but not effectively.  It’s staged in a manner to display more lens flares than chilling angles.

Basically, the story begins as an indoctrination for two FBI agents to a new type of jail, housing only the vilest criminals.  The script is choppy, and what the new agents are to learn is ambiguous.  An unknown terror group sabotages the prison’s power system, and the inmates literally take over the asylum.  At this point, we discover DEATH HOUSE also retains supernatural beings of evil, and immortals.  What follows is a mixture of criminals and super humans unleashed on the world, with a set up for a sequel and no clear conclusion.  

DEATH HOUSE is worth a view, especially those who like their horror films gory.  If you have a steam punk mien and like your horror films slimy with blood and body parts, this one will be your cup of tea.