Don't Go in the House
Encyclopedia
Don't Go in the House is a low budget 1980 slasher film
emulating Psycho
that gained notoriety as a video nasty
and remains banned in some countries. It focuses on the main character's abuse-driven psychoticism and paranoia/schizophrenic hallucinations, mostly unnoticed to those around him.
. During his job at an incinerator, he observes a co-worker, Billy, catch on fire. Instead of going for help, he stares, mesmerized. When he returns home he finds his mother has died. While he is free from her possessiveness, the only life he has ever known is gone, and with it his chance for revenge against her. He sets out to avenge himself on every woman who bears a resemblance to his hateful parent with the aid of makeshift steel chains, a home-made flamethrower and a steel-paneled bedroom crematorium.
One of his first victims is local florist Kathy Jordan (Johanna Brushay). Befriending the harmless-looking man, Kathy escorts Donny back to his mother's house, where he knocks her unconscious, ties her up and burns her to death with his flamethrower.
said, "Don't Go In The House isn't for everyone – it's a bitter, ugly, and nasty little horror movie that doesn't pull any punches and is just as seedy today as it was when it was made. It's effective in that it gets under your skin despite its low budget origins and obvious flaws."
David Johnson from DVD Verdict
wrote, "Don't Go in the House is a well-acted, disturbing film, featuring one of the few horror scenes to really get to me."
J.C. Maçek III of WorldsGreatestCritic.com said of the film, "It doesn't help that it's got the approximate originality of a Mad TV
spoof of a Saturday Night Live
satire of a Scary Movie II lampoon of The Others
! Dead Mother in the house still dominating her socially immature, grown, serial killer son. Holy crap. Somebody should make a movie called DON'T... RIP OFF HITCHCOCK!"
film and David Carradine's Death Race 2000
.
More recently, ScreamShow's Region 1 DVD presented a remastered widescreen print of the film with an audio commentary from star Dan Grimaldi, as well as a brief filmed interview with Grimaldi, theatrical trailers and TV spots and short 'unmatted' extracts from the full-screen VHS version.
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
emulating Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
that gained notoriety as a video nasty
Video nasty
"Video nasty" was a colloquial term coined in the United Kingdom by 1982 which originally applied to a number of films distributed on video cassette that were criticized for their violent content by the press, commentators such as Mary Whitehouse and various religious organizations.While violence...
and remains banned in some countries. It focuses on the main character's abuse-driven psychoticism and paranoia/schizophrenic hallucinations, mostly unnoticed to those around him.
Plot
Donald "Donny" Kohler is deeply disturbed individual who was emotionally and physically scarred by burns inflicted on him by his mother. As a child, whenever he did something she saw as "wicked," she would hold his bare arms over a gas stove in an effort to "burn the evil out of him." Due to this he has developed a secret obsession with fire and human combustionCombustion
Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame...
. During his job at an incinerator, he observes a co-worker, Billy, catch on fire. Instead of going for help, he stares, mesmerized. When he returns home he finds his mother has died. While he is free from her possessiveness, the only life he has ever known is gone, and with it his chance for revenge against her. He sets out to avenge himself on every woman who bears a resemblance to his hateful parent with the aid of makeshift steel chains, a home-made flamethrower and a steel-paneled bedroom crematorium.
One of his first victims is local florist Kathy Jordan (Johanna Brushay). Befriending the harmless-looking man, Kathy escorts Donny back to his mother's house, where he knocks her unconscious, ties her up and burns her to death with his flamethrower.
Cast
- Dan GrimaldiDan GrimaldiDaniel "Dan" Grimaldi is an American actor who is known for his roles as twins Philly and Patsy Parisi on the HBO TV series, The Sopranos.-Career:...
as Donald "Donny" Kohler - Robert Osth as Bobby Tuttle
- Bill Ricci as Vito
- Charles Bonet as Ben
- David Brody as Tony
- Nikki Collins as Farrah
- Johanna Brushay as Kathy Jordan
- Ralph D. Bowman as Father Gerritty
- Tom Brumberger as Alfred
- Louise Grimaldi as Barbara
- Gloria Szymkovicz as Sylvia
- Colin McInnes as Young Donny Kohler
Controversy
Despite some respectable critical notices, Don't Go In the House attracted controversy almost immediately because of its graphic depiction of the death of Kohler's first victim, and the touchy central theme of childhood abuse. The film was cut by almost three minutes when it was released in Britain in the winter of 1980, but an uncut version was released on video by the Arcade label in 1982 - knowingly or not, they advertised the release as "a true 'nasty' from Arcade", and it quickly wound up on the DPP's list of banned titles. The pre-cut British cinema version was released on video by the Apex label in April 1987.Critical reception
Ian Jane of DVD TalkDVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
said, "Don't Go In The House isn't for everyone – it's a bitter, ugly, and nasty little horror movie that doesn't pull any punches and is just as seedy today as it was when it was made. It's effective in that it gets under your skin despite its low budget origins and obvious flaws."
David Johnson from DVD Verdict
DVD Verdict
DVD Verdict is a judicial themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. Current editor in chief is Michael Stailey, who also reviews for Rotten Tomatoes...
wrote, "Don't Go in the House is a well-acted, disturbing film, featuring one of the few horror scenes to really get to me."
J.C. Maçek III of WorldsGreatestCritic.com said of the film, "It doesn't help that it's got the approximate originality of a Mad TV
Mad TV
Mad TV may refer to:*MADtv, an American sketch comedy television series based on Mad magazine*Mad TV , a 1991 German television station management simulation game*MAD TV , a Greek music channel-See also:...
spoof of a Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
satire of a Scary Movie II lampoon of The Others
The Others (2001 film)
The Others is a 2001 psychological horror film by the Spanish-Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar, starring Nicole Kidman. It is inspired partly by the novella The Turn of the Screw....
! Dead Mother in the house still dominating her socially immature, grown, serial killer son. Holy crap. Somebody should make a movie called DON'T... RIP OFF HITCHCOCK!"
Release
Released on a low budget on DVD at a time when home DVD players were first coming to the market and people were building libraries from the few movies available, this title reached audiences that might otherwise have passed it up for more mainstream options. It became a cult-classic as a result, much like Lana Clarkson's Barbarian QueenBarbarian Queen
Barbarian Queen is a 1985 American-Argentine fantasy film directed by Héctor Olivera and written by Howard R. Cohen. The film premiered in December 1985 in the United States. It starred Lana Clarkson....
film and David Carradine's Death Race 2000
Death Race 2000
Death Race 2000 is a 1975 cult action film directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine, Simone Griffeth and Sylvester Stallone. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transcontinental Road Race has become a form of national entertainment...
.
More recently, ScreamShow's Region 1 DVD presented a remastered widescreen print of the film with an audio commentary from star Dan Grimaldi, as well as a brief filmed interview with Grimaldi, theatrical trailers and TV spots and short 'unmatted' extracts from the full-screen VHS version.