Harry here... I love Zombies... Just love em... But that early trailer for HOUSE OF THE DEAD looked like the worst film ever made. I mean, dreadful at a cosmic level, then Lady Deathstrike writes this piece which says that it's just Grade B fun... Trailer looked like sub-Z filmmaking with expensive Matrix effects thrown in. The film is playing at AFM (American Film Market) I'd love any and all feedback from AFM if you're out there, let me hear from ya! I'm still highly skeptical of HOUSE OF THE DEAD...
Harry, I never writtten to you before, but after seeing House of the Dead in San Fran this weekend, I wanted to drop you a note to let you know this isn't the piece of crap we all thought it was going to me. I wasn't expecting much when I went to check it out this weekend because I'm tired of video games turned movies and this one didn't promise much more. But, let me say- this monster movie rocked the house!
I haven't seen a flick so indulgent in its particular genre in a while. The best thing about House of the Dead is that it doesn't try to be something else. It's a B-Horror-Movie that's full of flesh, blood and chuckles. Rather than trying to take the high road like other thrillers of recent years like The Ring and Fear Dot.COm and take itself too seriously, 'HOtD' starts us out with sex, drugs and rock-n-roll in the form of a rave on a deserted island. Maybe a tad bit slow in the beginning, it eases us into the playful tone of the movie with unprovoked nudity and unflinching zombie impalement. We know we are in for a wild ride when Clint Howard walks in on a topless Sonya Salomaa and rather than notice her party hats, hands her a crucifix for protection. It's stunts like this that started the audience laughing early on and kept them cheering in the end.
Another great thing about the flick is the intensity of the fight scenes. For a low-budget movie, I was blown away by the Matrix-esque cinematography and hard-core rock. I couldn't get enough of the slow motion/rotating camera thing as the characters wound up for a kick or punch. Also, the hapless heroes themselves invoke the excitement of the audience because we can really root for the underdog. We can imagine ourselves walking in slow-motion to guitar-heavy music with our guns aimed at disintegrating corpses because these protagonists aren't much cooler than we are. There's only so many times you can watch Tom Cruise do some amazing stunt before it loses its effect. This movie returns to simple crunchy gore that's believable because it's the girl-next-door simply stomping on a zombie's gooey head with her foot. So, add a fierce beat and mean camera angles and you've got a fun little flick.
Okay, yes, some of the acting really sucks. And, the romances are out of nowhere. But, that's exactly what has been missing from slasher flicks in the last few years. I want a movie I can laugh and squirm at and that's exactly what I got. I think this movie will go down in celluloid history as a college-drinking-game cult classic. Take a shot every time a zombie makes a squishing sound or Clint Howard squints in fear. I can't wait to see this movie again.
Just call me Lady Deathstrike
