Day 8: House Of Death (AKA Death Screams)

House of Death plays out as a raunchy teen sex comedy that actually forgot it was actually a slasher film. I found myself actually checking the run time on my VCR and noticing that I was 45 minutes into the film and barely anyone had been killed or stalked. Did the director actually forget what he was filming? The ending even leaves me scratching my head since the plot is never fully fleshed out.

Most of House of Death takes place at a carnival in a small southern town. It follows a group of rowdy teenagers as they go around making trouble and getting naked. Of course, all the while locals are getting killed off. Nobody seems to notice that their kids are missing though and the first act of the film drags for an unbelievable length of time. After the carnival, our crew of troublemakers take to the cemetery to camp out and tell scary stories. Its here that the film starts to pick up and actually feel like a slasher. It all results in a pretty entertaining bloodbath in the last 10 minutes of the film.

This majority of this film is pointless. The characters don't seem to have any sort of direction, the kills are few and far between, and nobody seems to notice people disappearing. It's this that really cause the slasher element to take a back seat. Luckily, the film gets by on it's entertaining dialogue and cheesy acting. It's not an absolute task to sit through but if you're someone who likes their films to cut straight to the point you'll probably want to skip this one. I'm not really sure there is a point.

When the killer is finally revealed at the end it flew right over my head. Who is this guy? I honestly have no idea. They reveal absolutely nothing about this guy. Even after his death the sheriff is even asked "Why?" To which he responds, "I don't know." Roll credits. Are you kidding me?! Nobody in this small southern town knows who the crazy guy running around in a wet suit with a machete is? I've read some other reviews that believe they've pieced it together. But they admit that they still aren't sure.

Most of the kills are off camera for the majority of the film. But after an hour and 15 minutes, the movie really picks up the pace to make up for lost time. We are suddenly hit with decapitations, hands getting chopped off, people getting pulled in half, and a pretty cool head shot. It's not the most coherent slasher, but it's got some decent nude scenes and the last 10 minutes make it worth watching at least once.

Body Count: 9

Side Note: There is a high school coach character who apparently hangs with and dates the students. Nobody really says anything about it. Weird.