Just when you think you struggled yourself through all the lousiest and most pointless slasher the 80's decade had to offer, you allow yourself to be fooled by yet another one. One that may even be lousier than all the others. "House of Death" is a totally sordid and fatigue effort, and the worst thing of all involves having to acknowledge that the whole premise actually had potential and a handful of sequences were even marvelously staged. The opening sequence, for example, is close to genius as it seems to be a clichéd situation but turns out surprising and original. It's almost depressing to watch a movie that never at one point succeeds in surpassing the quality level of its very own prologue. We're in a random little American town, inhabited with stereotypical teenager and dumb overweight redneck coppers, and there's a vicious killer at large. The only problem is that nobody seems to care about the menace of any killer. Teen boys and girls vanish without a trace, but the whole town is too busy attending the annual carnival or trying to score with the hot new coach of the junior baseball team. But why should they care about a killer, honestly? The script never once reveals any clues regarding his/her identity, let alone hint at his/her motivations for prowling around town with a machete. There's zero tension throughout the entire movie, the lamentable attempts to insert comedy elements fail miserably and all the characters are uninteresting and empty-headed losers. One notable exception, though, is one of the teenagers' grandmother. Granny hates everything in town and makes cynic remarks about everyone who approaches her or her granddaughter. Too bad even granny can't save "House of Death" from complete boredom and irredeemable stupidity. The last 15 minutes are good, stuffed with gory massacres and explicit make-up effects, but it's too late by then. Besides, why the hell is it called "House of Death"? Did you see a house? I sure didn't.
Review of Death Screams
