Don't Go in the House

Don't Go in the House (alternately titled Dont Go into the House!) is a psychological horror film written and directed by Joseph Ellison and co-written by Ellen Hammill and Joe Masefield.

Don't Go in the House
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoseph Ellison
Produced byEllen Hammill
Screenplay by
  • Ellen Hammill
  • Joe Masefield
  • Joseph Ellison
Story byJoe Masefield
StarringDan Grimaldi
Music byRichard Einhorn
CinematographyOliver Wood
Edited byJane Kurson
Production
company
Turbine Films Inc.
Distributed byFilm Ventures International
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$250,000
Box officeUnknown

Plot

Donald Kohler is obsessed with fire. A flashback shows the origin of his obsession: When he was young, he used to suffer severe abuse from his mother, who would hold his bare arms over a gas stove to "burn the evil out of him". After his mother dies, he sets out to avenge himself on any woman who bears a resemblance to her.

He befriends a florist named Kathy. She walks him back to his mother's house, where he knocks her unconscious and chains her up. Ignoring Kathy's pleas for mercy, he pours gasoline on her and burns her with his flamethrower. Over the next few days, Donny murders two other women by immolating them. Donny also burns his mother's corpse and dresses it up in her bedroom, along with the other three dead women.

He begins to feel remorse for his actions. Donny goes to a church, where he tells Father Gerritty about the abuse his mother inflicted upon him and about his urges to kill. Father Gerritty persuades Donny to try to move on with his life and leave the past to rest.

In an attempt to stop killing, Donny accepts a friend's invitation to go on a double date. Donny shows up but is shy and awkward. When the woman tries to take Donny to the dance floor, she inadvertently holds his arms over the table's lighted candle, which reminds him of his childhood abuse. Donny angrily picks up the candle holder and smashes it onto her head, setting her hair on fire.

After fleeing from the disco, Donny runs into two drunken girls on the street and takes them to his house. Bobby tries to find Donny and meets Father Gerritty on his way to Donny's house. When no one answers the front door, they break it down and rescue the two women. Donny sets Father Gerrity ablaze with his flamethrower, but Bobby manages to put out the flames and rescue him.

Donny takes refuge inside his mother's bedroom. The voices express their disappointment in him, and the burned corpses come to life and attack him. He frantically fights them but dies; they drag him to the floor as the house burns down around him.

The final scene portrays a young boy named Michael watching the news report about Donny's death. His mother scolds and beats him for not turning off the TV as she asks him to. When she leaves the room, Michael hears the same voices as Donny did, and they tell him that they come to 'help' him.

Cast
  • Dan Grimaldi as Donald 'Donny' Kohler
  • Colin Mclnness as Young Donald Kohler
  • Charlie Bonet as Ben
  • Bill Ricci as Vito
  • Robert Osth as Bobby Tuttle
  • Ruth Dardick as Mrs. Kohler
  • Johanna Brushay as Kathy Jordan
  • Ralph D. Bowman as Father Gerritty
  • Joey Peschl as Bobby Tuttle's son
  • Christian Isidore as Michael
  • Eileen Dunn as Michael's mother

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 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, or video nasties.[1] The pre-cut British cinema version was released on video by the Apex label in April 1987, though the film was finally passed uncut in 2011.

Release

Home media

Don't Go into the House was released for the first time on DVD by DVD Ltd on December 2, 1998. It was later released by Shriek Show on November 29, 2005. Shriek Show would later re-release the film on February 5, 2008, as a part of its three-disk "Grindhouse Psychos!" film pack.[2]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Don’t Go in the House holds a 40% approval rating based on 5 critic reviews, with an average rating of 3.75/10.[3]

DVD Talk gave the film a three and a half out of five, writing that, Don't Go in the House "is one of those rare films that works really well despite the fact that rips off better known movies" and "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".[4] Hysteria Lives! gave the film a similar rating, writing, "Grim is the only word for Joseph Ellison's psychological terror movie" and "It's easy to forget just how nihilistic much of American genre cinema was as the 70s turned into the 80s (especially with the avalanche of cheese that was just round the corner), but Don't Go in the House is a chilly reminder of times when practically anything went". [5] In a retrospective, Dave J. Wilson from Dread Central felt the film was underappreciated, and called it "a dark, chilling, grim and gruesome depiction of the tragic repercussions of child abuse".[6]

TV Guide rated the film no stars out of five, calling it a "worthless, repugnant film" and panned the film's finale as "baffling".[7] Retro Slashers found Don't Go in the House a "very dull" piece that was brought down by bad acting, and a lack of suspense and originality.[8] The Terror Trap awarded the film a mixed two out of four stars, stating that the film had "little value as a 'demented' character study", while also commending Grimaldi's performance and overall creepiness.[9]

References
  1. Wilson, Dave."Retrospective: Don’t Go in the House (1980) – Ignore the Warning and Go In". Dread Central, 2016-10-01. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  2. "Don't Go in the House (1980) - Joseph Ellison". Allmovie.com. Allmovie. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  3. "Don't Go in the House (1980)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  4. Jane, Ian (11 January 2006). "Don't Go in the House". dvdtalk.com. DVD Talk. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  5. Kerswell, JA (2 May 2008). "Don't Go in the House". hysteria-lives.co.uk. Hysteria Lives!. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  6. Wilson, Dave. "Retrospective: Don't Go in the House (1980) - Ignore the Warning and Go In - Dread Central". Dread Central.com. Dave J. Wilson. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  7. "Don't Go In The House - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide.com. TV Guide Staff. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  8. Ellison, Thomas. "Review: Don't Go in the House (1979)". retroslashers.net. Retro Slashers. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  9. "Don't Go in the House (1980)". TerrorTrap.com. The Terror Trap. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
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