Review: "Death House"

Just this past weekend, yours truly headed out to Scare-a-Con New England for their second year running in Springfield, MA. That's where I managed to get the first look to one of most anticipated horror films of the year “Death House”. The film’s story was created by Gunner Hansen (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) who passed away in 2015. This film is also his last credited film.

The film is about two federal agents (Courtney Palm, Cody Longo) who visit an experimental prison that houses the world’s most dangerous criminals. When the lights go out, the agents are trapped in the prison as the prisoners are out of their cells. The only way out is going to the deepest of all places to find the supernatural beings who may be the only ones that can help them from what awaits inside the prison.

With a cast that includes Kane Hodder, Tony Tood, Sid Haig, Dee Wallace, Barbara Crampton, Bill Mosley, Michael Berryman, Felissa Rose, Lloyd Kaufman, Sean Whalen and a host of others, I was not going to miss this film for anything. My first reaction after seeing this film was that it reminded me of Adam Green’s Hatchet as I was wowed by that film when it first theaters for its action. “Death House” gave me that same feel as I like this a lot. The action has this level of kick ass intensity from start to finish as “Hatchet” did.

What makes this film very good was B. Harrison Smith direction. He does a very good job with the way he handles everything. From the action to how he directs this, everything is done in a way that it’s a love letter to the hardcore horror fan. It has a mixture of old school gore imagery and action packed sequences drives the film’s intensity to the point that it doesn’t stop until its conclusion. The other thing I liked about this was it didn’t feel like your random horror film with cameos. There were plenty here but you almost forget about them because Smith does a very good job directing his main cast. He makes sure that his main cast including Courtney Palm, Cody Longo and Kane Hodder make their performances entertaining to help make the focus of the film be about the story and not all of these cameos. It made me interested in their characters and the action that takes place.

The other thing that I liked about this was the screenplay. Harrison Smith does a very job making sure the screenplay had an old school horror feel to it while also making feel action packed. One of the things that he does very well is to develop everything. I liked how he takes his time by developing the backstory of the death house and what its main purpose is. By doing that, its makes the location feel like another character which is needed here because the film’s title is Death House. I also liked how there are several things in the screenplay that pay homage to other notable horror films. It’s done in a way that it doesn’t take away from the story as these homage fit into the film’s dark and twisted world. It made this film fun as I was into everything from start to finish.

This is definitely one horror film you should be checking when released into theaters as this one of the most fun times I’ve had watching a horror film in a while. “Death House” is an action packed adrenalized thrill ride that that doesn’t stop. Review Rating: Five Stars