The only theatrical feature film directed by Sharron Miller, who has since built up a body of work made up of TV shows (and at least one TV movie), The House Of The Dead is a horror anthology that suffers in comparison to other horror anthology movies, but it's actually far from the worst of them.
John Ericson plays Talmudge, a man who we see leaving a lover to head home to his wife. There's a heavy rainstorm though, and that stops him from getting back to his hotel. He ends up receiving shelter from a mortician (Ivor Francis), who decides to show him some recent “clients” and relates the tales of their untimely ends. A grumpy teacher (Judith Novgrod) is terrorised. A prolific killer (Burr DeBenning) likes to film all of his exploits, which means the second tale displays footage seized from his home/lair. A pair of detectives (played by Charles Aidman and Bernard Fox) engage in a deadly battle of wits. Finally, a man named Cantwell (Richard Gates) ends up having his life completely changed once he falls into a lift shaft.
Writer David O’Malley (who also wrote both The Boogens and the wonderful Fatal Instinct) tries to deliver a number of tales that feel relatively fresh, especially when compared to many other anthology horror tales. Although not successful, in terms of the scares and entertainment factor, it’s interesting enough (once it gets the weakest first tale out of the way). A better cast would have helped, and a bit more inventiveness and energy from Miller’s direction.
Ericson and Francis are fine in their roles, going through the motions in a framing segment that is winding towards a predictable ending, but nobody else is really worth mentioning. Maybe DeBenning, who at least delivers a cold and unflinching portrayal of a psychopath who tries to put people at ease before going in for the kill, but will also do whatever it takes to get the job done once suspicions have been aroused. Novgrod is very forgettable, Aidman and Fox at least have a bit of fun sparring with one another, and Gates is stuck with a story that requires him to deliver a near-parodic interpretation of someone who finds that their position in society has just been radically changed.
So the cast isn’t the greatest, the material isn’t the strongest, and nothing here is unmissable, but I still think someone better at the helm could have made this into a film that is more fondly remembered today. Although it clocks in at just under the 80-minute mark, it feels slightly overlong. There isn’t one single moment that doesn’t look like it could have been lifted from something like Tales Of The Unexpected (a great TV show, but one that always absolutely felt like TV, as many shows did before television became more and more cinematic). Even one truly great scare or gore gag would have helped, but there are none to be found here.
Yet I somehow liked this. O’Malley tries to bolt some modern sensibilities on to the format in a way that at least feels interesting and is trying not to be lazy. It’s just a shame that his writing couldn’t be lifted up by anyone else working on the film.
6/10
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