Haus der toten Seelen

In spite of all the comments I have already read, I really liked it. For the first time a Dutch movie without nudity and with all the usual horror ingredients. My hands were in front of my eyes a lot of the time and I didn't have that feeling with a Dutch move since De Lift from Dick Maas. I even was surprised by the way the story was set up. And not to spoil anything, but I also liked the ending. Great to see some of the famous Dutch soap actors in a very different part from what they do usually.

So to sum it all up: Fortunately the actors didn't have to overact and the effects were as good as you can see in most of the US mad horror movies. And this movie was scary. Thanks for a great viewing time and looking forward to the next horror movei frm Dutch ground.

So to even the odds and give this movie what it deserves a 10+ for me.

And keep up the Horror movies in Holland!!

If there's one thing "Dood Eind" can teach us, it is that even the Dutch know about all the dreadful clichés of the horror genre and that it took until now, late 2006, before they processed them all into one lame movie. I'm pretty sure that, if this movie was made in any other country, it never would have seen the light of day, but since it's the Netherlands and since this nation is desperately craving its very own horror tradition, "Dood Eind" got exaggeratedly promoted in the specialized press and on websites. The story revolves on themes that you've seen a thousand times before already and largely blends the plots of the overrated films "Blair Witch Project" and "Ju-On: The Grudge". The writers, however, claim that their main inspiration was Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead", but I spotted very few similarities between that classic and this pretentious piece of junk, apart from the ominous woods and the book of the dead. Seven friends that haven't seen each other since their childhood (and actually can't stand each other anymore...) come together for a reunion trip in the Scottish countryside. On the first night around the campfire, the group is attacked by ravenous dogs and they're forced to take refugee in an abandoned house. Minor mistake, as it soon turns out that the house is haunted by the restless spirit of a woman whose baby got killed over a hundred years ago on suspicion of witchery. A haunted house? Dwelling ghosts?? Really? That's so original... NOT! Naturally it doesn't take long before all the clichés start following each other at fast pace. Spontaneously slamming doors, eerie noises coming from the attic and the occasional sudden appearance of a pale-faced ghost lady, they're all there. Stereotypes are well-presented as well, as the clique of seven contains a coward, a bitch, a macho, etc.. Strange fiery mucus that grows on the walls kills most of the Dutch trespassers, and the remaining survivors have to try and understand the house's history if they ever want to get out alive. Technically speaking, the film is okay. The budget was extremely low, but it was nevertheless enough to come up with a handful of decent visual effects and adequate filming locations. Even the acting performances are acceptable, although some of the players are difficult to understand even if you speak the same language. Nope, the problem with "Dood Eind" is purely the substance. There's never any tension since you can feel the 'twists' and 'shocks' coming well in advance and especially the climax is really pathetic. There's still hope for the Dutch horror film (check out "Sl8N8"), but "Dood Eind" is a production better left ignored.

Nice try to be the second successful Dutch horror movie. After the Lift from Dick Maas released in 1983, no Dutch horror movie was released successfully. The film is a mix from Blair Witch, Cube, The Ring, Evil Dead and the Blob and is not very original. The writer from Doodeind is a big fan from Evil Dead and brings "the book of dead" an homage. The movie brings nothing new, but looks good and has a few scary moments. I was very surprised of the acting work from a few leading actors in a positive way. Only Victoria Koblenko's acting is very bad. It is even hard to call it acting, it is so bad and I had the idea that she used an autocue in every scene. In the beginning her miscasting is quite funny but start to get irritating after a few minutes and then you wish she will die the cruelest of all. The movie is funny to watch for the people in Holland, because of the Dutch language. For the rest of the world, Doodeind is nothing special.

Although there were some nice shock-effects and the special effects were great this was a very boring movie! the characters had no depth at all and the actors weren't that great (there have to be more talented actors in The Netherlands). The plot is explained at the end but in the mean while you have to sit for more than an hour wondering what the hell it is all about. It was a complete rip off from other successful horror films. It was a nice attempt to try and compete with Sl8n8cht but they failed big time! Critics claim that there is a revival of the so called Nederhorror but now I know what they mean. "Neder" stands for low and this movie is at a very low level.

I went to the cinema without having any good hope for the movie whatsoever, the TMF campaign and all gave a cheap and baldy hyped image of the whole movie, so my view on it wasn't that positive. Overlooking some of the cliché moments and effects, this turned out to be a rather unfair judgment.

I was surprised by the overall quality of the movie, the attention to detail and the atmosphere created in some of the scenes. We all know survival horrors aren't always that interesting nor scary, this movie however gave it a twist. For a change, it had almost had me poop my pants certain moments. And I wasn't the only one, I remember the audience laughing and reacting overwhelmed by moments like, lets say the mirror scene. Which in my opinion was very well though out. The way Everon Jackson Hooi showed fear made me sit on top of my chair in that scene, not actually wanting to see what it was that made him so scared.

Overall, for a first time dutch movie in this genre I thought it worked out great. A must see for dutchies, and maybe even people outside of Holland. I'd say, subtitle it and bring out an international version and see what the world thinks.