Dr. Moreau's House of Pain

Director Charles Band has pulled off a terrific bit of sleight of hand in Dr. Moreau's House of Pain. Yes there are Pig People, guts and gore, lots of nudity etc., etc., but what makes this little film special is that Band has made a terrific homage to the film noir films of the forties. Color, (did he use technicolor? the color is perfect), costumes, hair styles and dialogue are all out of 1947, and the actors play their parts as though they were Alan Ladd, Gail Russell and Lizabeth Scott! The premise is silly in this the what, fourth go-round of a Dr.Moreau film, but the execution, (no pun intended), is really top notch and on a par with much more expensive films.

Congrats Charles Band and all who worked on this film. Not to sound too 1940's, but you all did a "swell" job!

Director Charles Band has walked a long way on the hard road of independent horror film-making. He has given us as many good movies as he has done awful ones, but the only thing sure in his work is that he is completely dedicated to the genre he loves.

With that said I must start saying that I was not expecting much of this movie, not only because of Band's uneven record, the main problem Full Moon has had in the last years has been the unbelievably low budget they use. I was expecting something really awful considering that the movie was loosely based in the really SFX-demanding novel "Island of Dr. Moreau" by H.G. Wells. I was really wrong.

Set around the 30s (the exact date is never given), the plot follows Eric Carson (John Patrick Jordan), a low profile boxer who is looking for his missing brother. In his quest he is joined by his brother's lover Judith(Jessica Lancaster) and their friend Mary Anne (Debra Mayer), who is a reporter always searching for the next exclusive. While following a clue in a bar, they get involved with a stripper named Alliana (Loriele New) who lures them to an abandoned Asylum. They will find Dr. Moreau (Jacob Witkin) and his collection of the creatures he calls "Manimals".

The most amazing feature of the film is the way it handled the budget to make the film REALLY look like it's set in the 30s. Band outdid himself this time as he really cared about things like scenery, music and props. He even recreated the look of film noir. The lighting and editing of the film is superb. I dare to say that it is among the best movies Band has directed, technically speaking.

The Make-Up for the Manimals and the overall SFX are a bit bad, but the story makes up for it; the script is surprisingly good and the characters are quite developed which is a good change from typical B-Movies.

The acting is above average, and while John Patrick Jordan struggles at times, the rest of the cast makes a good job, particularly Peter D. Badalamenti II as rebel Manimal Gallagher. Lorielle New as the sexy Alliene has good scenes, and shows plenty of nudity, for those interested.

Overall it was a good movie that was hurt hard by its lack of budget, nevertheless Charles Band proves that when he wants it, he still can make a good movie once or twice. 7/10. Nice Surprise indeed.

Searching for a hot story, a reporter joins a boxer and his girlfriend in searching for a missing friend of theirs and eventually stumbles upon a mysterious doctor harvesting victims for experiments in human/animal hybrids and must try to stop the doctor before they're the next victims.

Overall, this one was much better than expected. What works really well here is the interesting setup which works well enough on its own but has much more to like due to the period setting. That means the start of this one with the reporter looking for the big break and stumbling into the story by following the stranger from the nightclub becomes more intriguing once they find the strange mansion hideout. Offering enough twists through its inclusion of sleazier storytelling but keeping enough points from the classic story from how they stumble into the creatures, this becomes a decent starting point. This setup provides the kind of cheesy creature confrontations not just with the creations but with the doctor. The means of their capture at the mansion and subjection to the preparations that take place focus heavily on the sight and presence of the creatures keeping them in check while trying to figure out the doctors' plans. As this goes on, the finale where the escapes and double-crosses take place which leads to a lot of fun and bloody brawling involving the humans and the mutants left alive which has the advantage not only of the graphic outcomes but the effects work all giving this a cheesy vibe. These features are what manage to make this one enjoyable while there are some issues with this one. The main issue here is the films' penchant for speechifying over graphic creature carnage which causes several side factors to emerge. Not only does that approach keep the energy down and the kills barely noticeable for long stretches of time, but it also means that there are a lot of technical issues with the surgery glossed over so that it never really makes sense how they are preferred or how everything went down in that location undetected. As well, there's also the fact that this leaves us with long, uninterrupted looks at the animal masks being used which really aren't that convincing. These factors are what hold this one back.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity, and Sex Scenes.

you know a movie is bad when the beginning credits are made using Windows Movie Maker software. The make up was horrible the acting was worse. My girlfriend bought it used so i wasn't too upset besides i like watching semi-bad horror movies so that i can have a little laugh, but this movie was so bad that it became frustrating. I think the movie was supposed to take place in the 30's but for some reason you really cant even tell. They should make murderers and rapist watch this movie everyday in prison as a punishment. Well at least they have stores that let you trade movies. Im just surprised that they would even give me store credit for this crap.

Brisk/credible script, the small cast give good performances and the prosthetics and photography work well too. I picked this up for a £1, so expectations weren't exactly sky-high and the Full Moon logo can sometimes spell 'AVOID', - I was very pleasantly surprised. Earl Kenton did a great job with the script, and recognised the budget limitations his story would work within. He has created a small, dark and believable realm. All the actors, (particularly Jacob Witkin and Lorielle New) give very watchable interpretations and transcend the usual standard of performance you expect from this type of film. 'House of Pain' reminded me of two other great films - Stuart Gordon's classic 'Dagon', and the recent remake of 'She Creature'. Good stuff.