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!

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.

worst movie i ever saw. period. i am not kidding around here. i bought the movie used because i figured a movie with a pig-man on the cover had to be hilariously bad. me and some friends tried watching it but everything about the movie was so terrible we had to turn it off. the acting was poor at best. the characters were morons. (who would have sex with a pig man and expect it to keep a promise of freedom?) the monsters were inconsistent, in one shot it would be covered in slime-garbage and the next it would be dry. i actually had to force myself at a later time to watch the whole thing just to see how bad it was. i actually felt sick after watching this movie which has never before or since happened. this DVD became a thing we would trick people into getting it among me and my friends, i hid it in a big stuffed animal, sewed it back up and gave the stuffed animal to a friend. after awhile he discovered what i had done when i began to hint at it. he tried to get a family member to wrap it up and give it to me for xmas but my brother discovered the plot due to carelessness of my mother so my friend drove past another friends house and threw it on his lawn. it got back to my first friend somehow and he threw it in the trash, right were this movie belongs.

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.

If your goal is to rent something bad and critique it then go find a TROMA film and have at it! If, on the other hand you like being pleasantly surprised at what can be done on a low budget then this film is an excellent example.

Charles Band is- an inconsistent director. Some of the films he's done are crap but others are Brilliant and explain his high status in the industry. Dr. Moraeu's House of Pancakes is a very watchable very enjoyable film with better than average Make-up fx and NO CG! not any to speak of anyway. The Make-up effects while conceived by old favorite John Buechler are fleshy and visceral and more than competently done by Veteran Bruce Barlow considering the budget and shooting schedule. Sets and art direction are key to what make this such a fun watchable movie and Mac Ahlberg's lighting and photography bring this to the caliber of many of it's bigger budgeted rivals. Judge for yourself!