Death Screams

Did every film studio limit their output to just slashers in the early '80s? There are so many of them. Just when I think I've seen them all, I find another one I've never heard of. Still, it's not hard to see why Death Screams flew under my radar for so long: it's formulaic stuff that never tries to do anything out of the ordinary, from it's clichéd group of characters (obnoxious joker, nympho, goody-two-shoes final girl, town simpleton, fat bumbling sheriff) to its rain-lashed finalé in a rundown house by a cemetery.

The film opens with a pre-credits double murder of a young couple, but it's too dark to see what happens to them, director David Nelson seemingly more preoccupied with getting in the first shot of a topless girl than delivering an effective fright. Certainly, for much of the time, Nelson appears to be more intent on delivering gratuitous T&A than he does horror, focusing on the twenty-something victims-to-be as they go about their daily business--smoking weed, showering, chatting up the local baseball coach, making out etc...

All of the girls are attractive and several wear skimpy outfits, with buxom town tramp Ramona (Jennifer Chase) looking great in a bikini top and hot blonde Kathy (Andrea Savio) sporting short shorts. In a rare spot of gender-reversal, it is Coach Marshall (Martin Tucker) who takes the customary slasher shower, baring his butt, but he does manage to give randy Ramona a soaking in the process. The only other killing amidst all of this titillation is a girl shot with an arrow and suffocated with a plastic bag, a scene more notable for its silliness than scariness (instead of seeking help, the injured girl takes time-out on a merry-go-round).

As the film approaches its final act, sexy blonde Sandy (Jody Kay) goes skinny dipping (cue full frontal nudity) and winds up dead, and from this point Nelson ramps up the violence, eventually bumping off most of the characters in the space of a few minutes (including double decapitation and a girl torn in half). But while the sheer number of kills in a short space of time is admirable, the gore is extremely basic for the most part, and not very satisfying (the severed hands scene is hilarious). The best effect is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bullet to the head (resulting in the face exploding) as the useless sheriff empties his handgun into the already dead killer (who had fallen out of a window while attacking good girl Lily, played by Playboy playmate Susan Kiger). Exactly what the psycho's motive was remains unclear: possibly something to do with being mentally scarred by his mother, who may have been a stripper. I really don't know. Or care.

I saw this film under the title "House of Death". Although it may seem standard and cheesy, it's lots of fun to watch, and it's fairly gory, too! Nine teenagers who live in a small North Carolina town go to the local carnival and have lots of fun. What they don't know is: a killer is stalking them! They proceed to go to a cemetery, tell ghost stories, and camp out in a creepy old abandoned house. Could the killer be lurking inside? Though predictable, "Death Screams" is rather fun, exciting, and scary. The music, I thought, was pretty good, and the actors weren't bad either. Many scenes are atmospheric and misty, and believe me, there are "Death Screams" aplenty in this one!

House of Death gets by with a lot of regional charm and a few decent death scenes. There's not much of a plot to speak of besides a bunch of people are terrorized by a serial killer in the south who's killing without much rhyme or reason.

Since this has never made it to DVD or Blu-Ray, it's fairly dark and hard to tell what's going on most of the time, but there are a few daytime death scenes, which is a rarity among horror films. None of the characters have a lot of meat on their bones, but the special effects work is solid.

It's just a shame that most of the death scenes take place within a 5 minute span towards the end of the movie. It deprives the film of a lot of potential suspense and makes sure that the film is a bit too front loaded with not much going on until the end.

(** out of *****) The titular `house' only appears in the last ten minutes or so of this overly familiar, early-'80s horror flick. That detail aside, this movie isn't the worst of its kind (that would be "Hell High"), but it's also far from the best. If you can make it past the interminably long carnival scene -- with a group of young, vacuous girls and hunky, meat-head guys walking around making jokes and playing games -- you'll get a few so-so chills and thrills (and mostly off-screen machete murders) once the gang winds up in the cemetary to tell ghost stories (the lead heroine tells a lousy version of the classic urban legend about the girl who's home alone and thinks that's her dog under the bed licking her hand.) Other than a decapitated head or two, there's more nudity than gore, including an interesting, role-reversal shower scene in which a man is stalked in his apartment while taking a shower. There's some minor backplot and attempts at character development, but there are also gaping plot holes and a weak attempt to make the killer's identity a mystery (you should have no trouble figuring it out.) The film quality's pretty crummy, and the out-of-place, Sesame Street-sounding soundtrack is one of the worst I've ever heard.

HIGHLIGHT: Speaking of the soundtrack, if you do happen to run across this movie at the video store, go ahead and rent it solely for the opening credits sequence -- the music that plays over this sequence is so hysterically over the top that you will not believe it. Listening to this ludicrously epic music play over slow-motion scenes of dead bodies floating underwater was a surreal experience. I had to rewind it and watch it over three or four times. Seriously, some underground techno or indie-rock band needs to find this movie and sample the soundtrack. It blew me away. Of course, drinking helps.

"My God, why"?! "I don't know"?

The above exchange between two characters are the last few lines of dialogue in the film, which might explain how you could feel after watching this one.

One of the strangest and vaguest 1980's (although it looks more late 70s) low-budget slasher films I've ever witnessed. Not that there's anything surreal and to tell the truth it's a very run-of-the-mill fare. It's more got to do with how everything goes onto pan out. Nothing seems all that connected and scenes/actions are very random and plain loopy. At best very unconventional in its story threads.

After the obligatory opening death scene, the thirst three quarters slowly plays focal point to small town atmospherics, carnival traditions and teen dramas/fooling around. As if it was trying for character development and mystery building with its numerous characters. However the latter doesn't work with an incoherent script. Like it was trying for a "Halloween" vibe, especially in how it was shot and early on it has the killer slowly stalking his victims in the background. Their attempts in building suspense from those moments were lacking. While the music score sounding like a grandstand band was just overkill. There's one or two more death scenes sprinkled throughout to remind that you are watching a horror film. One of those needs to be seen, to be believed, because of how bizarre and stupidly it plays out.

But it really doesn't come into its own until the confined hysteria-laced backend, as the teens (although they do look much older) start partying; boozing, skinny-dipping, making out by a lake late at night then moving onto a cemetery to tell spooky stories. This is when the FX and dismemberment of the cast begins to occur. Sadly some of it happens off-screen, but there are unpleasant moments or two with mild, but charming low-rent make-up effects involving machete hacking and a head explosion. I just wished the carnival setting could have been put to better use.

We only get to see the killer's arm and machete throughout, until the final reveal. I don't think it's hard to guess the killer, but the motive behind it is told through a bogus flashback before meeting their demise. The sheriff character on the scene is a lot more switched on then you would expect... although he sure does take his time on this particular investigation and stumble across many things. Although he does show he's a shoot first, ask questions later guy. You know playing it safe, as if he's watched too many horror films. I thought the cast was acceptable for such an outing. Susan Kiger made an agreeable heroine of sorts and Susan Kiger added some life with her floozy character.

"Death Screams" aka "The House of Death" is an oddball, if at the same time unimaginative rough-around-the-edges slasher.