The House of the Living Dead

It starts out really good, with a lot of elements and characters laid out to build suspense and great atmosphere, but by halfway through it narrows itself down to characters seriously wondering if an escaped stallion is behind the murders. Yes, a horse. And it tries to achieve a feel of all Hell breaking loose at the end with some psychedelic lights and crazy acting which both miss the mark. Worth seeing once, but I consider it to be to period-piece Hammer horror films what Space Mutiny was to Star Wars.

Oh, and in a dinner scene about halfway through, our heroine wears an outfit that somehow achieves an insupportable cleavage-to-breast ratio. Science geeks may want to study this scene just to see if they can figure out what laws of physics her corset's breaking. Really. Seriously.

Recently bought this in the Nightmare Worlds DVD 50-pack. Not sure if it's gotten its own release.

As I watched this one I felt something was odd about it. While the cast seemed to all be English, the terrain and deep blue sky seemed somewhat foreign, so I was interested to learn afterwards that this is a South African production. It's a pretty rare thing to find a horror movie from that country, and this was probably the most interesting thing about this one. It's another costume horror, of which there were many back at the time this was released. Set in the 19th century, it centres on a young woman who travels to the plantation home of her fiancé, whose family has a grim history. The mother tries to encourage her to leave, while the other brother is an unseen lunatic in the attic. As is so often the way, a series of murders start happening. But are they a result of voodoo? Is it mad science at work? Or is this the work of...a horse!? All, is eventually revealed.

The combination of a hokey mad scientist plot-line with traditional voodoo is slightly unusual. As is the way that animals are sometimes presented, with a major character being what can only be described as a so-called devil horse which the locals actually believe could be roaming around in the dead of night committing all the killings. The science bit is covered by the not entirely interesting idea of human soul transferal. So the story has quite a few disparate ideas kicking about and there is undoubtedly some potential in the set-up but the presentation is often quite meandering and uneventful. But it's overall actually not bad really, as there is some atmosphere generated in some of the night scenes depicting strange goings on and there is a quite well executed chase scene involving a hooded villain too. The South African setting adds something new as well which definitely elevates the material by itself. As I say, it doesn't always maximise its ideas and it is a bit messy but it does also have a lively ending to round things off. All things considered, despite a few faults, this one is definitely better than its reputation would suggest.

Right off the bat, I previously had no idea that South Africa made any horror films, so, simply in that, I learned something.

Over a long career (1968-99), this was one of only three cinematic works that director Austin made (all in the early 70's)--usually he did TV work--and in fact, production value-wise, it seemed like made-for-TV fare. Basically a vineyard/plantation with black, witchcraft-practicing slaves, and the owner harbouring a dark secret: A genius twin brother, who was discredited in the medical community to begin with, and then, since an almost-fatal brain injury suffered in an accident a year ago, basically insane and confined to the mansion's attic.

It was decently made and, as late-night fare, perfectly acceptable. It could have been made a lot better in more capable hands. The underlying ideas were very interesting, though only decently carried out, and the climax was completely predictable, though no less enjoyable. I got my copy very cheaply, in Mill Creek's 50-pack 'Nightmare Worlds', and it's watchable, no better, no less.

Honestly, I don't know what to think about this film; it is a curiosity, of course. Please don't despise it, even if it doesn't look like a Hammer film directed by a Freddie Francis or Terence Fisher. South Africa is a very surprising setting for such an "horror" film that precisely tries to look like a Hammer film. Ray Austin was genuinely a stunt man who directed some episodes for TV industry, including some THE AVENGERS. Yes, a curious film, reallly.

"An insane scientist has been experimenting with the transfer of souls between human beings. The crazed doctor has conducted his nefarious deeds upon even his own family members, including the exchange of his own soul into his brother's body. With his soul now inhabiting a new body, the madman believes he can continue his experiments uninterrupted," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

The title "House of the Living Dead" may be more an attempt to cash in on prior successful motion pictures than a reflection of what goes on in this movie. The story might have been above average, with the cast and crew involved; but, the execution is severely flawed. The lugubriously languid production picks up (slightly) in the last quarter. Leading man Mark Burns (as Michael and Breck) tries awfully hard; he maintains an long screaming scene remarkably well. Shirley Anne Field is a welcome attraction. But, the movie doesn't work.