House of Horrors: Gates of Hell

It makes perfect sense that these guys running this attraction would make movies! They have the skill, the staff, the killer backgrounds and location and, thanks to CGI, the tools to create. "House Of Horrors: Gates Of Hell" has a cool, complex story with plenty of drama and suspense. The comic relief takes away a lot of the scare factor but let's face it-the story is as sensational as the surroundings. The guys up in this New York haunted location have created a Fun House Of Hell that looks amazing with some awesome props and concepts. The acting and direction are both a bit above low budget armature ability.

The acting does suffer somewhat as it becomes obvious most of the cast are just trying not to forget their lines. Some of the cast members give natural, noteworthy performances. The line delivery and creation of a paranormal story that all give in "Gates Of Hell" is very present, and gives us Monroe's intended nightmare. The directing is proper! It is a classic design for setting up straight forward scenes that aren't cramped with a bunch of camera trick- artsy styled-flavor of the moment concepts. The film is given to us in traditional, clean shot horror style that moves seamlessly even if the acting and effects aren't stellar in a lot of the scenes.

Now about the special effects, "House Of Horrors: Gates Of Hell" does rely a bit too much on that nasty companion of modern film- making, CGI. In some of the scenes the lower scale computer effects are acceptable. Mostly the supernatural or paranormal elements. However the CGI blood, decaps and such is really a tacky approach considering the obvious talent attached to the project. If you can let that be okay- and with this film I think most people can-then "House Of Horrors: Gates Of Hell" is a fun, horror story that is meant to entertain and showcase the real star-the House Of Horrors haunted attraction. Check this one out it is a nice indie horror comedy with some awesome location and background shots.

You are never sure what you can expect from the low budget movies but I can promise you that for its faults; this one is a wild ride. The story line was fantastic. It was like being in a haunted house that is in a haunted house itself. The acting was sub par and when the leads talked about auditions for amateurs - I'm sure that line had been used by the casting team for the movie. At first I was put off by the demon's voice but for whatever reason it became more and more effective as the movie progressed. Tim, the owner of the Horror House, had a fantastic subplot of his own at the end and I wish they had enlarged upon it. But my favorite part were all of the furnishings and characters in the Horror House itself. Very effective and very scary; sometimes even terrifying. There is a twist at the end which you may or may not see coming, but whether or not you do, you'll leave this movie thinking about whether you really want to visit a Haunted House come Halloween.

Right, well as I stumbled upon the 2012 horror movie "House of Horrors: Gates of Hell" here in 2023, I opted to give the movie a chance without ever having heard about it. I didn't know what I was in for here, aside from it being a horror movie. But given the movie's somewhat dubious title, I have to admit that I wasn't harboring much of any high hopes or expectations.

Writer and director Daniel Monroe delivered a fairly weak script for the movie, because the storyline was so simplistic that it was bordering on being non-existing. Essentially the script here calls for you to just lean back, munch on some snacks and disconnect your brain, and watch a horror movie.

However, as for being a horror movie, then I have to say that the thin and weak storyline didn't exactly help to manifest "House of Horrors: Gates of Hell" as being a proper horror movie. Sure, there were some pretty nice props, some good costumes and creature designs, but there wasn't anything scary to be enjoyed throughout the 90 minutes that the movie ran for.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble, and while the movie definitely had a tinge of amateurish feel to it, I will say that the performances in the movie were fair enough, taking into consideration the severe limitations imposed by a weak script and storyline.

If you opt to sit down to watch "House of Horrors: Gates of Hell", then do so for the props, costumes and creature designs, because the storyline is not worth it. And if you watch it on account of it being a scary horror movie, you will be sorely disappointed.

While I am not going to spoil the ending here, I have to say that the ending that writer and director Daniel Monroe opted to go with here, was one of the worst and most laughable endings in a movie I have suffered through in a long, long time.

My rating of writer and director Daniel Monroe's 2012 movie "House of Horrors: Gates of Hell" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

...not particularly good, either. Budgetary constraints considered, the special effects weren't too bad, and the masks/costumes and sets were effective. The acting, though...ugh. And the script was absolutely dire.

Tip: For a fun drinking game, take a swig every time someone says, "Excuse me?" I'm actually curious to know the count, but am not willing to go back and watch it again.