my Movie

Movie Details

Title:   Don't Go in the House
Director:   Joseph Ellison
Year:   1980
Genre:   Horror
Times Seen:   2
Last Seen:   04.29.06

Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)

Notes History
Date Viewed Venue Note
04.29.06Alamo DowntownThis Screening is part of event: Best of QT Fest
Next up was a movie that I'd rented when it got a DVD release. It'd been extremely built up by Harry Knowles, him claiming that this is the one movie that broke him and sent him running to cower naked in the corner and cry. When I saw it alone in my apartment, I thought there was one great scene, a good idea behind it, but otherwise it was pretty slow. So I was extremely curious to see this play with a QTfest crowd and see if I was wrong or what.

First though, Quentin introduced the only new thing to ever play at QTfest. It's a short directed and starring Rie Rasmussen (in attendance, sitting with Quentin and Eli Roth). Um... I think others liked it more than I did. Basically, this woman comes home and there's someone there who ties her up and he's like a serial killer that's killing innocent people in the name of satan... like a blind kid, a deaf girl, really no-harm innocents like that. so he strips naked and is about to get to the torture and killing when the girl basically says she's satan and her quest to poison the bloodline of humans is through diseases and afflictions such as blindness and deafness so in effect he was killing off the wrong people... or something. then she kills him the end. Now, I did like how the girl's blond hair, when it gets mussed up, strongly resembles devil horns and like... those chinese devil spirit flames that come off their faces... and I have to respect a woman who will put an upskirt panty shot of herself in her own movie so that's cool too... but I dunno... I guess I have a problem when things get 100% representational or clever... something in my mind chews away saying "what are the odds that this guy picks satan..." A couple friends of mine made a short where a vampire hunter gets hooked up with a vampire on a blind date, but I actually didn't get that feeling there because there's enough hinting and suggestions that the hunter knows all along... but this short didn't give anything like that out... just a satanic cult murderer guy picking a random innocent girl that turns out to be the devil herself. Well shot, superhot lady, but it didn't do anything for me.

So Don't Go in the House.

You've been warned.

The movie played pretty well with the crowd. I know I enjoyed it more that way... but still it's one great scene, a good idea, and a mostly slow movie. I think a lot of the problem comes with the great scene coming about 15 minutes into the movie. Everything after that feels like the director had no idea what to do after that scene so he just threw random things that don't really go anywhere in for the rest of the movie. Still though, that one great scene is enough to call this film a good freakin time. Actually, shortly after said scene transpires, there's like a follow-up scene that had Quentin yelling out in the theater "Best cut in cinema history!" to a rowsing round of laughs and applause.

The other redeeming factor in the majority of this film is the supporting cast. The main guy is... not great. But there's a friend part that's great and a priest who must've went to some special school to get his eyebrows to move like that and a archetypal guido Jersy disco dancer toward the end that beats the main guy up.. they don't hold up to this one scene but, you know, if you're watching the rest of the movie anyway then these are guys to look out for.

I made a reference to this while we were eating fantastic bbq at The Salt Lick (nothing like filling your gut with meat immediately before a 13-hour marathon) to Micah, saying "Once you put a steel room in your house, there's no going back." Apparently he thought i was quoting a line from the movie because it's so badass. Nope, it's all me. Expect it in one of my scripts or movies... if i ever do anything with my life, that is.

So I was warned and not only did I go in the house but i went BACK in the house and had a mostly good time watching it again because i was at freakin QTfest with a still-sold-out audience. Some people were still waiting in the stand-by line at 3am, man... that's hardcore. Even at the very end the theater was still more than half-full... I was really surprised.

After the movie, I headed out to the lobby to relieve myself and passed Dennis Quaid on the side of the theater. I walked past him then had to do a quick double take like "is that Dennis Quaid? Did he just watch DON'T GO IN THE HOUSE!?" I don't think he did though... I think he just popped in to meet Quentin, take a piss, then head back out into the Austin nightlife. Still though, random dennis quaid spotting, I'm sure my mom will be excited.
12.01.05Netflix purportedly the nastiest most offensive movie ever shown at a QT fest. Eh... I think this is a good case of maybe I would have liked it a lot more in a theater with a QT intro rather than watching it alone in my apartment. Maybe I saw a cut version or something... Especially after watching Maniac not too long ago, this seemed kind of the same except with burning. However, there was one scene where a fully frontal nude girl gets set on fire with a flamethrower that's pretty intense...