Alicia I love this movie so much

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

lazarillo This early 80's slasher effort should receive some kudos for being somewhat original. Unfortunately, it's not original in any way that makes it especially effective or good. The movie does a good job of establishing a bucolic small-town setting (perhaps, it's not a coincidence that the director is the grown-up David Nelson of "Ozzie and Harriet" fame). There is also a lot more character development than usual, but regrettably the characters are still the usual annoying teen stereotypes. The murders are few and far between until the very end when the bodies start to stack up in a hurry. They're pretty low-tech (they obviously couldn't afford Tom Savini), but they try to make up for by being bizarre. The first victims are strangled simultaneously somehow while having sex on a motorcycle. Their bodies are thrown in a river where, as a running joke, they are seen floating down at various points throughout the movie. Another victim wanders away from the town carnival and is struck by an arrow, but instead of screaming for help or anything, she staggers over to an abandoned carousel and sits down so the killer can (somehow) finish her off with a plastic bag.The actors are all ridiculously over-aged considering they're supposedly high school students, but this is actually a good thing considering the male protagonist is a "coach" who apparently both parties with and dates his students (which they tend to frown on in real high schools). The goody-good female protagonist is played Susan Lynn Kiger, who had an interesting career going from hardcore porn to "Playboy" to more legitimate acting. While it is nice to see a young woman in Hollywood have the opposite of the usual career trajectory, Kiger's talents unfortunately were probably better suited to her earlier career choices. Kiger stays dressed, but there is some gratuitous nudity, of course, including the girl on the motorcycle, a girl who showers with her bra on (which quickly becomes so transparent you wonder why she bothered), and a pretty blonde girl who goes for a full-frontal skinny-dip (which ALMOST keeps you from contemplating the absurdity of why anyone would go skinny-dipping in a RIVER).I don't want to imply this movie is in anyway good, but it sure is weird.

Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic) I think I'll email Mr. Ebert with an entry for his Movie Glossary Guide: FAT COP SYNDROME -- A Dead Teenager/Slasher Horror film formula element that establishes a sense of hopelessness by casting an obscenely obese 'comic relief' character in the role of the small town sheriff. I.E. The only thing that can save us is a fat blubbery cop who would rather eat, masturbate, and/or consume hard liquor while drooling over girlie magazines than fight evil.A friend and I recently bought out the VHS libraries of two rental stores that were converting to all DVD (one of the dumbest ideas I could ever think of). I glommed onto most of the interesting looking/sounding horror videos and have been enjoying some vacation time just chilling and watching tapes. Some have been eye opening or viscerally entertaining enough to bother with more than once (SAVAGE WEEKEND, DEATH SPA) and many will soon be for sale for mere pennies. Shelf space is a commodity around here, life is short, and some sucker out there will want NIGHTMARE HONEYMOON, I wager.We'll probably keep HOUSE OF DEATH though; Decent looking college aged women get utterly stark naked, there's some acceptable Hackage & Dismemberment, and I like the low budget settings of the carnival and spooky old rain shrouded house. The production values are fairly high for this kind of stuff, though some of the "teenagers" look like they are in their mid-30's and should be ashamed of themselves for robbing the cradles like that OR really proud for getting to score with the coed supporting cast. Depends on your point of view.But this is about the sixth slasher flick I have seen this week with a really FAT small town cop who is supposed to be "funny", and it got me thinking about how the role of the bumbling, inept small town lawman -- usually knocking back a half pint or slobbering down large sandwiches -- is so vital to making the audience feel as though the people in the story have absolutely zero hope of seeing daylight. Having the cop be a big, fat, shambling, disheveled, sleazy, porn-loving slob in EVERY movie, though, cannot be mere coincidence. And, interestingly, a very American trait: In European made equivalents, the cops are played by Franco Nero, Ray Lovelock and Henry Silva. In the US, guys who make Louie Anderson look svelte by comparison ... We are definitely onto something here.They all must go to the same Big & Tall Shops For Fat Movie Cops Outlet Store too, specializing in making you look utterly useless in an emergency. Heck, the supporting cast might as well just line up a bunch of tree stumps and kneel down with their necks craned out, because there is no doubt that when push comes to shove we will get a lazy inept fat guy with a sloppy sandwich gag, and probably a glimpse of a vintage Hustler magazine cover to boot. HOUSE OF DEATH is no different, better or worse in that regards, it just sort of is what it is. I can live with that, and fans of 80's horror will be amused by this nasty little relic.But again and again, the bottom line with these movies seems to be that breasts will hopefully be bared and lives may be lost, but at least the fat sheriff will get to enjoy the rest of that sandwich.

BillyBC (** 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.

Titans9 --Death Screams, or House of Death as it is known here, is one of the most absurd horror films I've seen next to Drive-In Massacre. I had friends over while watching this movie, but afterwards I think they considered me their worst enemy after putting them through this trash.--The first 40 mins. are so boring, I felt like ejecting the tape. Nothing happens, just some stupid dialogue at a carnival scene. The agony of sitting through this is too great. The most annoying character in this film is the grandma, she should have been the first victim. The true "suspense" starts in the last 10 mins. literally. Before that, just some cheesy killings.--House of Death has the most funniest death scene that is the only "plus" side to this movie** IF you get pierced in the shoulder with an arrow, go and scream for help. Surprisingly this girl with an IQ of 1 just moans and groans, falls down (you know the rest). She ventures onto an abandoned carousal and surprisingly, it starts moving. If a plastic bag is then put over your head, and your hands are free, poke a hole so you can breathe (or take it off). This one just groans until she is suffocated, yet never attempts to save herself. Someone that stupid just made me laugh so hard. I know most characters in horror flicks don't think... but c'mon!--I do not even know who the killer was, it was revealed, but House of Death has more holes than a fish net I was confused. Do me a favor...avoid this one. Do something more productive than wasting your time.