Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Deadhouse (2005)

Three teens on their way to visit a relative get lost and end up in a small town where the only inhabitants seem to be overweight men.  After asking directions from a creepy butcher who operates out of the basement in the back of what could be an abandoned building, the group drives down a dirt road, where they almost run someone over.  Basically they're all idiots. The SUV is  driving on dirt tracks in a field trying to get back to the highway, and the guy in the field isn't aware enough to hear the vehicle  coming.  SUV's aren't stealthy, people.

Feeling guilty, they give the guy a ride, but their car mysteriously gets stuck while moving on the dry dirt road.  They abandon their vehicle hoping to find a house, but again, common sense takes a back seat as they wander through a field rather than sticking to a road.

Upon discovering a creepy abandoned looking home, they trot inside to look for a phone and are confronted by the homeowner, who looks like he's in a metal band and is uninterested in their plight.  Surprisingly, this causes the group to react with sarcasm, seeming to miss the point that they've walked uninvited into his home.

It's no surprise when things go horribly wrong and a behemoth, mask wearing, wrestler type, serial killer comes out of nowhere to clean house.  While the killer is huge and has a creepy mask, the scare factor is undermined by a ring of duct tape wrapped around his ample belly as if it's a belt, (it's not).

The town's law enforcement proves incompetent, and there is a twist ending that isn't surprising if you've watched your share of horror movies. Also the killer is referred to as a clown in the description of the movie, but there's nothing clown like about him. He's just a big guy with a strange mask.

Watch for the young guy with the unfortunate haircut at the beginning of the video who falls over when a fairly light branch that is masquerading as  a tree falls on top of him, where upon he mutters, "Fuckin' tree...."  Also look for the fuzzy video of two little girls inserted into the credits, which at first sight will make you think someone accidentally edited snippets of their home movies into the film.

The music often drowns out the dialogue, and even when the music isn't playing, it can be hard to hear what the characters are saying.  Luckily that's no great loss.

No comments: