House of the Dead

House of the Dead
by Uwe Boll

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Movie Reviews of House of the Dead

Movie Review: It's Difficult to Understand These Negative Reviews
Summary: 5 Stars

I can't imagine that many of the negative reviews are coming serious horror fans, and before everyone gets up in arms, let me explain what I mean by "serious horror fans". I don't mean someone who likes horror films a lot "if they're good", which is tautological and implies a person who probably would think that most of them aren't good. I also don't mean someone who has seen, say, 20 or 30 horror films along the lines of The Exorcist, Halloween, Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Silence of The Lambs, etc. and who says that they like more of those "classics" than they dislike (whether they really believe this, or think that they're supposed to believe this). I mean someone who has been watching the genre for many years, who tries to see every horror film they can make available to themselves for viewing, and who likes a majority of those films.

Most of the negative criticisms being lobbed at these recent films, although I think they are ultimately unjustified, could be lobbed in the same way against most of the films in the horror genre. So anyone being consistent, and taking a serious look at the objective properties of the films, would have to also not like most of the hundred or so horror films made worldwide each year. Note that I'm not saying anything elitist about "serious horror fans", although I am one of them. I'm merely pointing out that I can't believe that the recent negative reviews of films like House of the Dead, House of 1000 Corpses, Cabin Fever, Wrong Turn, etc. can be written by people who fit the "serious horror fan" description as I have defined it above.

All of these recent films lie solidly within the genre, with characteristic scripts, performances, effects, editing, etc. They are also clearly made by crews (and not just the directors, but scriptwriters, effects persons, and so on) with a deep love of the genre, who are both transparently acknowledging their influences and trying to bring something new to the table.

So what about House Of The Dead? I thought it was brilliant. For anyone who doesn't know already, it is an example of the recent "video game film" subgenre. The game was a first-person shooter with lots of gory zombie action, but the filmmakers were also big fans of the zombie film genre, especially the George Romero films. Additionally, the Sega folks wanted it to not just be an adaptation of either of the House of the Dead games, so the film has an original plot, which could be seen as a prequel to the games.

Yes, you read that correctly, this film has a plot. Most films do. It would be very difficult to create a film without a plot, although there might be some examples of this, such as Brian Eno's Thursday Afternoon, if we can say that it isn't just a music video. But even the Godfrey Reggio/Philip Glass trilogy, consisting of Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi, could be said to have a plot. Plots can be poetic as well as prosaic. House of the Dead however, has a fairly straightforward, linear plot.

A quintet of young adults is headed to a rave on a secluded island. They hire a wonderfully campy duo of sailors (one played by Clint Howard, who at this point in his enjoyable career suggests camp the moment he appears) to take them to the island, despite their protests about its safety. When they arrive, things immediately go wrong, and they are quickly confronted with zombies. I don't like to give to much of the film away to anyone who hasn't seen it already, but there are also subplots having to do with the sailors and the police, and two of the young adults who used to be mates. There is also a great backstory about the origin of the zombies, which seems partially like a nod to Spanish horror maven Amando de Ossorio and his Blind Dead films.

Although the story is enjoyable enough, and the performances are good, and standard for a horror film, ranging from campy to a kind of earnest obliviousness, what really stands out in this film is the zombie material, which is just as heavy on action as horror. Director Uwe Boll achieves a thrilling, almost chaotic mayhem, and even better, goes over the top with some postmodern techniques. Rather than shying away from the modern aspects of the genres he's working in, and the peculiarities of the video game film subgenre, he embraces them in a visceral way, producing an emotional effect that is akin to taking a loop in a roller coaster at 60 miles per hour. The most prominent of these techniques is Boll's insertion of actual video game footage into the film, at first under the credits, then as a very creative wipe, and finally intercut with some of the action. These work beautifully, as long as you view them less linearly and more like a Warhol painting. Other embraced techniques include Mach 5 sequences of music-video style edits (during characters' mental flashbacks) and post-Matrix action sequences, which also have to be read more poetically.

Of course, you don't have to analyze any of this stuff to enjoy the film. But you probably have to be a (or at least be a potential) "serious horror fan" to enjoy it.

Summary of House of the Dead