Better Late Then Never

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I like this movie, it grew on me a lot since I first ever saw it. The story is very blunt and straightforward and isn't what you'd call super-complex, but I found it to be a very focused direction and I ultimately found it a very solid and satisfying psychological horror movie and I think it might be one of the more underrated gritty gems from the "Video Nasties" era. I loved the starkness and the whole dingy and dull cinematic quality that it had that gave it a certain consistent feeling of unease throughout without there ever being a single drop of blood in it. It creates a strong sense of dread by letting the audience know early on that the main character is a complete batsh*t schizoid crazy who's fully intent on taking women back to his dead mother's mansion and roasting them alive in a specially made boiler room. The first burning of the beautiful flower shop woman, which is the only one that you really see, is the most horrific part of the movie for sure and is still quite shocking because it's so prolonged and shot in such a stark unflinching fashion that really puts you on edge. The visual effect is frighteningly convincing, it looks like she's really burned alive. The house that he lives in was such a fantastic setting, very grand and decayed, and it looked so striking from the outside, very similar to the domain of Norman Bates! And to say that fire is his method of killing the place looked noticeably freezing, a lot of the time you can see the actor's breath. Dan Grimaldi was very good and effective, his character kind of talked like an overgrown bashful kid and at first he's pitiable, but for me any sympathy towards him goes right out the window after he starts burning innocent women. At that point he's nothing but a heartless murderer who doesn't deserve to live a normal life and does very much deserve to rot in the hell that he's made for himself and to be dragged down into the fire by charred phantoms of his own making... I like the odd interlude where the film takes a pause and tries out a little levity when he goes to get a disco suit with some pointers from a flamboyant tailor! I didn't like all the schlocky disco crap though, not at all, even if it does kind of add to the charm in its way. The obnoxious excuse for a song that plays over the end credits is incredibly inappropriate! Speaking of bad impressions, they really should have stuck with "The Burning" for a title, "Don't Go in the House" is a silly-sounding lame B-movie title.. I wouldn't call it a slasher at all, it's not a roller coaster 'hold me I'm scared' popcorn type of picture, it's meant to be a sad disturbing character study of a man's sad descent, one that has some horrifically effective, especially for a low budget movie, fire effects. It doesn't glorify the violence like the Freddy or Friday the 13th movies do, and it doesn't create a power figure, he can't pick people up or stab them through a door - this person isn't fun to watch in action, he's a very sick twisted individual who has been tormented. Who would want to be this man? I know he's insane but the evil whispering voices made me wonder if there was meant to be some kind of supernatural element to the story, particularly at the end when they speak to another young child with an abusive mother, and potentially starting it all over again. But of course it's more likely just a statement on the nature of abuse and how violence can beget violence, and how monsters are always made by other monsters, and that's a pretty chilling message. Anyway it's not a very nice or uplifting movie but to me it's certainly a good one that has its place in time and deserves to be seen. Not burned but nicely toasted and very well done.

The title here is VERY apt... unless you fancy being tied up before burnt to a crisp. Yes, it's yet another Norman Bates clone, who talks to his mother even though she's a corpse in the corner and is a pyromaniac to boot, too. Not to worry though... she'll soon have some company. You'd think they'd be some kind of care in the community fallback to people like this, but nope... government cutbacks strike again. Mind you though, it IS hard to fathom why no many girls would go home with someone who displays no social skills whatsoever. It's gotta be the shirt.The first murder is exactly what you'd want... shocking and merciless. Savour it... they'll only be two more in the duration, and both are off camera. What a swizz. Instead, we have to put up with such meaningless passages such as our bats**t crazy friend shopping for clothes to wear at a disco, or 'listening' to the evil voices in his head (which are barely audible). The final couple of scenes are a comeback of sorts, but they deserve to belong to a better movie. If a film feels overlong at 80 minutes, then its got a problem. 4/10

A quite spooky movie.I think what creeps you in the movie is not the house, although it seems that's the central character here. It's actually Dan Grimaldi as Donald who essays the role of a man tormented by his scarred past down to the t. Besides him, the only other significant characters are Robert Osth as his work buddy Bobby and Ralph Bowman as Father Gerritty.The house looks eerie only on the outside. That's a minus but can be forgiven thanks to Dan who brings the fear alive by moving effortlessly between being crazy, scared and vicious.One aspect which looked so out of the place are the bodies of the dead. They are supposed to look badly burnt instead it seemed as though someone just dumped lots of dark mud on 'em! Verdict: Still an engaging movie to watch, especially with lights off and alone at home...

This depressing little flick may fool slasher fans because of the words "Don't Go" in the title, but ultimately what we get here is a rather subdued, nearly gore-less character study of a very sick individual with serious mommy issues. While this will certainly turn away those looking for a charnal blood-fest, I'd like to point out that there are a multitude of other options from the era which fit that niche, and while Don't Go In The House isn't a classic, the understated approach differentiates this film from the splatter smörgåsbord surrounding it and actually makes it a bit memorable as a result.Of course, there's nothing new on the table here, and the Psycho references are far too numerous to be unintentional. But the moody and morose tone is well-developed and unsettling, which is the least we can expect from a film about a man who burns naked women to death with a flamethrower.Despite its relative simplicity, the plot is a bit too convoluted for its own good, throwing in extraneous characters that distract from the core focus, and at times presenting our insane leading man as too pathetic to be frightening. But there's a lot of rather interesting subtext going on, and the movie is ambiguous enough in its motives to make the viewer do some thinking of their own. We have to decide if the voices telling our central character to kill are in his own mind, or the manifestation of some malevolent spirit latching onto a weak individual driven to madness by the death of his mother.This relationship, too, offers many facets in the brief flashback glimpses we get, and those who relish in deep character development will have an entertaining time psychoanalyzing the motivations of a man who was cruelly abused by his mother, yet so devoted to her in her declining health that her demise sets him off on a murderous mini-rampage.Scenes that would have been deemed meaningless in most horror films are fleshed out here in vivid detail, and even simple errands like buying a suit to impress some ladies out on the town become excellent scenarios in which to develop the loneliness and despair within our homicidal host. It's a testament to the quality of the performance that we almost feel sorry for the hapless lad, despite the fact that we watched him talk to the charred corpses of his victims moments before.The film also has its fair share of silliness, which does derail the morbid momentum at times, and the untested supporting actors provide a bit of unintentional laughter with their ineptitude. Dan Grimaldi seems to handle the material with grace, and his performance is much more nuanced than we normally get from B-movie psychos. Still, it's hard not to laugh when his initial excitement about his mother's passing drives him to blast an awful disco record at maximum volume and jump up and down on chair cushions like a disturbed chimpanzee (yes, I'm totally serious).To the film-makers' credit, the gruesome nature of Grimaldi's torturous implement of execution isn't used in an exploitative way. We only get one horrific glimpse at the fate that awaits the women who ignore the titular warning, but it's enough. The film's lone sadistic murder scene is uncomfortable to watch and rendered with an unflinching eye, and because the later killings are not shown in graphic detail, this sequence is given additional impact. The film-makers' not opting for a reoccurring series of grisly burnings is a wise choice, and our focus remains on the struggle for sanity and companionship that drives Grimaldi's heinous deeds. As a result, the film doesn't dehumanize its victims, or desensitize the viewer, and this scene is destined to haunt you long after you've forgotten about the rest of the film.While the idea for the climax would be more vividly essayed in Maniac this same year, there is something rather chilling about the simplicity with which it is tackled here, and the excellent and very realistic burn make-up adds immeasurably to this sensation. I won't spoil the creepy and ambiguous fade-to-black scene for you, but after the hopelessly bleak aura of the preceding 80 minutes, the film strikes a grim final chord that carries the tone of dread into the final credits, further cementing the impression that the people responsible for this movie had a different mindset than most of the low-budget film-makers who launched the splatter genre into its golden age.The entire film doesn't sustain the intensity of its best parts, and this is certainly not mandatory viewing by any means. But Don't Go In The House doesn't reach too far outside of its limitations, and the film's vision is presented in an effective and satisfying way. This is a sick one, to be sure, but impressive nonetheless.