cinema history class: house of the damned

Session: Get Your Freak On, Week 2
Movie: House of the Damned (1964)
Directed by Maury Dexter

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
An architect and his wife visit a spooky old mansion after its last tenant move out. But they find the place is still -- how to put it? -- occupied. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:
House of the Damned started off very strong. The expository phone call at the beginning had the cadence of a classic film noir, and the whole feel was consistent with that. Then, as we, the viewers, are getting to know the titular house, there are some really nice spooky touches -- the door that creaks open, the unexpected shadow in the foyer, the warning signs on the road.

But the movie never really lives up to its potential. As it progresses, it seems to become duller and duller. Keith has often explained that horror films need to relieve the tension -- there have to be peaks and valleys. Well, this one had too much valley and not enough peak.

And the payoff itself just wasn't enough. The concept behind it -- that a group of sideshow freaks were living in the house, away from the rest of the world -- was reasonably clever. But in presentation it was anticlimactic. The reveal seemed sort of like a Scooby Doo episode on xanax, and that was followed by a scene that bizarrely reminded me of the Jews leaving Anatevka at the end of Fiddler on the Roof.

I really wanted to like this more than I did.

Ratings:

Me: 6

Dave: 8.5

Ethan: 6

Joe: 9.8
Sean:  1 out of 4

Former Boss' Reaction:
To let y'all know, someone who used to be my boss says he will not watch movies made before 1980 -- except for Star Wars. I try to touch base with him about the movies we saw in class, and ask if he'd be interested in seeing them.

His reaction to House of the Damned: "Nope."