Nov 02 2008
Review: House of the Dead (aka Alien Zone, 1978)
An odd entry in the world of the anthology horror film is House of the Dead (aka Alien Zone, 1978). Directed by Sharron Miller, known for directing episodes for various television series and made-for-TV movies, House of the Dead features some bizarre and creepy imagery, and features a story that loosely resembles that of the recent suspense/horror film The Strangers (2008).
A man named Talmudge is cheating on his wife with a married woman while out of town on business. He takes a taxi to a hotel, and is dropped off in the wrong section of town. He takes refuge from a pounding rain storm in the home of an undertaker. The undertaker begins to tell him the story behind each of his “customers,” and the unusual circumstances that led them to their deaths.
The stories include that of a nasty teacher who hates children, and on an eerie, lonely night, is haunted by what appear to be costumed kids - but it is unknown what dwells under their masks. The second story involves a man (Burr DeBenning of The Incredible Melting Man, 1977) who films his dates as he murders them. The third story features two of the world’s foremost criminologists (one of them being Bernard Fox of James Cameron’s Titanic, 1997) working on the same case (where one of them receive a death threat via paste-up note), despite their rivalry. The final story is about an arrogant, insensitive business man who ends up trapped in a vacant building to suffer the same despair and loneliness felt by the homeless people he berates.
After hearing the stories, Talmudge is informed by the undertaker that the people who occupy each coffin are victims of their own malevolence. The undertaker reveals that there is a fifth coffin with no occupant; it is implied that Talmudge’s infidelity will put him there. Talmudge flees into a back alley where he is greeted by a shadowy figure…..
Low budget and relatively unknown, House of the Dead is easily and cheaply available under both this title and as Alien Zone. The stories within the wraparound footage are hit-and-miss, yet the first story delivers a creepy atmosphere (phantoms in masks creeping around and terrorizing people who are home alone). The second story is very short, but is a forerunner to the “mockumentary” film style used in films such as Cannibal Holocaust (1979) and The Blair Witch Project (1999). The third story is by far the most compelling, with fantastic acting and a solid story structure. The final story is interesting and consists of a set-up and twist-ending. This film is highly recommended to a horror fan who is looking for something very different from the usual genre fare - the anti-Elm Street/Shining/blockbuster extravaganza, the type of creepy, little film that seeps between the cracks of horror film history.
