By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Don’t Go in the House (1979) is one of those lesser known, late 70s flicks that rely on practical effects to show some very creepy scenes. The movie starts with our lead character Donny (Dan Grimaldi) being harassed by his boss without reason. One of his co-workers takes pity and attempts to befriend him.
It’s evident to anyone who knows him that Donny is a few cards short of a deck. That said, it isn’t all his fault. As a child, his mother would burn him horribly for small insignicant infractions. She was a nutcase and he stayed in her house enduring the abuse until she died.
It is on the night that he is terrorized by his boss that he shows up home to find his mother has passed away. Rather than act like a rational person and either mourn her death or at least be somber about the occasion, he acts like a teenager when the parents are away. Still, his mother’s voice rings in his ears. It is unclear whether the words he hears are due to his delusions ala Psycho (1960) or if something paranormal is really occurring.
Donny keeps his mother’s corpse in the house and more often than not acts as though she’s alive. Worse his own mental stability begins to deteriorate. He begins to wear a flame retardant bright white suit and tortures anyone he is with eventually setting them afire.
He keeps the dead bodies in one room, each one sitting in chairs. Meanwhile, his mother’s corpse seems to be wandering around the house. As the murders grow so do the voices that Donny hears. He gets angry and resents the corpses for not being grateful to him for his hospitality.
There are really two conclusions and both are eerie, creepy and fit well with one another. I won’t spoil anything as the visuals themselves are much better seen without any prior knowledge as to what will happen.
Don’t Go in the House definitely was inspired by Psycho, but there’s also a little Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things (1972) thrown in as well. That said, there are many aspects that are original and horrifying. Practical effects beat CGI 99 out of 100 times and anyone who doubts that should watch the typical horror film today vs. a typical horror film of the 70s and 80s. It’s night and day.
This is definitely one that every horror fan must see. Dan Grimaldi perfects the role of Donny making him both sympathetic and frightening. He does have a Norman Bates quality to him, but he’s a much darker character.
Currently, the only available method to see this is via purchasing the DVD. It’s completley worth the cost and I can’t recommend it enough.
Scared Stiff Rating: 8.5/10
