Don't Go in the House (1980)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Joseph Ellison

Writers:

Joseph Ellison (writer)
Ellen Hammill (writer)

Release Date:

28 March 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

...Threshold into terror.

Plot:

A disturbed young man who was burned as a child by his sadistic mother stalks women with a flamethrower.

Plot Keywords:

Child | Room | Flamethrower | Incinerator | Abuse

Cast

Dan Grimaldi	...	Donald 'Donny' Kohler
Robert Osth	...	Bobby Tuttle
Ruth Dardick	...	Mrs. Kohler
Charles Bonet	...	Ben (as Charlie Bonet)
Bill Ricci	...	Vito
Dennis Hunt	...	Locker Room Worker
John Hedberg	...	Locker Room Worker
Johanna Brushay	...	Kathy Jordan
Darcy Shean	...	Girl in Car
Mary Ann Chin	...	Woman in Street
Lois Verkimeps	...	Woman with Kids
Susan Smith	...	Girl in Market
Jim Donnegan	...	Clerk
Claudia Folts	...	Body #1
Denise Woods	...	Body #2

Also Known As:

The Burning (USA) (working title) (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1983) | UK:18 (cut) | Australia:M | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Iceland:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Turbine Films Inc.

Trivia:

Selected by Quentin Tarantino for the First Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, Texas, 1996.

Goofs:

Plot holes: There is no doorknob on the inside of the steel paneled room. As such, Donny would not have been able to get out of the steel room once the door latched closed.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

It's contribution to the genre: the burning scene.

A movie highly inspired by "Psycho" tells the story of Donny, a traumatized man that hates women because as a child he was abused by his mother; she burned his hands (scene is shown in a flashback).

A grown-up Donny keeps his mother's corpse in the 2nd. floor , sitting in a rocking chair (as I remember). Donny's violent conduct against women is a subliminal revenge against his mother but it helps him in order to feel "good". How could Donny get rid of his demons?

*SPOILERS* "Don't Go In The House" is only remembered because of the infamous burning scene. Donny ties a naked woman and later burns her with a flame thrower. Obviously he didn't play with toys as a children. The scene is fantastic for lovers of violence.

Disturbing but it's a creative scene that is a key part of the beginning of the slasher era.

There isn't much to talk about this movie besides the burning scene and the ending. The movie is not a completely rip-off of "Psycho" mainly because of it's slasher elements and late 70's influences in the genre.

The actor who played Donny did a good job and the other cast members were OK for a movie of this kind.

6/10. Watch it only if you are very into the genre. Otherwise it won't entertain you.