Casey's movies feel low budget and regional. Watching how a director like this paces things in lots of recent big studio movies made me hyper aware of the stylistic choices in HORROR HOUSE. Don't get me wrong, those stylistic things can be quite endearing. For instance, when one of the actors cuts her arm badly early on in the movie - we get a long-ish shot that lingers on the (pretty impressive) makeup job. The production design is fairly non-existent in that the sets feel like the houses they are and everything (down to the carpeting) feels of it's time. Hairstyles, furniture and the look of the film stock (this transfer is from 16mm elements) all felt like they were pointing me to the late 1970s in terms of timeframe, but the movie was released in 1985. It turns out that the film was shot over a number of years and actually had started circa 1978 so my instincts were correct.
One thing that can be fun/interesting about low budget horror movies is that they can get a little weird sometimes. HORROR HOUSE definitely veers into that territory a little bit. I was comparing it in my head to RUNAWAY NIGHTMARE - another VinSyn releases that is even more off the wall.
The slasher genre is enjoyable and much beloved in part because of its structure and how easy it is to incorporate the basic elements into even the thinnest plot line. The basic gist is that the killer claims some victims in the opening and then the rest of the movie features he or she stalking after the rest of the cast and killing most of them. Pretty straightforward. So when you are working at this budget level, you can take that simple structure and throw in whatever else you want. You can throw in a killer in a Richard Nixon mask, a weird kidnapping scenario, an odd hippie couple in a van who are trying to build a rocket and end up creating a strangely mesmerizing and surreal tableau that's not really like anything you've seen before. Truly a "WTF movie" and an amusing one at that.

Both HORROR HOUSE and HELLBENT are presented on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome featuring the best looking new transfers these movies have ever had. They are also full of nice supplements as well.
HORROR HOUSE ON HIGHWAY FIVE Features:
• Scanned and restored in 2k from 16mm archival elements
• “Return to Horror House on Highway 5” – making of featurette (19 mins)
• Commentary track with director Richard Casey
• “Beach Party with Vom” – music video directed by Richard Casey (the impetus for Horror House on Highway 5)
• Alternate full frame presentation of Horror House on Highway 5
• Reversible cover artwork by Kevin Thomas
HELLBENT Features:
• Scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm original camera negative
• “A Little Chaos” – making of featurette (16 mins)
• Commentary track with director Richard Casey
• Original cover artwork by Cody Brown
• Reversible cover artwork
Both can be found via VinegarSyndrome.com and Amazon:
HORROR HOUSE:
http://amzn.to/2dCcom2

HELLBENT:
http://amzn.to/2d6K7TJ
• Scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm original camera negative
• “A Little Chaos” – making of featurette (16 mins)
• Commentary track with director Richard Casey
• Original cover artwork by Cody Brown
• Reversible cover artwork
HORROR HOUSE:
http://amzn.to/2dCcom2

HELLBENT:
http://amzn.to/2d6K7TJ

No comments:
Post a Comment