Stephen Abell This is a dark psychological thriller about the consequences of child abuse. Donny Kohler is a man who is growing increasingly detached from his life. One day, while he's at work he witnesses an accident which causes one of his work colleagues to catch on fire. While the rest of the workforce rush about trying to help the man Donny stands transfixed and spellbound by the sight.It brings back to him the memories of his mother's retribution for misbehaviour, where she would hold his hands and arms above the open flame of the kitchen hob. This triggers his psychosis, flames cleanse the sins of man... and woman.Kohler played admirably well by Dan Grimaldi - who is very good at making this psychopathic killer appear as normal - then sets out on his mission of cleansing his town. The most chilling part of this film isn't the killing or the portrayal of Kohler, but the killing room. Kohler covers the walls, floor and ceiling in sheet metal and adds a meat hook in the centre of the room, from which to hang his prey. It's the idea that he's thought this through to this extent so as not to burn down his house that makes it a very creepy and chilling issue and adds a deep psychological darkness to the character. However, there are issues with the story, especially in correspondence with Kohler's character. There are some scenes that don't quite gel with his personality. And some of the directing could have been better. The scene when Kohler goes out with his friend and ends up attacking his date is well thought out story-wise; however, it could have been acted and directed much better There is a few scene's like this.The director, Joseph Ellison, who co-scripted the story with writer Joe Masefield and Ellen Hammill, does create a good film with a variable pace and flow, which helps to create atmosphere and keep the viewers interested. However, I feel he could have done more to bring it above average.The acting is okay though nobody shines through or dominates the film. This is a shame because I think if Dan Grimaldi was a little stronger in his craft it would have made the film a hell of a lot scarier,Overall, the film suffers from averageness, though it is worth at least one watch. This is a film I would love to see remade, though adding a stronger cast and director, as I believe the story could make a classic film. I would gladly recommend the film to anybody who likes darker psychological thrillers and isn't too distressed by graphic and gory scenes. This left a chill in my bones and I will be watching the film again.

Mr_Ectoplasma Socially stunted Donny Kohler (Dan Grimaldi) loses some major screws when his abusive and controlling single mother unexpectedly passes away in their house. In a downward spiral into insanity, he burns her corpse to a crisp with a flamethrower, builds an aluminum-walled room upstairs, and begins bringing women home whom he can also burn to death and add to his growing collection of fried corpses that complement the upstairs living room furniture. "Don't Go in the House" is a melange of a lot of things, and a lot of other films; it is a meditation on child abuse, Oedipal relationships, Catholicism, and sexuality; it is also heavily informed by Hitchcock's "Psycho," taking the real skeleton of that film and running it into even more macabre territory.While the premise of the film sounds somewhat absurd, this low-budget chiller is actually one of the more harrowing films of its era. The murder scenes are the real sideshow attraction here for most people, and they are to this day gruesome to watch; what I personally found even more unnerving though was the aftermath in which Kohler arranges and dresses the burnt-black corpses in a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"-style feng shui. Even more disturbing are the surreal nightmare sequences in which the corpses become animated and seek revenge against him.Dan Grimaldi, who would later make a larger name for himself on "The Sopranos," leads the film as the disturbed Donny, and turns in the best performance of the film. The rest of the cast is lackluster and ultimately unmemorable, which may be the film's only real flaw. Visually, the film has some fantastic compositions, particularly the POV-shots from the corpses' perspectives as Kohler scolds them. The house in which the film is set is also appropriately large and Gothic, giving the film an extra layer of atmosphere, and the image of Donny in the fire suit is inexplicably terrifying.Overall, "Don't Go in the House" is a phenomenal low-budget horror film that is psychologically focused and manages to be legitimately harrowing and absorbing. In some ways it reminded me of Joe Spinell's New York-based "Maniac," which appeared the following year, though it's impossible to say if there was some sort of influence there. Regardless, for as much as "Don't Go in the House" wears its influences on its sleeve, it still manages to be a grim and triumphant psychological slasher film. Definitely worth a look for the grindhouse crowd. 9/10.

gigan-92 This movie is about as good as it can be. The acting is all right, I myself finding the performance of Dan Grimaldi quite well done. There are even some generally frightening moments I enjoyed. The score by Richard Einhorn is also pretty interesting, quite menacing when it gathers full strength. Problem is the film's story borrows somewhat from Hitchcock's "Psycho" that preceded this film by well over two decades. Technically speaking, the lead characters from these two films are quite the same in motive and disposition; difference (the most important thing to keep in mind) is that Anthony Perkins was allowed subtly and mystery to his performance as Norman Bates. This film is so out right with its villain there's not much mystery, just violence.However, I still find this movie a hoot to watch, though by no means a horror classic.

MBunge I'm sure Don't Go In The House wasn't a very good film back in its time and it certainly isn't one by today's standards, but it is a reminder of how much more interesting and worthwhile horror movies were before they became like pornography.Donny Kohler (Dan Grimaldi) is a sick, sick man. Horribly abused as a child, Donny developed a fascination with fire. When his abusive mother dies, that fascination ignites into murderous insanity. Donny creates an "oven room" in his mother's house where he burns kidnapped woman alive, then dresses up the torched corpses and leaves them sitting around so he can yell at them. Donny turns to his priest (Ralph B. Bowman) for help in stopping his deranged obsession but after a night at the disco with his only friend Bobby (Robert Osth) turns into a brutal disaster, Donny returns to his murderous ways and is eventually consumed by his own madness.Everything about this movie is primitively simple. The writing, the acting, the direction and the moral are all things you might see today from a very bright middle school student who makes a film with his family's old video camera and his friends from school. It may have had some shock value in the late 70s, but is tame by modern standards of violence and gore. There are a few moments that are still unnerving, but that's due to the difference between Don't Go In The House and what the horror genre has mutated into.Most modern horror films have a tinge of pornography to them. Their violence, depravity and gore are meant more to titillate and excite than to disgust or horrify. The audience isn't meant to identify with the victims. They're not even meant to identify with the killer. They're just meant to react to the acts of brutality on screen. Don't Go In The House predates that mindset. The violence in this movie isn't meant to be cool or entertaining. A scene of female nudity isn't meant to entice, but to emphasize how awful a situation is. This film doesn't want to thrill you. It wants to disturb you.Another way it departs from the roller-coaster approach to horror movies is that Donny Kholer isn't some unknowable, unreachable monster. He's a human being terribly twisted by childhood trauma, yet he still has all the normal feelings and needs of a human being. Donny is meant to elicit both revulsion and sympathy as the film raises the idea that people who do awful things are just repeating the awful things that were done to them. That's a much more nuanced take on evil than you generally get from any film, let alone a low-budget horror movie from 1979.Don't Go In The House isn't much as entertainment goes. Most of its frightening elements are dated and its pacing is flabby and flaccid. As a piece of cinematic anthropology, it's slightly interesting as a contrast to the modern horror film. If that sort of intellectual take on the genre appeals to you, give it a watch. Otherwise, I'm not sure it would be worth your time or money.