The House of the Dead (1978)

You won't be disappointed!

A different way of telling a story

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

"The House Of The Dead" is only a few steps up from the quality of your average home movie. I guess in a way that's inspiring: if this movie can get distribution (and DVD printing), then why not yours? It's a four-part anthology: the first two parts (the teacher stalked by vampire kids, the camera-obsessed woman-killer) are a complete waste of time, the other two (the rival British and American detectives, the guy who gets trapped in an empty building) are slightly more tolerable, and the wraparound (the lead comes face to face with his fate) is actually decent, but three things they all have in common are poor production values, tedious scripting, and amateurish acting. * out of 4.

"Alien Zone" aka "House of the Dead" features four creepy stories told by a creepy embalmer.A man lost on his way to hotel listens to his tales.The first tale about a school teacher who hates children managed to creep me out.This nervous woman is being stalked by little children hidden behind their disturbing clown masks.The second story about serial killer of women,who enjoys filming his victims is quite boring and tedious.The stories number three and four are worth checking out.I still don't know why this film was titled "Alien Zone",because there are no aliens or galaxy invaders in it.A passable "Twilight Zone"-ish anthology.7 aliens of of 10.

John Ericson ventures out in the rain after having been left off by a cab at the wrong street. Soon he finds refuge in an old building with a friendly mortician that gives him tea and shows him some of his "clients." There are some easy clues early in the wrap-around story for this anthology to tell you where that story is going, especially after having just seen the man prior to getting in the cab have an adulterous pleasure period with someone else's wife. But the frame story is really just a means to allow mortician Ivor Francis to tell his stories about his clients. I always liked Francis for his calm presence and subtle humour, yet here he is given some really bad dialog but does manage to put some life into this otherwise drab little film. The problem with this, also known for some inexplicable reason as Alien Zone(I saw House of the Dead copy), is that the budget here is really minuscule and the stories, what special effects there are, and acting quality are all directly affected. Nothing is shown. I was shocked that we never even got to see the faces of the dead corpses in the coffins - now that is low budget! The first story deals with a teacher who it seems dislikes children - based on one scene of her walking from her car scowling. She then goes home and the supernatural effects of red tinting children wearing masks and wearing what appear as shark teeth begins. Truly terrifying. (Yawn.) The second story has some real bad actor lure women into his apartment so he can film them being killed. It's done in an almost comedic fashion and has virtually no substance at all. Then there is the one story that I did really like and does have a bit of budget and real actors. The third story has Charles Aidman and Bernard Fox as two great detectives out to outwit the other and become the leading criminologist in the world. This episode has some humor and clever dialog and of course both Aidman and especially Fox have acting ability. You get an idea where it is going but should enjoy it nonetheless. It ends way too abruptly though. The last story is pretty decent too as we see a man who seems to be a person that doesn't care about the society around him get locked into an abandoned building and fed on booze until he becomes a boozer like the one he snubbed earlier. Despite its ridiculous story, the effects of despair are not all that bad. Then of course there is the obvious conclusion to the frame story. This movie was cheaply made and has that real cheap feel to it, but it isn't that bad and a couple of the stories are relatively interesting and none so bad as they are not watchable.

I have completely had it: from now on, I WILL NOT judge a movie by a cool cover."Alien Zone" (or "House of the Dead") has so many things wrong with it that a review tends to become a list on poor movie qualities. I'll try and resist the temptation and continue.First of all, why it's called "Alien Zone" I have no idea; there are no aliens in it and the only thing alien about it is the notion that the people involved thought that it had any entertainment value.The plot (snicker, laugh) details a mortician's stories about the individuals who reside in his velvet Eterna-loungers. The stories themselves (mean teacher, snotty office worker, rival spies, etc.) are not in any ways or means interesting, scary or even creepy. They're just...there. And even Fox (Dr. Bombay! Dr. Bombay!) contributes little to nothing. There's less irony than there is dead weight (sorry, couldn't help myself).Avoid this movie. Don't watch it, don't glance at it, don't even look at the cover in your video store. And if your video store has any copies of "Alien Zone", petition them to get rid of it as soon as possible. Get an act of Congress passed to take it off the shelves of every store in the world before future generations have to endure it.Go on, be a hero.No stars. There isn't enough money in the world to make me give even 1/4 of a star to this travesty. That Elvira showed it on TV is bad enough. She should be ashamed. I know I would be.