Don’t Go In the House Review

4 star remastered legendary video nasty.

Don’t Go In the House is an American psychological horror film from the era of “Video Nasties”, originally released in 1980. Based on a story by Joe Masefield, it is written by Ellen Hammill (Joey) and Joseph Ellison who also directs.

It is presented here on Blu-ray fully uncut following a 2K restoration courtesy of Arrow Video.

“What am I going to do now? It’s not true. It’s not. She going to wake up, she’s just asleep.”

Donny (Dan Grimaldi – The Sopranos, Chasing the Green) is a deeply disturbed young man who works at an incinerator and seems to be fascinated (or horrified) by the flames. When his co-worker is accidentally set on fire, he freezes and fails to help. His boss accuses him of being crazy, but his friend Bobby (Robert Carnegie – Hoodlums, Knight Rider) stands by him.

When he gets home from work, he discovers that his abusive mother (Ruth Dardick) has died while he was out. Shocked at first, he soon sees the positives as a whispering voice tells him that now he is in control, he can do whatever he wants to, he is free.

As a child she would punish him by holding his arms over the gas hob, now he feels it is his time to get revenge. He begins to lure women to his house to chain them up in a custom built steel room and burn them alive with a flame thrower.

He stops turning up for work and Bobby keeps in touch to try and help him, but little does he know what is going on behind closed doors.

“I’ll burn the evil out of you.”

Don’t Go In The House is a grim and unrelenting look at the potential repercussions of child abuse as we watch one man’s descent into insanity. It’s graphic and deeply disturbing, with it’s scenes of women burning alive and corpses with burnt flesh wandering about the place.

There is no violence or blood really, just the dark reality that Donny kills random women in order to punish his dead mother. The years have done nothing to diminish the shock factor of this film and Dan Grimaldi’s performance is just as impressive now as the deranged serial killer.

Not for the faint hearted, this release is brilliantly remastered and boasts a host of special features, as well as different versions of the film. The Video Nasty Edition (available exclusively from the Arrow Store) includes an uncut British theatrical release, taken from negatives pre BBFC intervention.

It is also the first Arrow Video release to feature audio description. If you are a fan of Video Nasties then this one is well worth adding to your collection.

“I can change. I wanna forget our past. I wanna forgive you. Please help me forgive her.”

Don’t Go In The House Limited Edition Blu-ray (2 Disc) and Don’t Go In The House Video Nasty Edition (3 disc) (Arrow Store Exclusive) are available to buy from 7th February 2022

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• Limited edition O-card featuring original “video nasty” VHS artwork
• Reversible sleeve and fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Christopher Shy
• Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Lindsay Hallam and James Flower

DISC ONE

• Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative by Severin Films
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentation of two different versions of the film: the 83-minute uncut Theatrical Version, and the 89-minute Television Version with additional scenes and alternate footage
• Original lossless mono audio on both cuts
• Optional English audio description for the blind on both cuts
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on both cuts
• Brand new commentary on the Theatrical Version by director Joseph Ellison and producer Ellen Hammill
• Archive commentary on the Theatrical Version by star Dan Grimaldi
• “House” Keeping, a brand new featurette by Severin Films interviewing associate producer Matthew Mallinson and co-writer/producer Joe Masefield
• We Went in the House, a brand new featurette by Severin Films with Michael Gingold revisiting the locations from the film, including the iconic house
• Playing with Fire, an archive interview with star Dan Grimaldi from 2005
• Original theatrical trailers and TV spots
• Image gallery

DISC TWO (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE)

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the Extended Version (92 mins) of the film, with the additional scenes from the Television Version re-inserted into the uncensored Theatrical Version
• Original lossless mono audio
• Optional English audio description for the blind
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary on the Extended Version by Stephen Thrower, author of Nightmare USA
• Minds on Fire, a brand new video essay by David Flint putting the film into context
• Burn Baby Burn and The Burning Man, two archive interviews with director Joseph Ellison
• Grindhouse All-Stars: Notes From the Sleaze Cinema Underground, a documentary by High Rising Productions from 2017 interviewing exploitation filmmakers Matt Cimber, Joseph Ellison, Roy Frumkes and Jeff Lieberman

DISC THREE (LIMITED “NASTY” EDITION EXCLUSIVE)

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the Theatrical Version from a 2K scan of an uncut British internegative, in widescreen and ‘exposed open matte’ presentations with original lossless mono audio
• Cinema Mode: Watch the film with a recreation of an opening cinema programme from the early-1980s
• VHS Mode: Watch the film in a transfer of the original ‘video nasty’ VHS release, with uncut and censored options