Don't Go in the House
A grim slasher film about childhood abuse and pyromania.
Don't Go in the House is a 1979 American slasher film directed by Joseph Ellison, who co-wrote it with Ellen Hammill and Joe Masefield. Dan Grimaldi stars as a man whose childhood abuse—his mother burned him on a gas stove to "burn the evil out of him"—turns him into a pyromaniac and serial killer. He kidnaps and burns alive women who remind him of her. The film was shot at the historic Strauss Mansion in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, from February to March 1979, and released regionally in spring 1979. Critics sharply condemned its graphic violence, especially a scene where the protagonist uses a flamethrower to burn a nude woman alive.
The story follows Donny Kohler, a withdrawn factory worker in his thirties obsessed with fire. After returning home to find his elderly mother dead in her bedroom, he feels both relief and fear, hearing a disembodied voice that sounds like hers. He calls in sick, fireproofs an upstairs room with aluminum, and later offers a ride to florist Kathy Jordan after she misses her bus. Inside his house, he knocks her out, chains her naked in the metal room, and burns her alive with a flamethrower while wearing a fire suit. He repeats the murder with a stranded motorist and a woman from a grocery store, arranging their corpses alongside his mother's dressed body. Haunted by apparitions of his burnt mother, Donny confesses to a priest about his childhood abuse. On a double date, his date accidentally brushes his arm over a candle, triggering his rage; he smashes the candleholder on her head, setting her hair on fire. He later brings two drunk women home. His friend Bobby and Father Gerritty break in to rescue them. Donny sets the priest ablaze, but Bobby extinguishes the flames. Donny retreats to his mother's bedroom, where the voices condemn him, and the burned corpses come to life and attack him, dragging him to the floor as the house burns down. Later, a young boy named Michael watches a news report about Donny's death. After his mother beats him for not turning off the TV, he hears the same voices, which say they've come to help him.
The film score, composed by Richard Einhorn, mixes electronics with orchestral and dissonant sounds. Waxwork Records released the soundtrack as a double LP in 2019, its first-ever release. Don't Go in the House opened in Honolulu, Hawaii on April 9, 1979.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Joseph Ellison
- Producer
- Ellen Hammill
- Screenplay
- Ellen Hammill / Joe Masefield / Joseph Ellison
- Story
- Joe Masefield
- Starring
- Dan Grimaldi / Robert Osth / Ruth Dardick
- Music
- Richard Einhorn
- Cinematography
- Oliver Wood
- Editing
- Jane Kurson
- Studio
- Turbine Films Inc.
- Distributor
- Film Ventures International
- Released
- 1979 · 11 · Paris Festival of Fantastic Films · 1980 · 3 · 28 · United States
- Runtime
- 92 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Don't Go in the House was filmed on location at the Strauss Mansion in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey from February–March 1979. At the time, the Strauss Mansion was in a state of disrepair and had been used as low-income housing. The film score was composed by Richard Einhorn, featuring electronics mixed with orchestral and dissonant sounds. The soundtrack was released by Waxwork Records in 2019 as a double LP, making it the first-ever soundtrack release for the film.
The film was originally given regional theatrical release, opening in Honolulu, Hawaii on April 9, 1979. Despite some respectable critical notices, Don't Go in the House attracted controversy almost immediately because of its graphic depiction of the death of Kathy Jordan, Donny Kohler's first victim, and the central
Reader's Guide
Don't Go in the House holds a 50% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 5 critic reviews, with an average rating of 3.75/10. John Stark of the San Francisco Examiner panned the film for its depiction of violence, writing: 'I would love to be flip and sarcastic about a new horror picture called Don't Go in the House... But I can't. This movie is so sick and grotesque that it makes you spit nails.' Joseph Bensoua of the San Pedro News-Pilot wrote that it 'should be avoided at all costs unless, of course, you want to be bored to death.' DVD Talk gave the film a three and a half out of five, noting it 'is one of those rare films that works really well despite the fact that rips off better-known movies' and 'it's a bitter, ugly, and nasty little horror movie.' Hysteria Lives! gave a similar rating, calling it 'grim' and 'a chilly reminder of times when practically anything went.' Dave J. Wilson from Dread Central felt the film was underappreciated, calling it 'a dark, chilling, grim and gruesome depiction of the tragic repercussions of child abuse.' The film's legacy includes its status as a video nasty in the UK and multiple home media releases, including a 2022 special edition Blu-ray from Severin Films and a 2022 Arrow Video release in the UK.
Did You Know?
- The film was shot at the Strauss Mansion in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, which was in disrepair and used as low-income housing at the time.
- The soundtrack was not released until 2019, when Waxwork Records issued it as a double LP.
- The film was cut by almost three minutes for its British cinema release in 1980, and later appeared on the DPP's list of banned video nasties.
- The film was finally passed uncut in the UK in 2011.
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