The House Of Seven Corpses (1974) (Blu-ray/DVD Review)
Directed By: Paul Harrison
Starring: John Ireland, Faith Domergue, John Carradine
Rated: R/Region A/1:78/1080p/Number of Discs 2
Available from Severin Films
A director is filming on location in a house where seven murders were committed. The caretaker warns them not to mess with things they do not understand (the murders were occult related), but the director wants to be as authentic as possible and has his cast re-enact rituals that took place in the house thus summoning a ghoul from the nearby cemetery to bump the whole film crew off one by one.
The film runs at a 90 minute mark, but a great deal of the film is spent giving us the ol’ slow build. That means we spend around 60 of the 90 minutes really trying to get into these characters and I don’t think it always works, as there are a few times you really just want things to get rolling and the pace to finally pickup. The atmosphere is still there, however. If the movie does have one really good thing going for it, it would be the fact that you have a nice uneasy feeling that runs along with the film even when we are in the slow moody opening portion of the film. Mood can go a long way and it does help things a great deal here.
When things do get rolling in this one they get rolling very nicely. We have a very zombiefied climax that is certainly nice and fun for any red blooded horror fan out there. The ending ALMOST makes up for the hour of slow storytelling we have to deal with before. Almost. As for the transfer here, it is a little soft in areas. I think much of it is because of the source. The disc isn’t “bad”, it just won’t be blowing anyone away. Still, better than the standard DVD to look at.
– Exclusive Interview with Star John Carradine
– Theatrical Trailer
– Audio Commentary with Associate Producer Gary Kent Moderated by Lars Nilsen
