Haw-hee hee-ha-ha-ha heh-heh haw-he-he-ha-ha . . . terrible. SLASHER IN THE HOUSE, or HOME SWEET HOME (words which are supposedly tattooed on the killer's hand, why?), has got to be the worst of the worst in the slasher/horror genre. As a horror collector myself, the only value in this one is the appearance of actress Vinessa Shaw in her first movie playing the little girl, Angel. She went on to be quite popular. Although, it's probably one of the lousiest child roles I've seen.
Throw out the script here. Heck, what script? Why would this production team even have needed Thomas Bush's screenplay to shoot this film? Jeez, the better question: Why did Thomas Bush write it in the first place?! Though this may sound a bit harsh, I'm sure if you see this film you'll find you agree. The dialogue is horrible and its delivery is forced. It would have been better if the whole thing was ad-libbed. Normally I don't mind wooden acting, bad lines, etc., and I've seen lots of cheesy Bs, but this one takes the cheesecake. It annoyed the h@*! outta me.
SPOILERS (which in this case is an "oxymoron")
The killer, Jake Steinfeld, is exceptionally bad in the part. I can just hear the director saying, "Okay, Jake, just be as crazy as you'd expect an escaped murderous mental patient to be. ACTION!" Then Jake starts laughing. And it's not good, people, believe me, it's not good. Honestly, I think he's been scarier in those infomercials he's done. Now, granted, it's not a challenging role to begin with, little dialogue and such, but I think the bulk of character believability rested on Jake's shoulders and he let it roll off. Little kids playing monster in their backyards do a better job. Kane Hodder as Jason and Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface are two examples of what one can do with such a part. Jake sucks, to put it plainly. There's a mime/magician running around with a guitar and portable amp being chased by everyone, a few pretty girls, ugly guys, two unbelievable cops, bad camera shots, lame gore, and Jake stupidly laughing. There's also an unbelievable death scene where Jake, grunting, jump-rolls on the hood of a car while the victim is stealing a battery thereby killing him. Bull&@#!, if that would've killed someone then I'm Michael Jackson.
Really, this is a film for the serious collector only, the kind that must have everything, even the worst. For anyone else, forget it. You've been warned.
Throw out the script here. Heck, what script? Why would this production team even have needed Thomas Bush's screenplay to shoot this film? Jeez, the better question: Why did Thomas Bush write it in the first place?! Though this may sound a bit harsh, I'm sure if you see this film you'll find you agree. The dialogue is horrible and its delivery is forced. It would have been better if the whole thing was ad-libbed. Normally I don't mind wooden acting, bad lines, etc., and I've seen lots of cheesy Bs, but this one takes the cheesecake. It annoyed the h@*! outta me.
SPOILERS (which in this case is an "oxymoron")
The killer, Jake Steinfeld, is exceptionally bad in the part. I can just hear the director saying, "Okay, Jake, just be as crazy as you'd expect an escaped murderous mental patient to be. ACTION!" Then Jake starts laughing. And it's not good, people, believe me, it's not good. Honestly, I think he's been scarier in those infomercials he's done. Now, granted, it's not a challenging role to begin with, little dialogue and such, but I think the bulk of character believability rested on Jake's shoulders and he let it roll off. Little kids playing monster in their backyards do a better job. Kane Hodder as Jason and Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface are two examples of what one can do with such a part. Jake sucks, to put it plainly. There's a mime/magician running around with a guitar and portable amp being chased by everyone, a few pretty girls, ugly guys, two unbelievable cops, bad camera shots, lame gore, and Jake stupidly laughing. There's also an unbelievable death scene where Jake, grunting, jump-rolls on the hood of a car while the victim is stealing a battery thereby killing him. Bull&@#!, if that would've killed someone then I'm Michael Jackson.
Really, this is a film for the serious collector only, the kind that must have everything, even the worst. For anyone else, forget it. You've been warned.