I really wanted to like this movie. It has a nice prison setting, conspiracy theories, bloodthirsty zombies, a perfectly hideous 80s-touch and it is a directorial effort by actor John Saxon, who also plays a bad (you guessed it) a bad guy. It reminds me of some (beloved) Italian horror flicks. But the direction is very wooden and there is no nightmarish/frightening moment in there. It just goes on and on and on, and then it (logically) has to end. More suspense and more daring visuals and its destiny as a cult classic would have been sealed.
28 Reviews
Yet another late 80s horror flick set in prison
udar5512 December 2009
If you made a genre flick in the late 80s, you basically had a 50/50 chance it would either be set underwater or in a prison (sadly, we never got an underwater prison flick). Framed for murder by mafia boss Moretti (Anthony Franciosa), Derek Keillor (Dennis Cole) ends up on death row, right alongside the mob boss' brother Frankie (Frank Sarcinello Jr.). But this is the least of Derek's problems as rogue government agent (and mob stoolie) Col. Burgess (John Saxon, who also directs) is using the prison as a testing ground for a new supervirus. This is the only flick Saxon directed during his storied career. For a guy who has worked with tons of directors, it appears the only ones he picked up any tips from were the cheap-o Italian ones. Sure, it is low budget, but that can't excuse the stilted staging, shooting gaffes, or clumsy exposition in the first 15 minutes. To his credit, Saxon did make it slightly gory and he works in a hilarious nude scene (our lead falls asleep during a prison riot only to fantasize about a female scientist). Cole, who looks like a more rugged Jan-Michael Vincent, is decent as the stoic lead and Franciosa - sporting a really bad rug - gives it his all as the cliché mob boss. The end takes place at Marty McKee's favorite location, Bronson Canyon. Retromedia released this on DVD as ZOMBIE DEATH HOUSE.
I thought prison was supposed to be scary
paul_haakonsen11 July 2010
Alright, well for a movie from 1987, this was surprisingly lame. I had expected somewhat more in the horror and perhaps even gore category.
Now, the idea of having a zombie viral outbreak in a prison might have seemed good on script paper, but failed to shine through on the screen. Maybe that was because you never really buy into the prison atmosphere in this movie. Everything is just a little bit too cozy, and there are surprisingly few guards for a prison of this size.
Anyway, the movie stands out from many other zombie movies, in an odd way, as the zombies here seem to be alive, but decomposing. They are capable of talking and acting fairly coherently. That sort of killed the mood for me. A zombie is not a dead person just behaving fairly much like when alive, except for having a hunger for flesh. No, a zombie is a shell of the former self, devoid of life and soul (if one believes in that). So I never really bought the zombie scenario presented here.
As for the acting, well... Most of it was tolerable, but nothing astounding to be found here. Except for maybe the woman playing the lady they brought into the prison from the outside. Wow, it was physically painful to watch her performance.
Moving on to the gore and effects. Well, given the movie is quite old by now, the effects are, of course, way out of date. But I am sure that by standards back in 1987, these were believable and scary to watch. Just keep that in mind, because today they are not really all that believable.
The good part of the movie is that the story is fairly straight going, and keeps going at a good pace. It doesn't become overly dull so that you want to get up and leave.
I had expected a tad more from this movie, despite it being old. I would have rated it as 2, but given it is a zombie movie, my heart gets all soft and mushy, so 3 out of 10. This is a movie that you sit down to watch if you are a hardcore zombie fan, like myself. Otherwise, you might be bored out of your mind sitting through this.
Now, the idea of having a zombie viral outbreak in a prison might have seemed good on script paper, but failed to shine through on the screen. Maybe that was because you never really buy into the prison atmosphere in this movie. Everything is just a little bit too cozy, and there are surprisingly few guards for a prison of this size.
Anyway, the movie stands out from many other zombie movies, in an odd way, as the zombies here seem to be alive, but decomposing. They are capable of talking and acting fairly coherently. That sort of killed the mood for me. A zombie is not a dead person just behaving fairly much like when alive, except for having a hunger for flesh. No, a zombie is a shell of the former self, devoid of life and soul (if one believes in that). So I never really bought the zombie scenario presented here.
As for the acting, well... Most of it was tolerable, but nothing astounding to be found here. Except for maybe the woman playing the lady they brought into the prison from the outside. Wow, it was physically painful to watch her performance.
Moving on to the gore and effects. Well, given the movie is quite old by now, the effects are, of course, way out of date. But I am sure that by standards back in 1987, these were believable and scary to watch. Just keep that in mind, because today they are not really all that believable.
The good part of the movie is that the story is fairly straight going, and keeps going at a good pace. It doesn't become overly dull so that you want to get up and leave.
I had expected a tad more from this movie, despite it being old. I would have rated it as 2, but given it is a zombie movie, my heart gets all soft and mushy, so 3 out of 10. This is a movie that you sit down to watch if you are a hardcore zombie fan, like myself. Otherwise, you might be bored out of your mind sitting through this.
John Saxon is into Dead Kennedys??? Cool!!!
Vomitron_G11 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
To many, John Saxon has become a living cult-legend And I myself quite like seeing the man doing his acting-thing on screen. DEATH HOUSE (aka ZOMBIE DEATH HOUSE), his co-directorial debut, perfectly summarizes what the man has been up to until 1987, DEATH HOUSE's year of release. From cheesy American crime movies to gore-drenched Italian flicks. So Saxon-fans should love this one. However, to casual viewers DEATH HOUSE probably will come across as pretty bad. And even if I enjoyed it a bit more than my rating suggests, I cannot deny the many bad aspects this movie has. The plot itself, though containing many implausible acts, wasn't the main problem. It develops at a steady pace, resulting in a decent, though clumsy staged pay-off. The first 20 minutes however kept me wondering what the hell kind of movie I was actually watching. I felt like a soft-erotic gangster-movie, the bad B-movie kind, complete with dire car-cases, a badly performed mafia shoot-out scene and even Vietnam flash-backs. It seemed like typical B-movie rubbish, but I soon learned that all this was one of the most elaborate ways to sketch and introduce the protagonist: Derek Keillor, an ex-Vietnam veteran, who finds out his new job is being a chauffeur for the local mob-boss. He then gets framed for the murder of his boss's girlfriend and ends up on death row. Enter John Saxon, a soldier/scientist who's illegally testing a new virus on the inmates. Given the movie's title it's needless to say what happens next...
Good thing about this movie is that it contains a fair amount of sleaze & gore and still manages to tell a story that hums along nicely. The acting maybe isn't the worst I've ever seen, but it certainly isn't top-notch either. And now for the bad things: John Saxon, regardless his on-screen charisma, isn't exactly giving it his best shot in the acting department. He comes off as routineous and wooden. The small scene where he speaks the line "I am a soldier..." over the telephone even caused me to chuckle. It was the one moment he briefly seemed to go for it. The cinematography is pretty awful and the editing is rudimentary. The sound-editing and sound-effects are atrocious and the musical score is simply bad and cheap. But somehow I managed to look beyond all that and found myself amused by this flick. The ravingly mad zombie-like infected persons of course added to the fun, as well as the occasional gore-effects. One shock-scene (though not really shown) concerning the sodomizing of an inmate by a guard left me a bit baffled. And there was even one jump-moment involving a meat-cleaver that actually worked. The final freeze-frame end-shot worked very well for me. And then came the final pleasant surprise for me: when the end credits started to roll, the song "Chemical Warfare" by DEAD KENNEDYS came on. How cool's that? It left me wondering if it was John Saxon or co-director Nick Marino who picked out that song for the soundtrack.
So in the end we have sort of a bad B-movie that is actually rather good because of some very enjoyable elements with a pretty eccentric look & feel to it. It actually feels a bit like an Italian Zombie-movie, even though it's an American production. And because of the involvement of John Saxon this flick very well deserves an underground cult-status. While watching this movie, I thought of another one (well, a few actually), and I never thought I would actually give the following recommendation: People who like this one, might wanna check out SHADOW: DEAD RIOT, starring Tony Todd. It's a pretty insane and rather very bad flick also dealing with zombies in prison: I describe it as a cross between BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR and LIK WONG: THE STORY OF RICKY, mixed with a solid portion of women-in-prison sleaze. But mind you, it's a tad bit worse than all the above mentioned movies.
Good thing about this movie is that it contains a fair amount of sleaze & gore and still manages to tell a story that hums along nicely. The acting maybe isn't the worst I've ever seen, but it certainly isn't top-notch either. And now for the bad things: John Saxon, regardless his on-screen charisma, isn't exactly giving it his best shot in the acting department. He comes off as routineous and wooden. The small scene where he speaks the line "I am a soldier..." over the telephone even caused me to chuckle. It was the one moment he briefly seemed to go for it. The cinematography is pretty awful and the editing is rudimentary. The sound-editing and sound-effects are atrocious and the musical score is simply bad and cheap. But somehow I managed to look beyond all that and found myself amused by this flick. The ravingly mad zombie-like infected persons of course added to the fun, as well as the occasional gore-effects. One shock-scene (though not really shown) concerning the sodomizing of an inmate by a guard left me a bit baffled. And there was even one jump-moment involving a meat-cleaver that actually worked. The final freeze-frame end-shot worked very well for me. And then came the final pleasant surprise for me: when the end credits started to roll, the song "Chemical Warfare" by DEAD KENNEDYS came on. How cool's that? It left me wondering if it was John Saxon or co-director Nick Marino who picked out that song for the soundtrack.
So in the end we have sort of a bad B-movie that is actually rather good because of some very enjoyable elements with a pretty eccentric look & feel to it. It actually feels a bit like an Italian Zombie-movie, even though it's an American production. And because of the involvement of John Saxon this flick very well deserves an underground cult-status. While watching this movie, I thought of another one (well, a few actually), and I never thought I would actually give the following recommendation: People who like this one, might wanna check out SHADOW: DEAD RIOT, starring Tony Todd. It's a pretty insane and rather very bad flick also dealing with zombies in prison: I describe it as a cross between BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR and LIK WONG: THE STORY OF RICKY, mixed with a solid portion of women-in-prison sleaze. But mind you, it's a tad bit worse than all the above mentioned movies.
"Welcome to the death house".
lost-in-limbo24 April 2013
John Saxon. Why else wouldn't you watch it? Not only does he star, but also directs. "Zombie Death House" was a modest horror b-grade cheapie that I wanted to like more than I actually did. Sure it was amusing and rather oddball, but the threadbare execution doesn't gel with its cartoonish ideas and mangled plot involving many genres / themes. It starts off like a systematic crime joint (interesting montage in the opening credits), finds itself turning into a prison yarn and then hell breaks loose as a genetic virus (from an experimental drug) turns inmates into unstoppable zombies while innocent people find themselves under siege in the prison.
Sounds crazy as it throws in everything but the kitchen sink, however in the end it's rather monotone in its developments and a lack of directorial flair (although Saxon enjoyed using slow-motion) really does show it up. Little atmosphere or tension arises from the repetitive situations and the editing is clunky, but still there's a certain raw, brutal edge to it and some moments of pulsating graphic make-up FX offers creatively icky surprises. It's tacky and primitive, but Saxon does a decent job making it tight even though its slow to get going and with the dreary prison surroundings a suffocating strangle hold is constructed. Where it actually surprised though was the performances; mainly those playing the bad guys; John Saxon, Tony Franciosa and Howard George as the head guard. Saxon gives a typical conniving turn as some sort of ice-cold patriotic CIA agent who likes to preach, but it's Franciosa who's the life of the party as a mafia gangster. The rest are acceptable even with Dennis Cole's wooden persona in the lead and the ravishing Tane McClure looking professional. Also appearing is Alex Courtney, Michael Pataki and Ron O'Neal.
Formable, junky low-grade entertainment.
"Don't touch my twinkies"!
Sounds crazy as it throws in everything but the kitchen sink, however in the end it's rather monotone in its developments and a lack of directorial flair (although Saxon enjoyed using slow-motion) really does show it up. Little atmosphere or tension arises from the repetitive situations and the editing is clunky, but still there's a certain raw, brutal edge to it and some moments of pulsating graphic make-up FX offers creatively icky surprises. It's tacky and primitive, but Saxon does a decent job making it tight even though its slow to get going and with the dreary prison surroundings a suffocating strangle hold is constructed. Where it actually surprised though was the performances; mainly those playing the bad guys; John Saxon, Tony Franciosa and Howard George as the head guard. Saxon gives a typical conniving turn as some sort of ice-cold patriotic CIA agent who likes to preach, but it's Franciosa who's the life of the party as a mafia gangster. The rest are acceptable even with Dennis Cole's wooden persona in the lead and the ravishing Tane McClure looking professional. Also appearing is Alex Courtney, Michael Pataki and Ron O'Neal.
Formable, junky low-grade entertainment.
"Don't touch my twinkies"!
Not what I expected
Leofwine_draca25 April 2022
A zombie B-movie about an outbreak taking place in a prison where the authorities have been conducting illegal experiments on the inmates. This one feels like it was inspired by both RE-ANIMATOR and DAY OF THE DEAD yet proves to be a far cry from either; in fact, it's quite tedious. Early gangster material gives way to more horror focus in the second half, but apart from a bit of gore it doesn't really do much with the premise. John Saxon directs and has a smallish role.
"Don't steal my Twinkies"!
dworldeater2 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Our hero is , like many of 80's action hero types a Vietnam vet. He is in Miami, presumably to get a suntan than later on go to the club to snort cocaine and 80's dance to Duran Duran. Instead of that, our blonde beefcake hero gets set up by his Mob boss and goes to prison on death row. Now the movie changes into Death Warrant minus JCVD and the karate. The prisoners get experimented on by the government to make super soldiers. The plot changes again and the experimented prisoners turn into zombies. Then it turns into a prison break movie with zombies. John Saxon is in this and apparently directed it. However, the train was clearly off the track already and makes me wonder if this had a script or if it was four scripts spliced together. Overall this is an example of inept filmmaking and a whole lot of WTF until the end credits. The blonde lead guy was kind of cool, so I doubt Zombie Death House is his finest work. The movie is chock full of action movie cliches and is well... terrible. I did manage to laugh my way through this and the credits roll to the highlight of the film, the Dead Kennedy's classic "Chemical Warfare". Next time, I will skip the movie and put the DK's on my turntable instead.
Nosebleed House.....Introducing Tane!
Zeegrade9 July 2010
Directed by John Saxon "Zombie Death House", with zombie shoddily superimposed to make this 1980's cliché filled flick appear more like "Return of the Living Dead" rather than a episode of "Hunter", focuses too much on exposition of the characters than on what this film was meant to be. A zombie infestation set inside a corrupt prison has all the elements to be a cult classic but this movie takes far too much time establishing the plot and offers little in violent mayhem.
Former Vietnam vet Derek Keillor (the late Dennis Cole) takes a job as a driver for local mob gangster Vic Moretti (the late Anthony Franciosa - did anyone survive this?) and promptly begins driving Moretti's girlfriend Genelle with his penis. When the affair is discovered Moretti kills Genelle and frames Derek for her murder. He's convicted of the crime (must of had a bad lawyer) and sentenced to death at a prison that conducts medical experiments on the prisoners through a covert government operation led by Col. Gordon Burgess (Saxon). This takes up the first 20 minutes of the movie which is way too long of a setup to introduce the "innocent hero" in a prison setting. The prison that I speak of has a corrupt head guard, Raker, that works for Moretti and answers to Moretti's homosexual inmate brother Franco and his boytoy Sean whom Raker gets "intimate" with during the film. Anyway, a new serum that's supposed to give ordinary men super strength is injected into one of the inmates about to be executed (does anybody think that super strong convicts might cause a problem?) when he turns into a zombie-like monster a begins killing his captors. Turns out that this infliction acts as a virus and the first signs of infection are persistent nosebleeds before succumbing to it. Derek manages to escape his cell during the attack which he then frees the other prisoners, who are more than cooperative for death-row inmates mind you, and organizes a hostage exchange with Col. Burgess who is watching the whole mess unfold just outside the prison. With the prison quarantined along with a few new guests, a former co-worker of Burgess turned newswoman Tanya Karrington (Tane! McClure) her cameraman and Vic Moretti himself looking to free his brother Franco minus his boyfriend. Will anyone survive? How will they get out? Will Tane! McClure show off her wonderful breasts? Does she ever fail to?
I don't know where to categorize this one. Clearly this was meant to be more of an action film under the original title of "Death House" rather than horror. When the zombies finally figure into the story it's only sparingly with too much emphasis on Derek's vendetta against Moretti. The gore is okay, not anything special and downright silly in one scene when someone loses an arm, and there are a couple of topless scenes including the absurd daydream that Derek has of Tanya. Speaking of the lovely Tane! this movie supposedly introduces us to Ms. McClure meaning that this was her first film. Not true! While "Death House" came out in 1987 McClure starred in the 1986 Klaus Kinski slasher "Crawlspace" in 1986 billed only as Tane!. You can find this in the bargain bin DVD section for about $1 which is all I would pay to see this nothing more. Disappointing.
Former Vietnam vet Derek Keillor (the late Dennis Cole) takes a job as a driver for local mob gangster Vic Moretti (the late Anthony Franciosa - did anyone survive this?) and promptly begins driving Moretti's girlfriend Genelle with his penis. When the affair is discovered Moretti kills Genelle and frames Derek for her murder. He's convicted of the crime (must of had a bad lawyer) and sentenced to death at a prison that conducts medical experiments on the prisoners through a covert government operation led by Col. Gordon Burgess (Saxon). This takes up the first 20 minutes of the movie which is way too long of a setup to introduce the "innocent hero" in a prison setting. The prison that I speak of has a corrupt head guard, Raker, that works for Moretti and answers to Moretti's homosexual inmate brother Franco and his boytoy Sean whom Raker gets "intimate" with during the film. Anyway, a new serum that's supposed to give ordinary men super strength is injected into one of the inmates about to be executed (does anybody think that super strong convicts might cause a problem?) when he turns into a zombie-like monster a begins killing his captors. Turns out that this infliction acts as a virus and the first signs of infection are persistent nosebleeds before succumbing to it. Derek manages to escape his cell during the attack which he then frees the other prisoners, who are more than cooperative for death-row inmates mind you, and organizes a hostage exchange with Col. Burgess who is watching the whole mess unfold just outside the prison. With the prison quarantined along with a few new guests, a former co-worker of Burgess turned newswoman Tanya Karrington (Tane! McClure) her cameraman and Vic Moretti himself looking to free his brother Franco minus his boyfriend. Will anyone survive? How will they get out? Will Tane! McClure show off her wonderful breasts? Does she ever fail to?
I don't know where to categorize this one. Clearly this was meant to be more of an action film under the original title of "Death House" rather than horror. When the zombies finally figure into the story it's only sparingly with too much emphasis on Derek's vendetta against Moretti. The gore is okay, not anything special and downright silly in one scene when someone loses an arm, and there are a couple of topless scenes including the absurd daydream that Derek has of Tanya. Speaking of the lovely Tane! this movie supposedly introduces us to Ms. McClure meaning that this was her first film. Not true! While "Death House" came out in 1987 McClure starred in the 1986 Klaus Kinski slasher "Crawlspace" in 1986 billed only as Tane!. You can find this in the bargain bin DVD section for about $1 which is all I would pay to see this nothing more. Disappointing.
Well done, John!
Coventry27 December 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Go John! John Saxon! Go John! We love you! John Saxon: star AND director of this surprisingly inventive and ambitious horror gem that somewhat feels like a successful crossover between cheesy American 80's horror and gore-drenched Italian cult. Saxon perfectly found the middle path between these two styles because he's familiar with both (the titles on his resume go from "Blood Beach" to "Cannibal Apocalypse") and he delivers a hugely enjoyable little film that deserves more attention from genre fans, if you ask me. Granted, it's quite a bizarre film and the first 30 minutes nearly make you fear you purchased an ordinary 80's action flick with dire car-chases and implausible mafia shootouts. But this opening is just a very extended introduction of the main character, Derek. He's a heroic Vietnam veteran, framed for murder by his mafia-employer and sent to the death row of a nasty prison. And his situation only gets worse, since this prison is chosen by the government as a place to experiment with new and highly dangerous types of drugs. The guinea pigs rapidly turn into ravenous zombies but the army puts the entire building under quarantine, so even the prisoners and guards that aren't infected can't escape! John Saxon rewarded himself with the role of the evil colonel who runs the whole operation. The script of "Zombie Death House" is often quite messy and incoherent, but it's full of action and ingenious little surprises that make you forget all the flaws easily. I know the zombies aren't actual "zombies". They're more like infected persons as in "Nightmare City" or "Hell of the Living Dead" but seriously who cares? Their flesh is rotting, they hunt and kill humans and they're damn difficult to destroy
that's good enough for me! The prison setting is excellent, with secret tunnels and freaky execution chambers all over the place, the make-up effects are effectively gruesome and the story even foresees a few genuine shock-moments (the rape-scene!!). Maybe my opinion shouldn't be trusted, since I'm John Saxon's greatest fan, but horror fans certainly won't regret giving this 80's gem a chance.
I couldn't even make it through halfway...
bfan8318 October 2007
Quite honestly, this has to be one of the worst films I have ever put myself through. I didn't even make it through the halfway mark, and that's saying something, considering I have watched some pretty dreadful films. I don't think the filmmakers even knew what kind of film they wanted to make. A mobster drama, or a horror film. It plays as both. The former taking up a good third of the film. So, my advice... avoid it unless you want to give up and hour and a half of your life, that you will never get back. Granted, John Saxon is a wonderful actor. But his talent as a director leaves a lot to be desired. Oh, and one more thing, the $1000 Shock Insurance Certificate that was included with the DVD, should be used to provide the first person who dies of boredom, not shock while viewing this awful film.
Saxon is a great actor and as a director, Saxon is.... a great actor
movieman_kev6 October 2009
After mob boss Vic Moretti (late great Anthony Franciosa) kills his lady whom has been cheating on him with Derek, their new chauffeur/ Vietnam vet, and blames it on the poor guy, Derek finds himself in jail where he has to contend with a corrupt warden, Vic's prisoner brother who runs the jail, and, oh yeah illegal experiments conducted by a shady CIA agent (great genre-mainstay and first time director John Saxon) to turn various prisoners into super-human invincible zombies. Of course things get out of hand and it's up to Derek, and the rest of the unchanged prisoners, to save the day after the infected ones take the jail over.
John Saxon is a great talented actor & as a director Saxon is a... great talented actor. To say this movie (John's sole directorial outing to date) lacks a certain visual flair would be a bit of an understatement. However, the film isn't totally without merit. The dialog, while idiotic, is just bad enough to be humorous sometimes. Sadly, this isn't really enough for the movie to coast by on that alone and it takes forever for the film to even start coming into it's own (which is fairly late in the movie). As such, the most I can recommend this film is to say that if you're a fan of Saxon (which I indeed am), it's worth one watch, just go in with low expectations and you should be fine.
Eye Candy: Dana Lis Mason and Tane McClure get topless
My Grade: D+
John Saxon is a great talented actor & as a director Saxon is a... great talented actor. To say this movie (John's sole directorial outing to date) lacks a certain visual flair would be a bit of an understatement. However, the film isn't totally without merit. The dialog, while idiotic, is just bad enough to be humorous sometimes. Sadly, this isn't really enough for the movie to coast by on that alone and it takes forever for the film to even start coming into it's own (which is fairly late in the movie). As such, the most I can recommend this film is to say that if you're a fan of Saxon (which I indeed am), it's worth one watch, just go in with low expectations and you should be fine.
Eye Candy: Dana Lis Mason and Tane McClure get topless
My Grade: D+
Zombies
bevo-136787 April 2021
Average horror with some decent moments. Plus its a Christmas horror film!
abduktionsphanomen25 December 2022
Zombie Death House - 1988
(This Film Rates a B- )
A Vietnam Vet becomes a driver for a mob boss and eventually has an affair with the boss's wife. After finding out, the boss drowns her in the bathtub. The vet gets arrested after being set up for the murder and winds up in prison after being sentenced to death in the electric chair. The prison doctor is doing experiments on the inmates and is trying to create an army of zombies. The inmates take over the prison after a riot breaks out while the living dead mingle in and out of the story line. The zombies are not the main characters here. Its more about the prisoners trying to escape and stay alive. But most die. The build is slow and at times tedious. The action scenes are poorly acted but there are some good laughable moments especially the fight sequences. The violence is decent and raw and there is a mild male to male prison rape scene. Some of the effects are over the top silly ie a CO's arm being ripped off and much of the zombie make up is comical but fits the film. This happens on Christmas and there are subtle hints of the season (Tree, decorations, the mention of Christmas presents). Does that make this a Christmas film? T positive. Great lines like; "Save your spit you're going to need it in hell!", "Go beat your meat until I am ready for you". The closing credits feature the Dead Kennedy's!
Why Watch this?
jed-estes8 August 2006
Why watch this? There is only one reason and that is for the greatness of John Saxon. I love his acting. My most favorite appearances by him are in Nightmare On Elm Street 1,3, and 7 as Nancy's father a cop, Black Christmas as a cop, and From Dusk Till Dawn again as a cop. When I was rummaging through my local mall video outlet I came across the film Zombie Death House and I quickly tossed it back but before moving on I noticed that John Saxon was not only an actor in this film but for the first time that I have ever heard of a director. This intrigued me (Also the cheap $9.00 price tag) and I and I had to have it. Upon coming home I realized that this film did not live up to Saxon's other work even his acting, which may have been muddled by the added pressures of directing. But it was not just him the other actors sucked too. It seemed as if they had all been pulled out of a recent porno shoot and told now guys you really have to act. The film even looks of 80's porn quality. I cannot in good faith recommend this film to casual viewers, but if you are an obsessed fan of the 80's who missed out on the culture that came from that era by being born to late, or a fan of crap films than this one is for. Also if you dig John Saxon as I do.
choppily paced, barely suspenseful zombie/prison movie
Stinger83923 April 2005
Warning: Spoilers
*Contains some spoilers* This movie is cheesy 80s horror in all its awfulness. The plot takes way too long to get off the ground, never steadies itself, and then just plain crashes about 40 minutes into the film. There are a few gem moments for zombie fans, but not nearly enough zombies to create a real sense of terror.
The zombies also take a long time to make their appearance. First, there's a whole half of a movie about mobs and prison gangs. The hero of the movie is an ex-Vietnam vet who gets caught up in the mob. The main mob boss sets him up and he goes to jail. In this jail, they are experimenting on the prisoners to find a way to cure them of homicidal tendencies and criminal behavior. But the badie psychotic head scientist/military guy has other plans in mind. He wants to use a slightly different version of the serum to make ....da da da.... super soldiers! After some infected prisoners kill a few guards and most of the prison has a round of infected communion wine, the military/crazy scientist guy goes "hey this might be a problem" and gives a call to the genius scientist turned investigative journalist hot babe ultra-empowered independent woman character, who of course invented the original serum. She goes to the prison to see what's going down, the military guy calls in a few SWAT teams from his secure position outside the prison, and the hero guy takes charge of the few prisoners with a heart of gold when a riot breaks out. The hero guy and the scientist/journalist lady team up to find a cure, save the warden's kids, and deal with some irate prisoners, both infected and not. Meanwhile, the mob boss guy has made a deal to get into the prison so that he can save his imprisoned brother. The military gets ready to blow the place up, and everyone inside scrambles to find a way out.
There are a lot of gory scenes where people are killed by being pressed or pulled through prison bars. There's also a creepy decapitation scene and electrocution scene involving the same infected rasta prisoner. Still, the most disturbing scene is in the early part of the film, when a gross corrupt guard rapes a prisoner.
The main highlight of this film is one scene towards the end. The hero, woman, and kids are trying to make their way to the only escape route. Their path leads them to a long hallway, on one side there is a wall and on the other are prison bars. Hundreds of bloody zombie hands reach through, gracing their hair and faces as they pass by. There's also a few good scenes of the classic "couple of zombies munching on freshly dead bodies" and "many zombies ripping one guy to shreds" bits.
Overall, worth watching if you're researching the zombie genre as it has so many zombie clichés worth noting; it's practically an instruction manual on what not to do when making a zombie movie. But if you're new to zombie flicks and want a real scare, you should look elsewhere.
The zombies also take a long time to make their appearance. First, there's a whole half of a movie about mobs and prison gangs. The hero of the movie is an ex-Vietnam vet who gets caught up in the mob. The main mob boss sets him up and he goes to jail. In this jail, they are experimenting on the prisoners to find a way to cure them of homicidal tendencies and criminal behavior. But the badie psychotic head scientist/military guy has other plans in mind. He wants to use a slightly different version of the serum to make ....da da da.... super soldiers! After some infected prisoners kill a few guards and most of the prison has a round of infected communion wine, the military/crazy scientist guy goes "hey this might be a problem" and gives a call to the genius scientist turned investigative journalist hot babe ultra-empowered independent woman character, who of course invented the original serum. She goes to the prison to see what's going down, the military guy calls in a few SWAT teams from his secure position outside the prison, and the hero guy takes charge of the few prisoners with a heart of gold when a riot breaks out. The hero guy and the scientist/journalist lady team up to find a cure, save the warden's kids, and deal with some irate prisoners, both infected and not. Meanwhile, the mob boss guy has made a deal to get into the prison so that he can save his imprisoned brother. The military gets ready to blow the place up, and everyone inside scrambles to find a way out.
There are a lot of gory scenes where people are killed by being pressed or pulled through prison bars. There's also a creepy decapitation scene and electrocution scene involving the same infected rasta prisoner. Still, the most disturbing scene is in the early part of the film, when a gross corrupt guard rapes a prisoner.
The main highlight of this film is one scene towards the end. The hero, woman, and kids are trying to make their way to the only escape route. Their path leads them to a long hallway, on one side there is a wall and on the other are prison bars. Hundreds of bloody zombie hands reach through, gracing their hair and faces as they pass by. There's also a few good scenes of the classic "couple of zombies munching on freshly dead bodies" and "many zombies ripping one guy to shreds" bits.
Overall, worth watching if you're researching the zombie genre as it has so many zombie clichés worth noting; it's practically an instruction manual on what not to do when making a zombie movie. But if you're new to zombie flicks and want a real scare, you should look elsewhere.
Saxon calls the shots.
BA_Harrison20 August 2022
John Saxon was a wonderful actor: he brought style and class to numerous cult classics, working for such film-makers as Mario Bava, Wes Craven, Dario Argento, Sergio Martino, Robert Rodriguez, John Sturges, and Robert Clouse. However, I think it's fair to say that, judging by Death House, Saxon wasn't that great behind the camera himself: his only gig as director, this film is a forgettable piece of trash that meanders aimlessly for an hour and a half, with pedestrian action, wooden performances, and very little in the way of originality or excitement.
Saxon also stars in the film, playing shady government operative Colonel Gordon Burgess, who uses the inmates at a penitentiary as guinea pigs for an experimental virus that turns people into superhuman zombies. Vietnam vet Derek Keillor (Dennis Cole), on death row after being framed for murder by mafia boss Moretti (Anthony Franciosa), attempts to lead the uninfected out of the prison, but finds that Burgess has placed the establishment in quarantine.
With a plot that goes nowhere for much of the time, Death House is an extremely tedious zombie film. The only times that the film displays any life is when Saxon sees fit to throw in some gratuitous nudity or gore. Sadly, there just isn't enough of either to compensate for the lack of genuine suspense or decent action. Cole is passable in the hero role, and Saxon and Franciosa (co-stars in Argento's Tenebre) are as solid as ever as the villains, but what this film sorely needed was much more splatter and T&A, because nothing succeeds like excess.
Saxon also stars in the film, playing shady government operative Colonel Gordon Burgess, who uses the inmates at a penitentiary as guinea pigs for an experimental virus that turns people into superhuman zombies. Vietnam vet Derek Keillor (Dennis Cole), on death row after being framed for murder by mafia boss Moretti (Anthony Franciosa), attempts to lead the uninfected out of the prison, but finds that Burgess has placed the establishment in quarantine.
With a plot that goes nowhere for much of the time, Death House is an extremely tedious zombie film. The only times that the film displays any life is when Saxon sees fit to throw in some gratuitous nudity or gore. Sadly, there just isn't enough of either to compensate for the lack of genuine suspense or decent action. Cole is passable in the hero role, and Saxon and Franciosa (co-stars in Argento's Tenebre) are as solid as ever as the villains, but what this film sorely needed was much more splatter and T&A, because nothing succeeds like excess.
Saxon in the director's chair
BandSAboutMovies10 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Wherever exploitation movies break ground, John Saxon is there. When Bruce Lee stars in Enter the Dragon, there he is, backing him up as Roper. As Mario Bava creates a proto-giallo in The Girl Who Knew Too Much, he stars. Early slasher film? Look to Saxon in Black Christmas. Want a Star Wars clone? There he is as the Darth Vader of Battle Beyond the Stars. Eighties horror sequel madness? He's the big name in A Nightmare on Elm Street. And he's back as Craven and Argento deconstruct the slasher and giallo genre with New Nightmare and Tenebre.
Yet for all his work in film, John Saxon only directed one movie: 1988's Zombie Death House. The original director bowed out at the last minute, so Saxon agreed to both act in and direct this film. He's since claimed that the producers imposed more car chases and gore than the script asked for, so what ended up on the screen didn't live up to his true vision. That may be because they only had nine days to write this movie and the producers demanded that it be like The Godfather.
Who knows what that vision may have been, because what emerges starts as a mob crime drama. Dennis Cole stars as Vietnam vet Derek Keillor, a man who may have won medals in war, but found no opportunities at home. Cole had a decent run as a guest star on plenty of TV shows, but was probably better known for marrying Charlie's Angels star Jaclyn Smith. He also shows up on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, as his son Joe was shot to death in a crime that remains, well, unsolved. That's one of my favorite episodes, as Joe was Henry Rollins' roommate, so it just seems so odd to have a punk icon and Robert Stack on the same show.
But I digress. Derek can only find one job: limo driver for mafia boss Vic Moretti, played by Anthony Franciosa from Tenebre. Our hero can't help but fall for Vic's woman, Genelle. He pays for his impudence by getting set up for her murder - Moretti drowns her in the bathtub, providing an opportunity for nudity - and sent to death row at Townsend State Prison.
That's where the real story begins. Government agent Colonel Burgess (Saxon) has taken over the prison from a henpecked warden - his wife literally tells him she plans on dumping him in front of their cherubic daughter and skateboarding son - and begun to subject the prisoners a genetically altered version of a virus called HV8B.
Who would invent such a thing? Oh, just Tanya Kerrington (Tane McClure, the only actress I know who was in both Legally Blonde and Death Spa), who was once a scientist but is now an investigative journalist.TK, as Tanya wants to be known, is here with her cameraman trying to bust the Colonel's use of prisoners as test subjects. She picked the right day for this, as ten minutes after she arrives, the zombie virus makes everyone go bonkers.
This is a film of amazing coincidences. Like how Derek is jailed alongside Moretti's brother Frankie, so he uses him as a hostage to lure Vic into the prison. That's when the first zombie shows up, using a modified sleeper hold to rip off a guard's head before being shot hundreds of times. Oh yeah - somehow Ron "Super Fly" O'Neal shows up in this mess, too.
Credit where credit is due - Saxon is awesome here, a total maniac who wants to create an American army that can win wars like Vietnam, so he creates a zombie plague that makes people do insane things. That seems like a good idea, right? And Franciosa chews every bit of scenery he gets near, like the scene where he kills his brother's jailhouse lover.
All of the maneuverings of the plot do allow for a very Carpenter-like storyline to emerge: everyone in the prison has been infected and therefore quarantined. Can they survive the siege both within and without the prison? There are some moments of lunacy - a lunch lady zombie hoarding Twinkies in a scene that predates Zombieland by a decade or so and a dream sequence near the end that exists only so we can see TK nude - but things don't descend to the level of a Nightmare City as you'd hope.
I do wish Saxon had directed more films, though. And I really wish his script for an Elm Street sequel called How the Nightmare Began had been made. It concerns therapist Frederick Krueger being blamed for a series of murders that have been really committed by the Manson Family. You have no idea how much I wish that movie got made.
Zombie Death House isn't a movie that many celebrate. I wouldn't even know about it if Saxon hadn't directed it. But here I am, at 5 AM, watching it and celebrating the fact that it contains a heroic child skating through a maximum security prison and running across an infected lunch lady feverishly hoarding a stack of Twinkies. I mean, you have to love that someone convinced the Dead Kennedys to give them the rights to "Chemical Warfare," which plays over the closing credits. And only in the 1980's would filmmakers figure out a way to get the film's hard as nails biochemist/investigative journalist heroine naked by the end of the movie.
If this ever gets rediscovered, celebrated as a hidden gem and released as an expensive blu ray with multiple slipcovers like so many other lost 80's movies, remember that you heard about it here first.
Yet for all his work in film, John Saxon only directed one movie: 1988's Zombie Death House. The original director bowed out at the last minute, so Saxon agreed to both act in and direct this film. He's since claimed that the producers imposed more car chases and gore than the script asked for, so what ended up on the screen didn't live up to his true vision. That may be because they only had nine days to write this movie and the producers demanded that it be like The Godfather.
Who knows what that vision may have been, because what emerges starts as a mob crime drama. Dennis Cole stars as Vietnam vet Derek Keillor, a man who may have won medals in war, but found no opportunities at home. Cole had a decent run as a guest star on plenty of TV shows, but was probably better known for marrying Charlie's Angels star Jaclyn Smith. He also shows up on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, as his son Joe was shot to death in a crime that remains, well, unsolved. That's one of my favorite episodes, as Joe was Henry Rollins' roommate, so it just seems so odd to have a punk icon and Robert Stack on the same show.
But I digress. Derek can only find one job: limo driver for mafia boss Vic Moretti, played by Anthony Franciosa from Tenebre. Our hero can't help but fall for Vic's woman, Genelle. He pays for his impudence by getting set up for her murder - Moretti drowns her in the bathtub, providing an opportunity for nudity - and sent to death row at Townsend State Prison.
That's where the real story begins. Government agent Colonel Burgess (Saxon) has taken over the prison from a henpecked warden - his wife literally tells him she plans on dumping him in front of their cherubic daughter and skateboarding son - and begun to subject the prisoners a genetically altered version of a virus called HV8B.
Who would invent such a thing? Oh, just Tanya Kerrington (Tane McClure, the only actress I know who was in both Legally Blonde and Death Spa), who was once a scientist but is now an investigative journalist.TK, as Tanya wants to be known, is here with her cameraman trying to bust the Colonel's use of prisoners as test subjects. She picked the right day for this, as ten minutes after she arrives, the zombie virus makes everyone go bonkers.
This is a film of amazing coincidences. Like how Derek is jailed alongside Moretti's brother Frankie, so he uses him as a hostage to lure Vic into the prison. That's when the first zombie shows up, using a modified sleeper hold to rip off a guard's head before being shot hundreds of times. Oh yeah - somehow Ron "Super Fly" O'Neal shows up in this mess, too.
Credit where credit is due - Saxon is awesome here, a total maniac who wants to create an American army that can win wars like Vietnam, so he creates a zombie plague that makes people do insane things. That seems like a good idea, right? And Franciosa chews every bit of scenery he gets near, like the scene where he kills his brother's jailhouse lover.
All of the maneuverings of the plot do allow for a very Carpenter-like storyline to emerge: everyone in the prison has been infected and therefore quarantined. Can they survive the siege both within and without the prison? There are some moments of lunacy - a lunch lady zombie hoarding Twinkies in a scene that predates Zombieland by a decade or so and a dream sequence near the end that exists only so we can see TK nude - but things don't descend to the level of a Nightmare City as you'd hope.
I do wish Saxon had directed more films, though. And I really wish his script for an Elm Street sequel called How the Nightmare Began had been made. It concerns therapist Frederick Krueger being blamed for a series of murders that have been really committed by the Manson Family. You have no idea how much I wish that movie got made.
Zombie Death House isn't a movie that many celebrate. I wouldn't even know about it if Saxon hadn't directed it. But here I am, at 5 AM, watching it and celebrating the fact that it contains a heroic child skating through a maximum security prison and running across an infected lunch lady feverishly hoarding a stack of Twinkies. I mean, you have to love that someone convinced the Dead Kennedys to give them the rights to "Chemical Warfare," which plays over the closing credits. And only in the 1980's would filmmakers figure out a way to get the film's hard as nails biochemist/investigative journalist heroine naked by the end of the movie.
If this ever gets rediscovered, celebrated as a hidden gem and released as an expensive blu ray with multiple slipcovers like so many other lost 80's movies, remember that you heard about it here first.
Trapped in a Death House "Dutch Oven"
amityvillehighschool24 May 2008
I love John Saxon in anything he's in. The one time he takes over the camera though he directs a movie that should have more aptly been been titled "Please Do Not Watch This Movie Called: Zombie Death House". The $1000 dollar Shock Insurance Certificate is dear Fred Olen Ray's tricky way of making you spend 14 dollars on a filmed dump churned out by a major 70's cheese legend. Ray being the front man at RetroMedia. Ray by the way makes Charles Band look hotter than stucco ceilings on a Ford Falcon. Just plain bad now, the both of them- and boring besides. It's great that Ray is digging up this old stuff and in some cases it's public domain like the rest of the dollar video hucksters but in the case of Zombie Death House- (the word "Zombie" sloppily superimposed to add ownership and interest on the part of F.O.R.) THE ONLY WAY TO DO SERVICE TO THIS TRIPE IS TO RELEASE IT ON THE DOLLAR MARKET FOR THE CURIOUS COLLECTOR AND FANS OF SAXON!!! If you wanna see real Saxon, pick up Black Christmas, Nightmare on Elm Street or The Glove.
for alot going on, its kind of .....
godinamachine19 March 2022
HEY EVERYBODY ITS ME (4) and today we review .........one of the millions of zombie movies to have come out over the past 30 years + because we are all obsessed over zombies ......the movie !!!!!!!
Ive watched this one probably a good 6 times in my life now .... for some reason i always come back to it after a few years ......nothing too special about it just another average kind of zombie movie, sure it has a couple of Blevel famous actors in it you of course recognize from a ton of other films ......but the acting is eh ...the action is decent and the FX are OK ....so why do i find myself always rewatching it when ever i see it someplace ? ...
guess ill never truly know ....
it has more red flags in it than my ex ,and STILL here i am again .... like my ex ........dang ...is this film my ex ????
The characters are the worst at everything they are supposed to be ....like ...military people are the worst military people ever ...doctors are the worst doctors ever .......prisoners are ....terrible at being prisoners that are rioting and trying to escape EVEN at the time of an outbreak i mean ........this movie is kind of like ..... if you could write out the dumbest possible interpretation of the character arch BAM this is them in a film .........and maybe that was the idea ..... or maybe its mabelene i dont know ....but either way thats what we have .....
HOWEVER in all the terrible-ness ..... it has some odd 80s charm, and maybe between that and the nostalgia it carries through .......its kind of a mash up car crash of mob film meets dawn of the dead .....revenge , double crosses and zombies .... you have a couple of intertwining stories of doctor turned reporter screwed over by government military scientist guy and military retired turned mobster driver double crossed revenge stories over layered with a prison escape vs zombies tory ...LOL .. i mean good lawd people theres alot going on here .....but they kind of make it work ........
so maybe packing more into this than my wife does into suit cases for vacations (plot twist is 90% shoes ) MAYBE they somehow found a way to help a otherwise generic middle of the road zombie flick stay afloat ???
OR maybe ive literally seen over 1000 zombie movies in the past 18 months alone so my judgement is skewed
5/10.
Ive watched this one probably a good 6 times in my life now .... for some reason i always come back to it after a few years ......nothing too special about it just another average kind of zombie movie, sure it has a couple of Blevel famous actors in it you of course recognize from a ton of other films ......but the acting is eh ...the action is decent and the FX are OK ....so why do i find myself always rewatching it when ever i see it someplace ? ...
guess ill never truly know ....
it has more red flags in it than my ex ,and STILL here i am again .... like my ex ........dang ...is this film my ex ????
The characters are the worst at everything they are supposed to be ....like ...military people are the worst military people ever ...doctors are the worst doctors ever .......prisoners are ....terrible at being prisoners that are rioting and trying to escape EVEN at the time of an outbreak i mean ........this movie is kind of like ..... if you could write out the dumbest possible interpretation of the character arch BAM this is them in a film .........and maybe that was the idea ..... or maybe its mabelene i dont know ....but either way thats what we have .....
HOWEVER in all the terrible-ness ..... it has some odd 80s charm, and maybe between that and the nostalgia it carries through .......its kind of a mash up car crash of mob film meets dawn of the dead .....revenge , double crosses and zombies .... you have a couple of intertwining stories of doctor turned reporter screwed over by government military scientist guy and military retired turned mobster driver double crossed revenge stories over layered with a prison escape vs zombies tory ...LOL .. i mean good lawd people theres alot going on here .....but they kind of make it work ........
so maybe packing more into this than my wife does into suit cases for vacations (plot twist is 90% shoes ) MAYBE they somehow found a way to help a otherwise generic middle of the road zombie flick stay afloat ???
OR maybe ive literally seen over 1000 zombie movies in the past 18 months alone so my judgement is skewed
5/10.
Decent enough, if for only a few reasons
slayrrr66619 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
"Zombie Death House" is a superbly decent 80s cheese-fest zombie film.
**SPOILERS**
In the middle of a drug war, Derek Keillor, (Dennis Cole) is soon framed by his target, Vic Moretti, (Anthony Franciosa) a renown mob boss and is sent to death row in prison. While awaiting sentencing, he finds that Colonel Gordon Burgess, (John Saxon) is in league with Warden Hagan, (Alex Courtney) is testing a strange chemical on the prisoners inside, which no one knows anything about. When the experiment gets out of hand and starts producing invincible inmates that soon attack the guards, he forms an posse with the other unchanged inmates and decides to take over the prison, seeing it as a chance to escape. When that fails and are forced to stay inside the prison until they can figure out what to do, they realize that there was a whole host of experiments done on the prisoners and those are now roaming the prison halls as zombies, turning them on each other and making the situation even harder to grasp. With tensions high and time running out, they try several different methods to deal with the situation before the zombies take them all out.
The Good News: This one here didn't have too much going for it. The fact that there's some really nice zombie action is one of the biggest ones, as there's just a ton of stuff in here that works wonderfully. The final escape from the prison is great, as there's the eventual escape from the zombies means that there's several encounters in here. The main one in the cells with them locked behind the walls and them moving along against the wall, all within arm-reach of their probing hands is intense, creepy and just incredible, due to the gore once they actually do get their hands on the humans and the long distance required to get across means that there's plenty of it to work. It's a fantastic scene and definitely is the best scene in here. The scene with the prisoners taking over the facility is quite impressive and action-packed as well, which is always a plus. The zombies themselves are quite impressive, with the wounds on the face and massive blood-splatter that covers the face. With the crazed look and decaying-style skin make for some really great creatures. The scene with the infected prisoner changing over into the creature through the execution is fantastic, and the bargaining scene in the courtyard works for it's great conclusion. The last part that works is the few moments of interest from the opening part of the film, as there's a really nice car chase, some decent-looking gore and the film's rather nice nudity. These here are the film's good parts.
The Bad News: This one had a few problems to it. The opening mob war is one of them, as this is just plain dull and doesn't have much of anything to do that's all too interesting. Sure, it provides some nudity, a car chase and some gunshot wounds, but there's nothing else to this which has anything to do with later in the film at all. It's just way too long to spend on an angle that could've been done in less than half the time or as just a flashback during the prologue, but whatever happened to it certainly should've been toned down considerably. It's hard to imagine what the point of it was, since those other ways would've worked fine for this. Another flaw to this is the feeling from the film towards how the virus works. This one here never goes into detail about what it is, merely that there's several versions of it around and that the effects of it are different, but not what they do or how they work. It's a little worse for wear. The last flaw here is that the middle segment, when the taking over the prison has occurred, the film is a little toned down in what could've happened. This could've gone so much further with the plot it has, but instead, it wastes a lot of opportunities to be really great. This is the biggest problem facing the film, and combined with all the other stuff are the film's problems.
The Final Verdict: This one wasn't that bad, but it's a giant missed opportunity for what could've been one of the best entries in the genre. See this one only if you've got a lot of love for the zombie genre or in the mood for some cheesy entertainment, otherwise there's a lot better ones out there.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Nudity
**SPOILERS**
In the middle of a drug war, Derek Keillor, (Dennis Cole) is soon framed by his target, Vic Moretti, (Anthony Franciosa) a renown mob boss and is sent to death row in prison. While awaiting sentencing, he finds that Colonel Gordon Burgess, (John Saxon) is in league with Warden Hagan, (Alex Courtney) is testing a strange chemical on the prisoners inside, which no one knows anything about. When the experiment gets out of hand and starts producing invincible inmates that soon attack the guards, he forms an posse with the other unchanged inmates and decides to take over the prison, seeing it as a chance to escape. When that fails and are forced to stay inside the prison until they can figure out what to do, they realize that there was a whole host of experiments done on the prisoners and those are now roaming the prison halls as zombies, turning them on each other and making the situation even harder to grasp. With tensions high and time running out, they try several different methods to deal with the situation before the zombies take them all out.
The Good News: This one here didn't have too much going for it. The fact that there's some really nice zombie action is one of the biggest ones, as there's just a ton of stuff in here that works wonderfully. The final escape from the prison is great, as there's the eventual escape from the zombies means that there's several encounters in here. The main one in the cells with them locked behind the walls and them moving along against the wall, all within arm-reach of their probing hands is intense, creepy and just incredible, due to the gore once they actually do get their hands on the humans and the long distance required to get across means that there's plenty of it to work. It's a fantastic scene and definitely is the best scene in here. The scene with the prisoners taking over the facility is quite impressive and action-packed as well, which is always a plus. The zombies themselves are quite impressive, with the wounds on the face and massive blood-splatter that covers the face. With the crazed look and decaying-style skin make for some really great creatures. The scene with the infected prisoner changing over into the creature through the execution is fantastic, and the bargaining scene in the courtyard works for it's great conclusion. The last part that works is the few moments of interest from the opening part of the film, as there's a really nice car chase, some decent-looking gore and the film's rather nice nudity. These here are the film's good parts.
The Bad News: This one had a few problems to it. The opening mob war is one of them, as this is just plain dull and doesn't have much of anything to do that's all too interesting. Sure, it provides some nudity, a car chase and some gunshot wounds, but there's nothing else to this which has anything to do with later in the film at all. It's just way too long to spend on an angle that could've been done in less than half the time or as just a flashback during the prologue, but whatever happened to it certainly should've been toned down considerably. It's hard to imagine what the point of it was, since those other ways would've worked fine for this. Another flaw to this is the feeling from the film towards how the virus works. This one here never goes into detail about what it is, merely that there's several versions of it around and that the effects of it are different, but not what they do or how they work. It's a little worse for wear. The last flaw here is that the middle segment, when the taking over the prison has occurred, the film is a little toned down in what could've happened. This could've gone so much further with the plot it has, but instead, it wastes a lot of opportunities to be really great. This is the biggest problem facing the film, and combined with all the other stuff are the film's problems.
The Final Verdict: This one wasn't that bad, but it's a giant missed opportunity for what could've been one of the best entries in the genre. See this one only if you've got a lot of love for the zombie genre or in the mood for some cheesy entertainment, otherwise there's a lot better ones out there.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Nudity
Zombies in Prison
Uriah4330 May 2022
This film essentially begins with a Vietnam veteran named "Derek Keillor" (Dennis Cole) having been discharged from the Army and accepting a job working as a chauffeur to a mob boss by the name of "Vic Moretti" (Anthony Franciosa). Trouble begins, however, when Vic discovers that his mistress "Genelle Davis" (Dana Lis Mason) is having an affair with Derek. To remedy the situation, Vic kills Genelle and then frames Derek for the murder. To make matters even worse, it just so happens that Vic's brother "Franco Moretti" (Michael Pataki) is also a prisoner in the same facility and pretty much controls everything and everybody inside--and he is quite anxious to get his hands on Derek. But what he doesn't count on is the fact that a federal agent named "Colonel Gordon Burgess" (John Saxon) has decided to use some of the prisoners in that same facility as guinea pigs for a dangerous new drug which results in a contagious disease that begins to turn almost everyone inside the prison into raging zombies. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that the film started out well enough but then low-budget aspects soon became much too apparent, and things went downhill from there. Admittedly, having two attractive actresses like Dana Lis Mason and Tane McClure (as "Tanya Kerrington") certainly didn't hurt matters. Even so, it just wasn't enough for me to rate this film any higher than I have. Slightly below average.
Zombie Prison Riot!
zardoz-1321 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Actor John Saxon graduated to the rank of director with this grisly splatter-gore, exploitation mash-up "Zombie Death House" about a virus that turns death row inmates into ravenous, flesh-eating fiends. Dennis Cole stars as decorated Vietnam veteran Derek Keillor, a driver for murderous mafioso Vic Moretti (Anthony Franciosa of "Across 110th Street"), who has him framed for the murder of his girlfriend and sent to Death Row. Actually, the jealous Moretti drowned his girlfriend Genelle Davis (Dana Lis) in his own bathtub because she was having an affair with Derek. Anyway, after Derek is shipped up the river to Townsend State Prison, he finds himself in real trouble when Colonel Burgess (John Saxon) gives the prison medical team the green light to administer a genetically altered version of a virus called HV8B. Saxon knows a little about horror movies since he starred in the cannibal classic "Cannibal Apocalypse," the seminal 1974 slasher flick "Black Christmas and Dario Argento's "Tenebre." This is good, ghoulish, gory fun.
Good time zombie fun
elmondomacabro5 December 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This is pretty cool in an 80's kind of way, take 'good' looking main guy and throw him in a hell hole on a frame up, add government madmen, zombies, slime balls and gay prisoners and SHAZAM! You've got a movie!
John Saxon is excellent as always but I think the show is stolen by the Rasta Zombie, I've never seen one of those before. Why is it the secret antidote to these plagues always looks like cough syrup and there's never enough to go around? Prison movies are always good for a laugh and this one is no exception, a great way to spend some free time. Maybe Saxon's time on Cannibal Apocalypse influenced his direction on this, as it really does have an Italian feel as stated by the other review here.
John Saxon is excellent as always but I think the show is stolen by the Rasta Zombie, I've never seen one of those before. Why is it the secret antidote to these plagues always looks like cough syrup and there's never enough to go around? Prison movies are always good for a laugh and this one is no exception, a great way to spend some free time. Maybe Saxon's time on Cannibal Apocalypse influenced his direction on this, as it really does have an Italian feel as stated by the other review here.
Lame - NOT a zombie a movie!
davidlb0715 February 2011
Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of fun, bad cheezy movies, and I'm a HUGE fan of zombie movies. This movie was neither fun or a zombie movie. "Zombie Death House" is a completely inaccurate name. This is definitely NOT a zombie movie. It's a really bad mob/CIA/Vietnam movie, but zombies don't even show until about 40min in, no gore until about 45min, and even then it's over quick. At the start we have a bit of TnA, there' some weak Mafia undertones, we have a VERY weak Vietnam veteran flashback type of thing, and it takes place in a prison. This is REALLY a bad movie. There's a bit of homosexual "I was a Mafia big-shot, but I'm in prison so I'm gay now, and this guy is my lover and he can't die" nonsense; I'm not homophobic at all, but this is just stupid. Out of no-where, there's our "hero" trying to figure out who has the zombie virus, and this is like the first time that ANY type of virus has entered the story. By far, this is one of the WORST FILMS EVER! If it had not been labeled as a zombie movie, the movie would still be REALLY bad, but not THIS bad. This is NOT a zombie movie, it's NOT even a bad prison movie, it's NOT a bad mafia movie... it is just a really bad movie. Oh - right near the end, a kid shows up on a skateboard that we've never seen before and he goes skating thru the scene, and suddenly he's there and he's presented like we're supposed to care about him.. lame. Avoid this movie - even if it's free, AVOID IT!!! It is a study in bad movie making.
The scariest thing about this movie is the lead actor's hair.
mguyer1 June 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I myself am a big fan of low-budget 80's horror films. This isn't the worst but still not to spectacular. The plot line is decent but drags out way too long. You're through half the movie before you even get to see any zombie action. The kills aren't very creative and the zombies aren't too crafty. I truly think this movie would have been better if they left out the zombies and just made it into some mafia flick. It's watchable but I feel that this film did steal at least an hour of my life. I'll give the film credit for being somewhat original. If you are really into B horror movies it's worth a viewing but if you're not, don't bother. But you don't have to take my word for it.
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