Don't Go in the House (1979)

A disturbed young man who was burned as a child by his sadistic mother stalks women with a flamethrower.

Director:

Joseph Ellison

Writers:

Joe Masefield (story) (as Joseph R. Masefield), Joseph Ellison (screenplay)

Stars:

Dan Grimaldi, Charles Bonet, Bill Ricci

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dan Grimaldi	...	Donny Kohler
Charles Bonet	...	Ben (as Charlie Bonet)
Bill Ricci	...	Vito
Robert Carnegie	...	Bobby Tuttle (as Robert Osth)
Dennis M. Hunter	...	Worker
John Hedberg	...	Worker
Ruth Dardick	...	Mrs. Kohler
Johanna Brushay	...	Kathy Jordan
Darcy Shean	...	Girl in Car
Mary Ann Chinn	...	Woman in Street (as Mary Ann Chin)
Lois Verkruepse	...	Woman with Kids
Susan Smith	...	Girl in Market
Jim Donnegan	...	Clerk
Claudia Folts	...	Body #1
Denise Woods	...	Body #2

Storyline

A slasher film about a victim of child abuse (Dan Grimaldi) who grows up to become a maniacal construction worker. He stalks women at discos, takes them home, then chains them up in a special steel-walled room and sets them on fire.

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Plot Keywords:

burning | child abuse | old house | emotionally disturbed person | psychotic | 

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Taglines:

You Have Been Warned!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Burning

Filming Locations:

Strauss Mansion Museum, 27 Prospect Circle, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Turbine Films Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min 92 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Star Dan Grimaldi didn't have to audition for the part of Donny Kohler. At the time, he was the lead in an Off Broadway play titled "Mama's Little Angels". The director and producers came to see it several times and ended up asking him if he was interested in doing their picture.

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Goofs

The hallway outside the steel paneled room is brightly lit but when Donny is shown, from Kathy Jordan's point of view, to enter the steel room, the hallway outside is dark.

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Quotes

Mrs. Kohler: Donald, come here.
Little Donny: No mother.
Mrs. Kohler: You're a bad boy.
Mrs. Kohler: You're evil, and you must be punished.
Little Donny: No mother, please don't.
Little Donny: I promise to be good.
Mrs. Kohler: Come here i said.
Little Donny: No mother, please no.
Mrs. Kohler: Your father let you do things like that, but he's gone now.
Mrs. Kohler: [while burning the childs arms above the stove] I burn the evil out of you.

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Alternate Versions

The original UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC and the film later found itself on the DPP 72 list of video nasties. The 1987 UK video release was heavily cut by 3 minutes 7 secs and extensively reduced shots of nudity and graphic closeups from the scene of the chained woman being burned alive.

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Connections

Referenced in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)

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Soundtracks

Dancin' Close to You
Produced by Murri Barber
Composed by Ted Daryll
Performed by The Daryll/Barber Band

User Reviews

Another Mommy-Obsessed "Slasher" - This Time With A Flame-Thrower!!!

DON'T GO IN THE HOUSE is a relatively un-talked about film that falls squarely in the slasher genre - though our lead psycho never actually "slashes" anyone...preferring instead to burn 'em up with a military-style flame-thrower. Comparisons can be drawn to such other mother-obsessed horror films like PSYCHO, PIECES, and MANIAC - as our main-man is all whacked-out due to the treatment he received as a young lad at the hands of his over-bearing momma.

Donny (who reminds me of a cross between Mike Damone and a young Dustin Hoffman...) is a quiet kinda guy whose mother just died. She used to burn him as a kid for being "evil", but I guess a kid's still gonna love their mom - even if she was an abusive bitch. Not taking her death too well, he consoles himself by picking up random chicks and torching them to death in a makeshift steel room in his newly inherited house. He then keeps the charred remains around so he can dress 'em up and talk to 'em. Things get really out of hand for Donny when one of his friends from work invites him out-on-the-town with a couple of broads to the local disco. Needless to say, Donny ain't too good with social interaction of the courtin' kind - and makes a big mess of the whole scene. This brings a bunch of "heat" down on Donny that makes it impossible to hide his obsessions any longer...

DON'T GO IN THE HOUSE is pretty standard slasher material with the flame-thrower as a "different" element. The film is relatively misogynistic due to our psycho's penchant for torching hot young ladies...but the concept itself is nothing new. There are a few choice scenes (the disco scene is flat-out hilarious...) and a couple tits-n-ass shots, including some brief full-frontal. Donny's performance is pretty good too as the quite and mild-mannered freak. Definitely worth a look to slasher fans but don't expect anything extremely original or "shocking"...7/10