I have definitely been on a retro kick lately, although I
did sneak in a viewing of Repo: The Genetic Opera. To continue my retro feel, I
went way into my youth for the 1974 horror flick The House of Seven Corpses.
Plot/ 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.
Horror movies of the 1970s were a mixed bag, as the genre
seemed to be in a period of transition. While this one is not technically very
good, I feel that is often overlooked as a piece of horror history. Yes, there
are some flaws with the way the movie is scripted and paced, but there is a
certain charm that will draw fans of early 1970s horror in. The cast is solid
and there are some decent performances (John Carradine is definitely creepy), the
atmosphere is dark and heavy, and the storyline is entertaining and
interesting. Sure, there is not a lot of blood or gore, there is little action,
there could have been some more supernatural elements added in, and the effects
are nowhere near the quality of today, but for a lower budgeted film of that
era, they are not that bad. In the end, this is a nice retro piece and a fun
movie to help pass some time. Is it perfect, by no means, but it is a fun slow
burn haunted house flick that is good on a cold windy night.
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