Death House

~Spoiler~ John Saxon: great actor, lousy director. Zombie Death House is one poor excuse for a horror movie. What he was thinking when he made this piece of trash I'll never know. And how he got some decent actors for this is another mystery. Anthony Franciosa, Michael Pataki, and Ron O'Neal all co-star in this thing. The long, incredibly dragged out plot follows a former Vietnam hero and mafia chauffeur who winds up in prison. While there, other death row inmates are subjected to experiments that zombify them for lack of a better word. John Saxon plays some government black-bag operative who quarantines the prison and our hero and a few others try to escape. It was a nice idea but poorly executed and, for the most part, boring. It takes a long time to get going and it's not worth your time when it does. Also, the lead actor is completely bland. For a better Zombie In Prison movie (or ZIP flicks as I like to call them) check out Beyond Re-animator.

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.

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.

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.