Review: Dr. Horror's House of Terror

(A fantastic over-the-top horror movie entered in IFComp 2021. A masterful blend of comedy and gruesomeness. Dr Horror’s House of Terror - Details (ifdb.org))

Fright or Folly? Why not have both.

Franky and Johnny are strolling across the dark parking lot of the movie-theater. Some distance behind them, bright lightbulbs are flickering above the theater entrance.

DR. HORROR’S HOUSE OF TERROR

->Franky:
So, what’d you think?

->Johnny:
I don’t know, man. I thought we were going to watch a Horror movie. But half the time this guy was joking around and I could plainly see the trees were plywood.

->Franky:
That’s the point, J.
Think of it like this: you’ve got scary horror on the one side and laughable camp on the other. The director’s hung a tightrope between the two and the whole movie is a balancing act, always staying close to the best of both extremes. He reinforces this with how he shows the locations: sometimes like real places where something gruesome happened, sometimes like a fake plastic set, just as unscary and laughable as King Kong’s zipper showing.

->Johnny:
Yeah, I guess… What was up with the dialogue though? People don’t talk like that, neatly listing their questions and getting them answered one by one.

->Franky:
Well, J., you gotta remember: not everyone going to the movies is as smart as you are… Some people need a bit more handholding to pull them along through the story. The neat question-by-question dialogues give a bit more exposition to those poor sods that can’t quite follow as lightning-fast as you, Johnny…

->Johnny:
Heh, yeah… I suppose some o’them would need some more explanation than brainy ol’ me.

The flickering lightbulbs above the theater entrance blinked out one by one until only two remained. These two seemed to tear themselves free from the façade, blinked as well and then squinted , two shiny yellow eyes focusing on a prey…

->Johnny:
Hey, something else bothered me about this movie. What was up with all those weird obstacles? It was like the main guy was jumping through all sorts of hoops.

->Franky:
Those diverse obstacles are there to show to the audience how smart and versatile the protagonist really is, man. And since we’re there on the front row watching him, we get to experience his cunning solutions as if we thought of them ourselves.

The shiny yellow eyes had now closed the distance to the two young men. They were following quietly in their footsteps…

->Johnny:
Well if he’s so smart, why did he lose the end-battle huh?

->Franky:
I dunno, I kinda liked the ending. Even if he did lose at the end, it was all nicely wrapped up in the epilogue. By the way, my cousin saw this movie last week, and he says the main guy won the final battle. So there must be different versions around. Maybe you could go and see it tomorrow and it would end differently.

->Johnny:
Really? Wow, that’d be so cool. One more thing: I really didn’t care for how the guy just killed all those innocent people. Seems he should’ve tried to just knock 'em out or something.

->Franky:
Well, maybe the director wanted to show that normal moral principles don’t hold up when you’re trying to avert the end of the world as we know it.
Or maybe it was just some gratuitous gruesome killing, just for the heck of it.

At this point, Franky glanced over his shoulder at the beast following them. He sighed and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

CRuNCH! GLooP! GRoK!

Johnny’s headless body stayed upright for a few more seconds. Then it fell down to the tarmac. As Franky made his way to the car, the scrunching and slobbering noises continued.

5 Likes