So bad it's good
Added 11/20/2009
I LOVE this movie! Yes, it's god awful: the acting is horrible, the action sequences range from over-the-top to lame, and the story goes nowhere... but all this goes into making it my favorite campy zombie fest ever! Plus it's got some of the best campy quotes ever! "This book looks really old, maybe it can help us!" Classic!
What makes it so great is that it feels like they were really trying to make a top notch horror flick, but just failed miserably. Maybe it makes me a sadist, but I don't think it would be funny if they were trying to make it campy. I heard they released a version with a laugh track, but I attribute that to them trying to save some face (which makes it even better!). I don't understand how movies like Evil Dead (I love that too!) can have such a cult following, while this movie gets taken to the curb. Probably just because Uwe Boll has a reputation of being a jerk, or maybe because people are just trying to take it as seriously as they meant it to be.
Bottom line: if you watch this with some buddies, and with a sense of humor - maybe with some beers - you'll have a blast.
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Lower your standards and you might enjoy it
Added 5/5/2009
A group of 20-something university students find themselves stuck on an island that is overrun by zombies.
I'm not going to deny it, "House of the Dead" is a terrible film - bad acting (Clint Howard's performance is so bad that it is laughable), bad direction, bad make-up effects and a script that is primarily made up of scenes in which the main characters stand around shooting zombies (well, what do you expect from a movie that is based on a video game?). Yet, in spite of this, I didn't hate this movie. I've been extremely busy at work lately, and when I sat down to watch this film, the last thing I wanted to do was think. In that respect, "House of the Dead" definitely delivered. "House of the Dead" is a mindless action/horror film reminiscent of the horror movies of the early 80's (such as many of the "Friday the 13th" sequels) - light on plot, and heavy on gore and violence. If your idea of fun is watching zombies getting shot in the head for 90 minutes, then you'll probably enjoy it. A lot of people have given this film 1 star, and I can understand why, but at the same time, it's not that much worse than a lot of blockbuster action movies that I've seen. Lower your standards and give it a try.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Only watch it around friends...so you can laugh and disect how bad this crap really is!!!!
Added 3/20/2009
This is absolutely one of the worst THINGS I have ever seen. It is so terrible that I almost couldn't stand anymore. The acting is terrible, the characters are terrible cliches, the setting is dumb, and the story is absolutely atrocious. This film bottom line sucks. I bought it for a penny here just because of its reputation. Also because usually my friends and I go to the dollar stores at the mall to buy $1 movies that are really bad so we can quote them and laugh at them. It sucks so bad...the seller should pay you to take it off of his hands. I keep it in my backpack and bring it out in school as a conversation starter, along with the film Surf Ninjas, another really bad film...look it up. [...]
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A VERY STUPID MOVIE THAT MADE ME LAUGH 6.5 OUT OF 10
Added 12/11/2008
Amazingly, I didn't hate this movie. This zombie movie is universally hated, and yet I'm one of the few who managed to extract value out of it for it's stupidity. I don't know, maybe I have an immunity to hating zombie movies. This movie is definitely no Resident Evil in terms of a quality movie-game, but I got a kick out of it. This plays out like a stupid parody of Day of the Dead, Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, The Matrix, some pirate movie, and a kung fu movie of some sort.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: The story starts off with the character Rudy, telling of the hellish nightmare that happened on an island days earlier. It was Spring Break, and the college kids are going to a mysterious island to a party called the Rave of the Year. Five college kids miss the boat to the party and instead ask of the services of a fishing boat and pay $1000 for the captain to take them to the island, while having their boat pursued by a female cop named Casper who suspects the captain is smuggling items. The island is said to have a curse and is referred to as the Island of the Dead (Wait... this is supposed to be House of the Dead). When the kids get there they find it's completely deserted, and wander to find them (If you find ripped clothes with blood stains and the place is trashed, would you stay to investigate? Stupid people!). They find survivors hiding in a strange old house and team up with them, and their hellish nightmare (Or a comedy zombie adventure) begins when they figure out what's going on.
MUSIC: I liked this movie's music, it was actually pretty good to listen to and it had some nice tunes to it as well.
ACTION: This movie loaded with cheesyness in every possible aspect. Zombies that jump high, can do Matrix moves, and can do karate. They can also wield weapons like axes, maces, and more (Wait, where did they get all these weapons from?). I also love the fact during the shooting scenes it seems as if the characters seem to have unlimited ammo for a long period of time. Why is this movie loaded with so many slow-motion sequences? And why were there clips from the games inserted in here? It looks stupid. The gore felt a little hammed up and cheesy and it felt a bit unnatural. I also booed the fact that it really didn't show people being eaten, just zombies being killed. Not to mention, some of these zombies don't adhere to the zombie rules. If you get shot in the head or you're decapitated you're supposed to die. One last note during the swimming scenes: Did we learn nothing from Jaws?
DIALOGUE: It felt as if maybe only one character; Rudy; tried to salvage his role in this movie. Everyone else is terrible at acting and it's quite funny when they try to be serious about someone dying. Overall the dialogue is mostly laughably bad.
OVERALL: Most people out there hate this movie, a lot. If you have interest in this movie, only rent it, do not buy. But at least the quality felt better than Day of the Dead 2: Contagium.
THE GOOD: The cheesyness and the music.
THE BAD: The cheesyness.
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Come on...this is a fun movie
Added 11/2/2008
I seem to be one of the very few people who found this movie entertaining.Why?It doesn't look like a cheap,low budget production.It's filmed well.The acting is good and it has great fx.I think people watch it expecting it to be something other than what it is.Be advised.It's not a "serious" zombie movie,but it's not a comedy either(although director Uwe Boll has a re-edited version that is supposed to be a straight-up comedy.Haven't seen it).A zombie action movie is the best way to describe it.I've never played the video game it's based on and I only recognize a few of the actors(Jurgen Prochnow:"The Seventh Sign",Ellie Cornell:"Halloween"4&5,and Clint Howard:Creepy looking but very good character actor),but it has 3 things I like...
1)Zombies.It has both the slow-as-molasses-but-will-still-kill-your-a$$e$ kind(for you zombie purists)and also the faster-than-nascar-so-you-aint-gonna-get-far kind(which I prefer).
2)Wild action/fight scenes.This is pure video game style shoot'em up action.You have hot babes in tight outfits using martial arts to battle the undead.You have guys and gals with grenades,machine guns,shotguns,pistols,machettes and swords trying to survive as the risen dead open up a large can of zombie whup-ass.
3)Excellent special effects.There is no cheap stuff here.you have zombies being blown to pieces,shot and chopped-up.You have people being chewed-up,spit-out and torn in half.ZOMBILICIOUS!!!
Short story...Kids invited to rave party on secluded island.Crusty old boat captain takes them to island.Rave is deserted with signs of violence.So what.Beer kegs are full and there are plenty of tents to make-out in.UH-OH!!!Zombies are very prudish when it comes to sex,so they start with the killing.Much zombie carnage and destruction.Will the humans escape? Who lives and who dies? Who is the mysterious figure raising the zombies? Do you even care? Yeah well...see the movie anyway.It's good.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Uwe Boll may be a bad director, but at least he knows it
Added 5/8/2009
There are some movies that are so bad that they can only be made watchable by gathering a group of friends and heckling the movie for its entire running time. "House of the Dead" is one of those movies and director Uwe Boll (who is often labeled the worst director ever) realizes it, which is why he came up with "House of the Dead - the Funny Version" (well, that and, presumably, the desire to make more money - but I'm not going to hold that against him). "House of the Dead - the Funny Version" takes the original "serious" version of "House of the Dead" and adds in out-takes, alternate scenes and pop-up captions throughout, turning what many consider to be an ordeal of a movie into the equivalent of a night of heckling. Boll may be a terrible film-maker, but he has a great sense of humour and is prepared to make jokes at the expense of his work. The captions that appear throughout the film are absolutely hilarious (for example, at the commencement of the far-too-long fight scene: "Thus, begins the longest fight scene in film history. You might like to go get some refreshments now... or hang yourself). For some people, there is nothing that could make this film watchable, but for those with the right (or should I say wrong) sense of humour, watching this film is a great experience.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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House of the Dead directors cut
Added 3/10/2009
House of the Dead directors cut is funny and entertaining. That's why I ordered it, unfortunatly gohastings shipped me the regular movie not the directors cut. When I called the customer service number they told me all they could do was issue me a refund (which will take around three weeks to go back into my account) and let me keep the wrong movie they sent me. That would be great if I actually wanted the regular movie, but I don't (I don't think anyone does since it's selling for only $.01)My confirmation e-mail told me they shipped me the directors cut, but obviously they didn't. I'm writing this review just to warn others to be ware of what they order. If it is shipped from gohastings you may not get what they tell you you're going to get.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Directors Cut (comedy version) as bad as original (horror version)
Added 9/7/2008
This new directors cut is there attempt to take a bad horror movie and make it a comedy. Only it fails to be funny, just like it originally failed to be scary, or entertaining.
It has on the cover "you will die laughing".... false advertising, to say the least. There is nothing funny about those speech bubble/info facts popping up every 10 seconds saying something not even remotely funny.
And then the fart gags, a fart joke can be hilarious, but not when it's a fart sound effect thrown in for the hell of putting one in there. Even 3 year olds wouldn't be laughing at it, maybe a 2 year old might find it funny, but this is not a movie for a 2 year old.
Take my word on it, you will never kick yourself for avoiding this movie, I wouldn't even watch this again if it was on TV or someone paid me 100 bucks to view it.
4 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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