The House That Screamed (2000 Video) User Reviews

cheesy effects

[trashgang · 3/10 · 21 May 2014]

From the first seconds you know that this is going to be a low budget flick. The quality isn't exactly what we call superb. But being shot on video I was surprised that the opening was a shower scene with close ups of the girl her breasts so gratuitous nudity for. But then the trouble starts. You could see the cheap effects, just watch the lightning.

The haunted house as for effect they used negative colours to gave it a ghost feeling. That's so cheap and that works sometimes but not throughout the whole flick. Just after the opening credits it do has some cheap gory effects, supposed that the kid decapitated the victims and again some gratuitous nudity from a stripper.

Once that part is done the flick actually starts when a writer is searching for a haunted house. Really bad acting takes you through this possessed flick but not only that, it is rather boring from there on. Well, maybe the stripper returning is the most important thing to look forward to.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 0,5/5 Story 1/5 Comedy 0/5

The Film that Sucked.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 12 October 2012]

Judging by the quality and content of The House That Screamed, I would have guessed that the film was made by a guy in his early twenties—someone with limited movie-making experience and even more limited resources. Turns out that the directors (yes, it took two people to make this 'masterpiece'), John and Mark Polonia, were 32 when they made this and that they had been involved in the film industry for quite some time. Some people should know when to call it a day.

Shot on video, written on a napkin (probably), and edited on drugs (seemingly), this crappy z-grade home-made horror sees the Polonia brothers undecided as to precisely what approach they want to take: serious art-house horror or exploitative trash. Having failed to come to a decision, they do both, while chucking in any other extraneous ideas that pop into their heads while filming. Thus, we get a film that is part incomprehensible audio-visual experiment and part cheap 'n' cheerful cheese-fest in the vein of Evil Dead II.

Really unconvincing gore, dream sequences shot in negative image (a flick of a switch on the camera and, hey presto, cheap and nasty video effects!); irritating rapid editing of random imagery; awful sound (most notably, an overuse of lightning sound effects even when the weather is fine): in terms of technical proficency, The House That Screamed is a disaster.

Fat ghost girl sex; a deadly plastic doll; the Grim Reaper playing Knock Down Ginger: in terms of actual content, The House That Screamed is pitiful.

Very occasionally, the Polonias manage an effectively creepy shot, such as when writer Marty Beck (Bob Dennis) stands on his porch unaware that a ghostly figure is watching him from the window (reminded me a bit of Insidious here), but any genuine scares or creepy atmosphere seems to be down to luck more than judgement.

It made my top 10!

[gibbystation · 1/10 · 23 November 2005]

This movie has made my top 10 worst movies ever made. Nothing about this movie is good.

" A waste of electricity" – a friend of mine said.

I could not say it any better. This movie is a waste of time, money and dvds/tapes. They reused so much footage that it seems like they had like 30min of film for this 78min movie. Some parts were repeated in the same scene. Not only was the acting really bad, the fact that some people must have had the mic about 2 inches away form there face. Making it so the basement TV I watch this one, was booming bass, and I could feel there voices during normal talking. They had tons of horror elements in the movie, but all done wrong. The best actors were the kids.

This movie is only good if you feel like you want to die a little bit inside.

Where is MST3K when we need it???!!?

[movieman_kev · 1/10 · 19 November 2004]

A ghastly stupid and dull haunted house story. Oh, you Polonia brothers when will you ever EVER learn, you silly boys. If you love something, no matter how much if you're just not good at it, then let the dream die. When I was growing up for a brief time I wanted to be a basketball player, I had three things going against me. I was white, short, and no hand eye cooridination, so I let that dream, albeit fleeting as it was, pass on. OK, not the greatest example, but my point is this, you boys can't make turd after steaming turd and still remain serious in you commitment to film. You may be the LAST people to get the joke, but you will. And on that glorious day, you'll both take up a trade that you're good at. Plumbing perhaps...maybe singing telegrams.

My Grade: F

Student film project meets 1970s "art house" cinema

[rixrex · 30 May 2005]

While I was flinching at some of the inept handling of this material, I was nonetheless impressed with some of the very eerie and peculiarly effective bits of spookiness here. It really looks like more than one hand is stirring this pot. There's a lot of what looks like college film class 101 basic mediocrity, but then some very nicely done scary moments, and grisly scenes. For example, a nice scary bit is when the writer answers the knock on the door to find nobody, then an apparition appears to look at him from inside the house while he is on the porch unaware. But then, the fight with the doll is ludicrous. It's like Carnival of Souls without the maturity and professional film production values. It could have been much better, but still nice enough to not be a total waste, and reminiscent of those 70s flicks that were just a weird stream of ideas. Works on the level of a nightmare but then Phantasm did that much better.

Okay, ignore everyone but me

[grghull · 5/10 · 14 September 2006]

This is hardly the worst movie ever made or anything like it. It's low budget is painfully obvious and okay, the guy playing the lead couldn't act worth crap. But with a little patience (and a little imagination and an open mind, two things that seem to be in very short supply of late) you can appreciate that this movie had some very creepy moments and some interesting visuals. And to those who feel the need to invoke MST3K (certainly the most pernicious influence on film criticism to ever some along) every time they run into a movie that doesn't instantly remind them of the latest Hollywood blockbuster, I can only say enjoy your smug self satisfaction while you can, because someday (if you're lucky) you'll outgrow it.

Really, really stupid

[King_in_Yellow · 1/10 · 20 June 2003]

This has got to be one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen, right up with Troll 2. Still, it's fun to watch with some friends. Some notable elements of stupidity include:

-utterly pointless nudity (what was the point of the shower scene or the woman in red underwear?)

-the goofy flashbacks Marty has. Notice how his wife burnt down the house (which had no walls inside evidently) with a burnt out cigarette, and that his son died in the fire without any burns or even getting dirty

-the Grim Reaper playing with the doorbell

-the "ghostly circle" not extending to cover a the actor's arm

-drowning the plastic doll to kill the ghost inside

-Marty's "famous" novels: Feeders 1-3. The same guys who did this made Feeders 1&2, and they were really awful.

-the ridiculously low-budget makeup. The blind guy looked like he had fruit roll-ups over his eyes, and the blood hitting the window looked suspiciously like a tomato being thrown too late after the gunshot

I could go on & on on how stupid this movie is. Only see this to make fun of it.

Sweet lord for the love of God stay away from this movie

[sleepless_nekko · 1/10 · 6 July 2005]

Sweet Jeezus i was hoping this craptastic waste of space wouldn't even be on this site. I saw The House that Screamed when i was in high school, about 5 years ago, with a friend of mine. Little did we know the horror that actually awaited us when we started the blasted movie up. I honestly didn't think people could actually sell movies that badly done, ooooh boy was I wrong. I could see a group of 10 year olds make a better movie without trying. I swore to myself i would forget what i saw when i started watching this movie, if for no other reason than i don't want to have to claw my eyes out, but i cant do that. I would be less than human if i saw this listening and didn't voice how incredible bad this festering pile of dog droppings is. Lets put it this way if there were rating below -10 i'd give that to this movie without a second thought.

My sick addiction

[thewag777 · 5/10 · 20 August 2010]

started with the sequel to this (Hellgate). I've been hooked on Polonia ever since (what is wrong with me?) Come on guys, these Polonia Brothers make these films on like, $10,000, maybe $20,000. What do you expect? A monster that doesn't look like a sock puppet? I actually liked the idea of this movie. The House that swallows up souls, and the sacrifice that has to be made to free them...it's not bad at all. Just plot alone, is it any worst than some of the big named actor Hollywood garbage that comes out? If you can laugh at the very cheap effects, and look deeper to the plot, it's actually worth watching. (I need help, I know).

The best Hour and a Half of my Life

[perfectlysublime22 · 10/10 · 5 April 2006]

This movie came from the shining clouds of heaven! How could you say it was a waste of electricity?! The actor who plays Marty Beck should win an Oscar! Thats right! And the special effects just blow me away. Especially the Civil War ghost!! And the sound effects were superb. (blurb blurb blurb) The actresses were so hot that i couldn't look away. I think i became a lesbian for a few minutes. But, the best part by far, was Marty emotional trauma over the loss of his seemingly dead son. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" *shakes fists in anger at god* The beautiful love making scene between Mr. Beck and the female ghost brought tears to my sad, sad sex neglected life. I had to use some tissues to dry my eyes. ( i know what you were thinking, perverts.) (blurb blurb blurb) I was seriously scared during the action packed sequence when Marty was attacked by a fiendish doll from the fiery pits of hades. In conclusion this movie is the best movie ever made, and always will be, and i love Marty Beck. I want to be Mrs Marty Beck. If you are reading this Marty, please call me. I miss you

Warning- do not rent this movie.

[jessyt123 · 1/10 · 24 January 2005]

This was the biggest piece of crap I have ever seen. First off, as far as the acting goes...........there are better actors on late night low budget commercials. Second, it look's like a toddler filmed it with a camcorder. Further more, the supposed haunted house look's as if it had just been built. As for the effects, they were far from special. The only thing that classify's this as horror movie is the fact that it was ever made. If it was up to me it would be in the comedy section because it was totally ridiculous. This movie should be burned for wasting peoples valuable time and money. Rent this movie at your own risk, consider yourself warned.

Pointless!

[kita117 · 7 August 2003]

This movie was very dumb and cheesy. The music was horrible and the special effects looked retarded. The movie was somewhat a little good at times, but it needs some touching up. This message goes to the director. I defenitely won't buy the sequel to this movie after the experience that I had. I guess this movie is not for true horror fans.

Wow

[carnotaurhunter-1 · 1/10 · 1 February 2005]

This is just about the worst movie I have ever seen! My friend picked it up from a video store on a whim. We were having a party and needed a movie to watch. It was just.... horrible. It was a totally unnecessary mix of really cheesy and badly acted horror and PORN. It's messed up, man. The effects are definitely "special." Like the jelly to represent the gouged out eyes. The baby doll in the basement that somehow beats up a grown man while he holds it far away from his face. And there are random shots of things that are supposed to be scary, like the part when he says, "I want to stay in a HAUNTED house," then there's a shot of the house and some silly sound effect.

Basically it's just a horrible movie. Don't watch it seriously. If you need a good laugh, go ahead.

There was one scary part... the head hanging in the shower. That's it.

An All Time Favorite

[zacharyletchford · 9/10 · 2 December 2018]

I seen this as a kid and loved it. This is the film that first got me into low budget horror films. This is coming from somebody who's seen a lot of Palonia Bros. films throughout the time they were being made. Such as this one and it's sequal Hell House, Feeders 1+2, Slaughter Beach and a few others. This was my favorite film by them. It was directed by two brothers from western PA who were creative and had talent but unfortunately never made it big.

To make it short The House That Screamed is about a down on his luck and widowed horror novelist named Marty Beck. He decides to rent a house rumored to be haunted in hopes of inspiration on his upcoming book. He soon sees exactly how haunted it is.

I feel like most other B rated haunting movies have a wierd and hard to follow premise. They are usaully slow use a lot of pop outs. Not this one. The eeriest element of all was how Marty finds himself unable to escape from the house after entering. This is Truly a gem. It's a 90's time capsule that won't ever be forgotten.