I’ve never
considered The House of Seven Corpses a zombie movie before. But after my most
recent watching I realized that it is. Not in a world is about to end
flesh-eaters kind of way, but in a more traditional zombie as a tool of revenge
way. I’m adding this to the zombie marathon list.
This low
budget horror movie follows the crew of a low budget horror movie as they shoot
in a creepy old house with a history of murder. The credits play over a series
of murders which tie into the graves located near the house. The groundskeeper,
played by legendary actor John Carradine, warns them about shooting their
project in the house. All of the deaths were related to the occult and he fears
they are tampering with something they can’t possibly understand. In another
bit of dialogue the character also lets them know that one of the graves is
unmarked. That is important later.
So of
course, the film crew ignores the warnings and keeps shooting the movie. Even
after the lead actresses’ cat is cut in half and left on the front lawn! Well
these things happen I suppose. To make matters worse when
actor/writer/cameraman David finds a book of the dead and decides to not only
read it but include some of the lines in the script. Repeatedly chanting from
the book surely won’t have any negative effects, right? Well they do manage to
summon a zombie from the graveyard who starts to kill the cast and crew. Why
the heck was David so obsessed with the book? Well there might be a good
reason…
I’ve
always liked this movie. It has a creepy gothic vibe with the old house cloaked
in darkness. While they have generators for the equipment to shoot the movie
the power in the house is off. Wandering around in the dark using candles to
navigate at night becomes a big part of the movie. We get some jump scares
before the real ones and also some beautiful shots that establish the scale of
the house which helps create a sense of isolation. Not only is the house in the
middle of nowhere, but the cast and crew can even get lost in the mansion
because of its size. I know that I just mentioned the sense of isolation but
that plays heavily into the mood of The House of Seven Corpses. This is a slow
burn that builds tension and paranoia until it ends in a final crescendo of
violence and death.
 |
| Not a bad looking zombie. |
In the
previous paragraph, I mentioned beautiful shots. The camera is set at odd
angles and creates a sense of unease. There are also shots using the stairwell
where the camera is sometimes at a distance shooting from above or below when
the scene is set on the staircase. This helps establish the size of the house
and connects back to the sense of isolation necessary to make the climax of the
movie work. I also loved the lighting where you have characters partially in
shadow or see them come out of shadows while the other actors are in frame. It
makes for a creepy movie.
This
brings me to my only real issue with the movie. I don’t know if it is the
editing or if they moved the sequence of events around but there is a huge flaw
in The House of Seven Corpses. You will have scenes set late at night, the
characters even mention the time of day. And then they will be walking around
outside in broad daylight! This is most obvious in the climax of the movie. The
zombie climbs out of the grave and shuffles to the house in the dark. The
director and David stroll to get shots of the graveyard a few minutes later and
it is daytime. Back to the house it is night. Back to the graveyard for a big
reveal day. This repeats a few times. With the care that was put into the rest
of the movie this is a mindboggling error.
That one
big flaw doesn’t ruin The House of Seven Corpses for me. I still think there is
too much going on in its favor. I recommend it.
© Copyright 2017 John Shatzer
