There's a cabin in the middle of the woods, far from modern civilization, inhabited by a group of unusual people who speak Old English and become demonically possessed savages with a craving for "anything with blood in it." Poor Dr. Douglas Madsen(Christopher Kriesa), traveling to pick up medical equipment, happens to come across a bus wreck carrying evil inmates who have eliminated the security assigned to keep them detained. Forced against his will, Doug will have to follow the four inmates into the woods as they head for the Canadian border only to find the cabin which occupies the strange folk who warn them repeatedly to flee before the turning occurs. What commences is a slaughter, but thanks to one of the group, a young lady named Alice(Martina Ittenbach), Doug escapes. When he tries to explain to a detective(Jürgen Prochnow)what happened to him, he isn't believed and must face the idea of prison. He's the only one who came out alive with four missing inmates and dead security guards..Doug seems to be in a bit of trouble. Well, prison might be better than what awaits him. Traveling in a bus with other inmates, they drive through a female traveler, out of her car to see about a deer she hit, causing an eerily similar wreck to the one that occurred at the start of the film. A feeling of deja vu for Doug and, as before, another group of inmates will force the doc to accompany them into the woods, with a goal of heading north..just guess what happens.
Forget the story-line, director Olaf Ittenbach's horror tale is mostly a German splatter-fest..pure unadulterated gore movie, loaded with outrageous violence. I mean the religious freaks in this house turn back flips using the wall as a springboard for petesake! I didn't know if they were supposed to be a relic from another time, or luchadores needing a wrestling ring. You get an arm amputation, eyeballs pried away from a victim's face as it's being ripped apart, heads exploding(..including one nifty scene where a demonically possessed savage's face forms back together from it's shredded remains)from shot-gun explosions, a face being stabbed with a spate, lots of blood splatter from bullet riddled bodies(..it appears that A LOT of squibs were used in this movie), guts being pulled from bellies, etc. The Doc even gets to remove shrapenal from an inmate's nut-sack, for crying out loud. There's a nice attempt, straightly executed, at how fate, or a divine force, can guide certain people to a specific fate. The undesirables from prison who often find themselves supposedly heading north only to meet an ominous fog within the woods which leads them to this cabin housing God's chosen to feed on their flesh. I guess that was what this crazy movie was attempting to accomplish. I just laughed this aspect off and rather enjoyed the battles between inmates and demon-baddies. Simon Newby really lays it on thick as the first heavy, Arthur, spending his time on screen barking orders and threatening dire consequences towards anyone crossing him. Doug gets treated like dirt the entire running time of the film. First he's the constant source of bullying, given little chance to survive, only remaining so because of the assistance Arthur's brother, Spence(Luca Maric)needs with a torn arm with a bullet wedged causing an artery to bleed badly. Then later, Doug must deal with a quiet psychopath, Paul Anderson(Dan van Husen), who likes to wax poetic, often quoting from books and writings from popular writers. I found van Husen amusing as Anderson, the kind of bloke who loves to hear himself talk and has a superiority complex..he informs Doug that he'll remain alive as long as he pleases Anderson's intellect. You really can't give much thought to things that often matter in movies..a decent storyline and acting. These departments in "House of Blood" are missing. I will say this..Olaf Ittenbach has some style, but his attempts at messing with the chronology in the story-line(..going back and forth in time, often in the case of Doug, such as his interrogation scenes tied in with the second act and how events unfold in Doug's life and how the whole escape of the inmates came to be), I felt were unnecessary. The Old English will probably have many viewers trying to hold back giggles. Thee and thus, it becomes quite tiresome. And the opening actors who play the inmates Doug must deal with overact, often blurting profane lines with each other, often shouting, and always quite annoying...they're like rejects from an episode of HBO's OZ. They're a source of amusment as well as they really try hard to elicit evil by heightening their voices towards each other. Perhaps with half-decent material, Olaf might have potential.
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