Customer Reviews

Bloodbath in the House of Knives

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Held my attention. Not great, or good. Great to see a movie with real effects no cgi, and no budget. I collect classic Italian, and horror splattered stuff like that. Glad this is in my collection.

In all honesty this movie is pretty darn good and deserves some better reviews than I have seen posted here. The idea isn't new or original but it is refreshing that film makers are start to delve a little deeper into the slasher genre and revive some great ideas from the past such as the Gialio film!

Stylistically based more on Argento than Carpenter, Bloodbath in the House of Knives is abrasive, disturbing and occasionally humorous in all the right places. Sure the budget is low (or non existent) but an interesting story-line and stand out performances by the cast (which includes John Link and Troma head honcho Llyod Kaufman) make this an entertaining gore filled romp!

BIG SPOILERS HERE.
I had high hopes for this movie after seeing some positive reviews, but after 15 or 20 minutes I realized this was going to be really quite awful. The story is poorly written, but the acting from several primary characters is even worse. The two female leads and two police detectives are extremely wooden actors with no capacity to convey realistic emotions. Anne Reiss as Ivy, the key protagonist, is completely unlikable and has no depth whatsoever. Monica Moehring as Ivy's sister Violet is scarcely better and equally unlikable. But the worst actor of all is probably Joseph Michael as lead detective Bliss. An absolutely atrocious performance.

The script is very amateurish with no wry sense of black humor or clever lines. The plotting is full of gaping holes and unexplained events. Who is this Vivian chick who was murdered at the beginning of the movie and what did she have to do with anything else? Maybe I missed something, but I can't bear to watch the movie a second time to find out. The man who mysteriously shot the murderer of Ivy and Violet's dad is never explained, nor is the dad's murder itself. I think it might have been implied that Ivy and Violet set up their dad's murder, but it's never really clarified nor revisited as a plot point. Either way, the dad's death remains an unsolved murder, as is the murder of the murderer. In fact, the first three deaths in the movie appear to be completely random and unrelated to the unfolding plot of Violet wanting to kill her sister.

The fourth murder, which is of Ivy and Violet's friend, is the first committed by the person in the Greek mask (who we later find out is Violet). But what is the reason that Violet wants to torture and kill this friend? I suppose you could say Violet is just unhinged and trying to torment her sister, but when Ivy finds out about her friend's death, she reacts like she has just burnt her morning toast; ho hum, no big deal. When you watch the movie, observe the person in the Greek mask carefully; it is clearly a man of normal weight, with no boobs. Later, the person in the Greek mask attacks Ivy in her kitchen, so Ivy knows first-hand the size and weight of her attacker. She also wrestles with the killer to control a knife for a full minute (in a ridiculous scene) and holds her own physically, so it makes no sense when Ivy encounters the very large, strong and heavy-set bartender later in the movie (without any mask) and thinks he is the killer. She's SEEN the killer, WRESTLED with the killer, and should KNOW the massive bartender doesn't match the body type of the killer at all.

The ultimate reveal of Violet as the killer comes as no surprise, as the only other possibility left in the movie would have been detective Bliss, and Violet was the much more obvious choice. But there is NO WAY Monica Moehring (Violet) played the role of the Greek-mask killer earlier in the movie. No matter how tightly you might wrap her boobs with duct tape, her body type is completely different than the killer shown earlier in the movie. Just observe the killer and compare his body with Violet's; you will agree that they are two different people.

The only decent performances in the movie are from Lloyd Kaufman as the lawyer and John Link as the hypnotist, but these are minor roles (especially Link's). Everything else about the movie is flat, predictable and blatantly staged, though at least the music score attempts to rescue the miserably acted scenes. Bloodbath in the House of Knives is a terrible movie that is really quite difficult to watch. It isn't smart enough to be so bad that it's campy, like Sleepaway Camp, nor is it a stylish thriller like the best giallo movies from the '70s or '80s. There's hundreds of better movies of this type available, so do a little research and get The Devil's Rejects or Alice, Sweet Alice.

I must say for a low budget horror movie this thing rocks! Nicola Fiore is HOT in the prolog (I must admit her being topless is a plus) and John Link (who everyone knows from a number of no budget movies) is awesome/creepy/freaky as a hypnotist! This movie appears to be an homage to old school mystery/slasher films and as such it has a lot of obscure references and plot elements. This just adds to the appeal of the movie for me. I also like the special effects because everything looks real and it has no uber fake CGI crap in it! Lloyd Kaufman also appears in it and is as campy as ever. Aside from the stars, the cast of unknowns does a decent job and really pulls of the story line. It is obviously low budget but I have a soft spot in my heart for that stuff so I would give this movie 3 thumbs up!

Stars: Lloyd Kaufman.
Film has a meaness that surprises and pretty women getting cut.
Great poster reminds one of Fulci and Argento in English.
There is definitely something for everyone that loves the unpleasant !
The women are pretty and most are shown in stages of undress.
Found myself loving the acting of Monica Moehring and Mr. Kaufman.
Saw so many knives wanted more from the skewers that Shish-Ke-Bob one nubile victim,Change it up alittle people.
Great ending and some killings really looked painful,No matter the budget !

At the beginning I really thought this movie would have some potential, it seemed to have the same " mood " as another low- budget flick called "Gone The Way Of Flesh"Boy , was I disapointed.The 1st kill scene was a slit throat and I'm thinking "where's the blood ?"Unless you consider a couple drips of blood enough.It just wasn't realistic, If someone get's their throat slashed open you expect blood to be pouring !Throughout the movie they still skimp on the blood, it was probably to make sure they wouldn't run out by the end of the movie.Etheir that or they were being careful to not stain their freinds or relatives carpet during the filming of the movie.I got a kick out of the "back room of a bar " you can clearly see it's someones bedroom in a house.And the acting is just horrible, they might as well have been robots just reading their lines.Any emotion expressed was so cheesy & fake it was diffucult to watch.Loyd Kaufman was the only one in this movie worth watching,he seemed like a veteran actor compared to the other ones.I have to admit some of his lines were hilarious(" I hate old people.Their disgusting."And in a scene where he get's stabbed- nobody can make screams like this man)Other then that this movie is just plain awful and the characters are lame.Maybe one chick gets topless.Which is a joke cause the movie warns theres graphic & explicit violence and nudity.The scene where a chick get's needles stuck into her arms, you can see the fake skin(maybe face putty or poorly applied latex) which looks like burn marks or scars.As far as "graphic " violence goes I'd say " Well,sort of.." The scene where the chick get's a knife shoved & twisted around in her private-spot could of been brutal, but ounce again "where's the blood ?" I'll stick to a toe tag film.