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"I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE AGAIN" - FIRST REVIEWS OF 'HOUSE OF THE DEAD' IN THE INTERNET

Review from "Disciple of Shihan Steven Seagal"

'House of the Dead was a pleasant surprise. No real spoilers'

It's VERY energetic and fast-paced, closer to recent horror actioners like Dog Soldiers/Ghosts of Mars than it is to traditional Western zombie flicks. As long as the censors stay away, gorefreaks will definitely get their money's worth. There's at least as much ketchupy zombie slaughter in Boll's cut as there was in Wild Zero, Versus, and Junk, maybe even more. Whatever, it's clear that Boll has a healthy obsession with the Heinz. He's got his fingers crossed that the MPAA won't take the movie too seriously and thus let it pass unscathed, kind of like the British censors did with Jackson's Dead Alive. ...
In all respects, House of the Dead is very faithful to its leave-your-brain-at-the-door videogame namesake. Speaking as a fan, I think the gaming footage inserts are used well. Don't know how casual audiences will respond to them though. The character death scenes are pretty cool, too.
HOTD is a very loud film, very metal videoish in parts. I can't name the bands. All I know is it's sure to go down well with the slack-jawed whippersnappers. Other stuff; monster makeup runs the full zombie gamut, from shoddy to impressive (spotted a couple of nice Fulci tributes). Weapons usage is liberal and meaty. The island location is excellent, reminds me a bit of that place where Treat Williams ended up in Deep Rising. Jurgen Prochnow's on autopilot, and Clint Howard is Clint Howard. Ellie Cornell tries hard to kick arse, bless her. Most of the jokes fall flat, but it's no big deal; best gag by far is a Prochnow/Das Boot in-joke that I'm sure will go woosh over the intended audience's collective heads.

In the games world, Resident Evil reigns supreme. However, make it known that movie-wise, House of the Dead shits all over RE from a very great height and returns down to bust a cap in Anderson's skull. Remember, it's the only way to be sure. Boll's movie isn't going to set the world on fire or reinvigorate the living dead genre so that Romero can finally return to show these peons, these MONKEYS, how it's really done; what HOTD is, is a daffy zombie crowdpleaser (audience last night enjoyed it) that delivers where it needs to deliver. Which is more than can be said for Anderson's *grinds teeth, shudders violenty* film. "

Read the complete review and comments on it on www.creature-corner.com.