Monday, November 09, 2009

The House of Clocks


(1989)

A weird old couple live in a huge house filled with clocks and a couple of corpses. Three young people who are not nice people at all go to said house to rob the old folks. After tricking their way in things go horribly wrong and the old people end up shot. Upon their deaths, all the clocks start going backwards and the young hooligans wind up trapped in a living hell for the rest of the night.


Weird old folks are always a plus in horror so I really had high hopes for this film before I even popped it in. It started off all well and good, then the unthinkable happened. The young people had the gall to torture a cat. A cat!! I can sit here and watch people burned, disemboweled, mutilated, skinned alive and eaten by zombies but dammit you cross a line when you torture an innocent pussy cat! The only reason this movie still retains respectability is that the cat does get some pretty sweet payback by way of a grand scale PITA. I actually found myself cheering at the tv.

But that's only a small portion of this bizarre film. When the clocks begin running backwards, the events of the evening start to reverse as well. The old folks heal up and now they're displeased with their young guests. The two corpses the old couple had stored also spring back to life and join the party. This turn of events doesn't bode well for the trio of thieves but boy is it great to watch them suffering just like that poor kitty cat. All I can say is this is one of Fulci's more strange films. Although it was filmed in '89 once again he retains that look and feel of an early '70's film. For what it's worth, I liked it but I don't think it would suit everyone's taste.

4 comments:

JPX said...

I watched this with JSP approximately 4 years ago and I'll be damed if I can recall a single thing about it. I probably drank too much, which is easy to do when you're around JSP, and I think it obliterated my ability to retain what I was watching - is that a blackout? Great summary though. Perhaps I need to watch this while drinking a cup of coffee.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

This was a Fulci made for TV flick as I recall. I remember it being pretty good (but then again details are sketchy at best due to alcohol consumption).

Catfreeek said...

I was sober when I watched it, but JSP was nowhere around so that explains it.

Octopunk said...

You buncha drunks. Gimme that lamp! (crash!) Jesus! S'fucking dangerous!

Wheresa, where's my drink? (Cough.) This is good movie.

Malevolent

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