‘Death House’ Interview: Driven Director Harrison Smith Part II
By Joey Click
Official One-Sheet for Harrison Smith’s ‘Death House’-Courtesy of Entertainment Factory.
JC: It wasn’t a full decapitation in Joe Zito’s ‘The Final Chapter’…sorry to nerd out on you for a second. But you’re talking about characters being resurrected in ways, you don’t want to ask questions with some films. You want to go along for the ride. You don’t question it.
HS: Exactly. Do we really need a scene where the scientist explain Seig’s (Hodder) regeneration, with the cells underneath the microscope? Like “Oh It’s this.. It’s that.”
JC: Now that we’re talking about tone, this seem like the perfect time to ask this question.
HS: Sure thing.
JC: Horror has more sub-genres than any other genre of film in cinema. If vampires are your thing, horror has it. If real like killers get you going, horror has it. If ghosts are what you’re into, horror has that as well. With ‘Death House’, the film seemingly looks like a hybrid of so many different genres. Again, it looks massively fun. Without the restriction of labels, what would you consider the film to be?
HS: I’d say ‘Death House’ is Horror/Action mostly, with a little Sci-Fi thrown in the mix. That’s really what it is. The Death House itself is really more than a prison, it’s where, as you saw from the trailer, it’s where experiences are being done. There’re are some really messed up human hybrid beings. But its a lot of action, and that’s what we wanted. The problem is, is that horror has degenerated into torture porn or nihilistic kind of everything sucks and everything terrible. I mean, I get horror shouldn’t be fun all the time. But I always equate ‘Death House’ this way: It’s the roller coaster through the fun house.
THE CONCLUSION:
The roller coaster through the fun house!!! That sounds amazing. Yet again, Director Harrison Smith does not disappoint. I’ve interviewed a good number of people, and it’s always refreshing when you ask questions to a storyteller who is passionate and knowledgeable. In a lot of ways, it just becomes two people talking kind of like friends. I hope you horror heads enjoyed our conversation.
Look for Part III of our trilogy of terror interview with Death House Director Harrison Smith. With Death House hopefully announcing its distribution soon enough, I’m wishing everyday that the film is here. I know it will be soon than later though, and I can’t wait!
Next: Who Would Be In The Creepy Cast Of Your ‘Death House’?
Stay tuned, as 1428 is, and will be until it’s release, the home of all things Death House. We are working our journalistic hands to the bone to give you the best coverage of the upcoming film. Why? Because we love the production team and we believe in this project.
Death House stars Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, and Dee Wallace. Harrison Smith is directing from a script by Gunnar Hansen and himself. Entertainment Factory is producing, with distribution yet to be announced.
Wishing we Death House in our hands today? Can’t wait to move in its demented dwellings? Sound off in the comment section below and let your other rowdy Death House roommates know what you think.