Fantastic Fest 2009

Director Jake West Live in Person!

EVIL ALIENS director Jake West finally gets a budget and creates DOGHOUSE, a clever twist on the typical "travelers run into a seemingly abandoned town and then the blood comes" horror tale. The film is certainly about travelers and contains a shit-ton of blood, but it also balances well between horror and comedy, a precarious tight-wire act that has only been successfully accomplished by a dozen or so films in the history of the genre.

Basically the set up is this: A group of long-time mates gather together as one of their number Vince (SNATCH's Stephen Graham) is headed into a nasty divorce. Post school life has been rough on them all as we see in an opening montage that shows us the horrific relationships they've all seem to have gotten in to. Those unmarried are pathetic, but those that are in committed relationships are far worse off.

So the battle of the sexes begins. Nobody is pure and innocent. The women are all controlling superficial witches and all the guys are either sleaze-balls or lacking any type of backbone.

Graham is the closest to an innocent, especially when compared to his chauvinist buddy Neil (played by SEVERENCE's Danny Dyer) and it's his misfortune that kicks off a stag trip to a remote English village that's rumored to be overflowing with women. They come to find it is, but that's not a good thing when a mysterious disease has swept through this little town turning every female in its wake into flesh-hungry and murderous cannibals.

Once our heroes are in this town and the shit hits the fan the pace doesn't let up... and neither does the gore for that matter. The make-up gags are great, each cannibal woman with her own personality... be it the LARP-ish woman with a broadsword or the hairstylist double-fisting sharp scissors we get to recognize these evil women. And if you're anything like me you're going to feel really bad for finding some of them pretty hot despite their zombie-like appearance... or maybe because of it. Or maybe I'm just weird.

West wraps up comedy, horror, suspense and gore into a fun package and has cast it with great British character actors resulting in a very rare beast... a horror comedy that manages to actually be funny while dumping bucket after bloody bucket of chunky entrails on our hapless lads. (Eric Vespe)