Don't Go in the House (1980)

41% of users liked it
(619 ratings)

A disturbed man descends into an inferno of madness in this thriller. Donald Kohler (Dan Grimaldi) was raised by an abusive mother who frequently punished him by thrusting his arms into open flame. As an adult, Kohler has developed a malign obsession with fire and works at a garbage incineration… More A disturbed man descends into an inferno of madness in this thriller. Donald Kohler (Dan Grimaldi) was raised by an abusive mother who frequently punished him by thrusting his arms into open flame. As an adult, Kohler has developed a malign obsession with fire and works at a garbage incineration plant while still living at his mother's house. One night, Kohler returns home to discover his mother has died, but after a brief moment of freedom he begins hearing her voice commanding him to punish women who might tempt her errant son. Kohler builds a fireproof room in the house and starts luring women he meets at random to his home, where they're burned alive by the disturbed pyromaniac. Bobby (Robert Osth), one of his few friends at work, tries to help bring Kohler out of his shell and even fixes him up with a date, but an evening at a disco takes an ugly turn, revealing Kohler's deadly obsession. Don't Go In The House was the first film role for Dan Grimaldi, who later went on to play Patsy Parisi on the HBO series The Sopranos. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Joseph Ellison
Written By: Joseph Ellison, Ellen Hammill
Genres: Horror

In Theaters: Mar 28, 1980 Limited
On DVD: Nov 24, 1998

Critic Reviews

Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
The violence it depicts is not nearly as off-putting as the perfunctory misogyny the film evinces, and even that isn't half so obscene as the ridiculously shabby quality of the whole thing.
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
One unforgettable scene. The rest is boredom.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Don't go to this movie.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Lee ?

Psycho fry-'em-up about a disturbed guy luring young women back to his home and blasting them to death with his flame-thrower. Not too bad overall, but there's no gore and most of the kills are off-screen. Though the only on-screen kill is pretty well done and there are a… More
Psycho fry-'em-up about a disturbed guy luring young women back to his home and blasting them to death with his flame-thrower. Not too bad overall, but there's no gore and most of the kills are off-screen. Though the only on-screen kill is pretty well done and there are a couple of nice creepy moments here and there. Well enough made to be deamed watchable for fans of the genre.
Bruce B

This Movie was shown as part of the Quentin Tarantino Film Festival in 1997. Most films on this list are very hard to find on DVD. To be in the Tarantino Film Festival most are over the top. This one was filmed in 1979 and we have a young man who is kidnapping women and burning them… More
This Movie was shown as part of the Quentin Tarantino Film Festival in 1997. Most films on this list are very hard to find on DVD. To be in the Tarantino Film Festival most are over the top. This one was filmed in 1979 and we have a young man who is kidnapping women and burning them to death then dressing them and sitting them in a room with his dead mother. Acting was pretty cheap, best parts were scenes with dead burnt women chasing our main star around the house at the end, makeup on these was outstanding. A good all night drive in flick, For Halloween, naw there is better out there, if your having a pre 1990 festival then go for it. But I can only give it 3 stars.
vieras e

A shameless Psycho rip off, and not even a very good one at that. The burned corpses were oddly papier mache-like and just bleh.
Ed Fucking H

One of the more instantly forgetable video nasties that I've seen thus far. Borrows way to heavily from Psycho and the killer has no depth or even precense, making this unscary and unintresting. Worth seeing if your trying to see all of the nasties at least once, but otherwise… More
One of the more instantly forgetable video nasties that I've seen thus far. Borrows way to heavily from Psycho and the killer has no depth or even precense, making this unscary and unintresting. Worth seeing if your trying to see all of the nasties at least once, but otherwise passable.
Leo L

A favorite!
Patrick D

A decent film that seems alot like the film Christmas Evil and even Psycho. Some parts it this are just hilarious and it doesn't really give you a scare just more like a "wow".