Al
most a year ago to the day I received an advanced screener of Night of the Dolls, the previous feature released by Daniel Murphy and HMM Films. My review of that title was mixed to positive, so I was more than willing to check out House of Whores, Murphy’s latest feature film…even if it is a little, how should I say, outside of my comfort zone. It looks all sorts of fucked up and was shot, edited and is getting a first run on DVD very soon – all in less than a year’s time – and does that mean House of Whores is short on quality? Read my review below to find out.
House of Whores is written and directed by Tom Komisar and Daniel Murphy along with cinematographer Paul Arnone. These three gentlemen also starred in this flick alongside Lindsey McIntire, RJ Cecott, Maella Cai Vane, Linda Schrader and Nurse Hatchet. House of Whores follows an independent director of pornography who is about to film his first movie, “Double Fisting,” when three insane clown mask wearing psychos break in and put on a movie of their very own.
As I hinted above, House of Whores is a sick, sexually violent independent horror film up there with titles like I Spit on Your Grave and The Last House on the Left. For some reason, I can watch basically any horror film of any kind and not be bothered, but there’s something about rape that always leaves me disturbed. So, I guess in my case House of Whores was able to do what the directors set out to do – disturb people. Only problem is, House of Whores is not your typical film about rape because there is no revenge here. No moment of “You violated me. Now look what I have in store for you.” This is pretty much just about an hour of three women and one man being tortured, brutally by insane clowns wearing suits. Cheese graters and drills to the genitals, swallowing urine and dirty sanchezs with gore and comedy (yes, some comedy) mixed in. I feel like I need a shower after watching this one…
I understand that House of Whores was filmed on a very low budget, so I can’t criticize it for not being 100% polished to perfection. I will say, though, that Daniel Murphy and anyone filming with HMM Films have improved since their last feature, Night of the Dolls. The cinematography and acting was much better here and the special effects looked a notch or two better as well. The audio production was definitely the low point, but I think having it off in a few places was due to the creators aiming for a more old fashioned, grindhouse kind of vibe. My only big problem is that the movie is simply not long enough. It’s an hour in length, but 25% of that length is opening credits and a bloody stripfest from Nurse Hatchet. If anything, I think House of Whores would be better suited as a short film, with trailers, music videos and Nurse Hatchet’s strip tease included on the DVD as special features.
Disturbing, demented and with double D dingers… House of Whores delivers on whatever the Hell it set out to do. It’s not going to be for everyone, but I’d say people who enjoy rape-revenge flicks, grindhouse flicks and snuff films will get a kick out of it. FINAL SCORE: 7.5 out of 10
