Harrison Smith’s upcoming film Death House, referred to as “The Expendables of horror”, will wrap principle photography at Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia next week. The film has a cast so impressive it makes you feel as if your head is going to explode. But don’t be mistaken, Death House, which is set to be the first film in a six film franchise, is not some gimmick that relies on cameos to carry the film. It has a great story. And no, there is no Freddy vs Jason scenes or anything like that. The stars play new characters from an original story created by Gunnar Hansen, the actor who played Leatherface in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and written and directed by Smith.
Smith has several great horror films to his credit, including 6 Degrees of Hell,Camp Dread, The Fields and Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard. And if you have read his pieces on “Cynema” on our website you would know that he is serious about the horror genre.
We last published an update on Death House earlier this month announcing that horror icons Tony Todd (Candyman) and Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) have joined the incredible cast, which includes horror legends Danny Trejo (Machete Kills), Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), Dee Wallace (Cujo), Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), Barbara Crampton (We Are Still Here), Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), Cody Longo (Piranha 3D), Bianca Bradey (Wyrmwood), Torsten Voges (31), Camille Keaton (I Spit on Your Grave) and Don Shanks (Urban Legends: Bloody Mary). No other horror film in history has had a cast so impressive.
From the Press Release:
Two federal agents fight their way through nine levels of Hell inside a secret prison known as Death House. A facility-wide prison break break turns their flight into a tour of horrors as they push toward the ultimate evil housed in the lowest depths of the earth.
Produced by Entertainment Factory’s Rick Finklestein and Steven Chase, “Death House”is directed by B, Harrison Smith (Camp Dread, Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Grave Yard, 6 Degrees of Hell, The Fields), Smith wrote the screenplay based on the original story by “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” legend, the late Gunner Hansen.
From the previous Press Release:
Agents Toria Boon and Jae Novak have their own dark pasts, arriving at Death House to tour its levels and observe its denizens first hand as well as the medical and mental experiments of Drs. Eileen Fletcher and Karen Redmane—their depraved experiments date back to the Nazi doctors of World War II. Prison cells are virtual reality holodecks that recreate prisoner environments before they were incarcerated. A special hallucinogenic gas keeps inmates under control. The victims are homeless bused into Death House to play literal victims while killing habits are studied. The results are sick, but only a hint of what goes on here. Hell literally breaks loose inside the facility when an EMP device detonates, killing all power and communication and…releasing every prisoner. Boon, Novak and Fletcher are caught in a race against advancing prisoner hoards led by occultist Neo-Nazi Sieg. The monsters are freed and they’re going down. Boon and Novak’s fight through Death House turns into a house of horrors gauntlet/with the only hope of escape is descending into Hell and the help of The Five Evils. Events culminate in a violent face to face standoff with absolute evil…only to find that they have traveled down a rabbit hole and through a looking glass. Black is white and white is black and the definitions of good and evil no longer apply… Who are the monsters? Who will escape?
“The film is a nod to classic horror but presenting a fresh, new story inspired from Lovecraft and Dante.” Death House is bound to be a new instant horror classic. It will see it’s “…release sometime late in 2016 or early 2017 depending on distribution scheduling.”
For behind the scenes photos, videos and updates follow Death House on Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to also follow director Harrison Smith on Twitter for exclusive photos and information.
