The Horrible House On The Hill (AKA: Peopletoys/Devial Times Five) - 1974
(This Films Rates B+ )
After a dramatic car crash with fatalities a bunch of psycho kid survivors rob the dead and escape through the woods. They arrive at large remote chalet where others are staying. The guests welcome them in. The kids are all too smart and deviate for any of the adults, not to mention, all of the adults are really odd characters. The first murder is somewhat painful as it is shown in slow motion for what feels like an eternity, but the gang assault's brutality is very effective. There are some nice kill scenes here and a lot of WTF moments, but the piranha in the bathtub scene is fun. It pushes some boundaries like the seducing of a mentally ill man, cheesy women cat fights with dramatic electronic music (17:30) and the badest kids you have ever seen superseding Bloody Birthday (1981). The script has some funny moments but otherwise rather average. "Not tonight. Harvey, I have a headache and tooth ache a backache and I am expecting the gout. Would a aspirin help?" There are some really great looking winter scenes with plenty of snow to be seen. It is somewhat overlong with filler scenes and the sound quality is pure crap. Some T but pretty minor. This film works on many levels. It has conviction even if some of the story line is somewhat implausible. It does happen to be one of the best killer kid films around.
Review of Peopletoys
