One of the more memorable films in the long line of "Don't..." horrors that plagued the late 70's and early 80's, Joseph Ellison's infamously misogynistic drive in favourite delivers the sleaze but lacks a certain flare(Pun intended).
In an obvious nod to psycho, the film centralizes around paranoid mummy's boy Donny Kohler(Dan Grimaldi)who's job working at a local incineration plant has left him with an unhealthy obsession with fire. We also learn in an early flashback that his mother held his arms over the kitchen stove whenever she felt he was doing wrong.
All this back story is simply an excuse to lead the film up to it's most notorious moment. In it's defence Don't go in the house has one of slasher cinema's more demented and impressive moments in which Donny chains up and burns an innocent florist he has offered a ride home. The special effects used during this scene are so well done it not only makes the rest of the film seem quite lame in comparison but apparently highly distressed the cast and crew when watched back after it was originally shot. The film tries to make the most of its budgetary restrictions in a similar way to Abel Ferrara's Driller Killer and is helped greatly by it's Saturday night fever-esque disco soundtrack. However, it's a bleak and at times uncomfortable viewing experience and probably not one to be repeated often. The downbeat tone and dreamlike direction add to Donny's lonely character, though at no point does he come across as a particularly likable character, his unusual relationship with his mother also pushes the film into strange territories that may explain why it's still unavailable uncut in the UK. Though I'm fairly sure the reason the prudish BBFC censors didn't like this one is because of that one particular sequence that really does look a little too realistic.
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