"Horror House" is a very risqué comedic horror show that adds the right amount of creepy, funny, grotesque, and sometimes a touch of heartwarming moments. Our hosts are none other than the blue, childish, troll-like vampire Count Funghoula (David Black) and the beautiful, devious, and terrifyingly feisty succubus Mistress Boobiyana (Tritia DeViSha). Our ghoulish hosts guide us through different short stories from different filmmakers across Australia, while terrorizing one another through different antics. We even get to see our ghouls star in some of these short films. Different music videos from Darkness Visible, Black's band, also appear at the end of each episode.
The collection of short films was not limited to anything but having a horror element in it. There were spoof-like horror clips, psychological clips, longer story-like clips, short and impactful clips, and others that continued in future episodes. The variety is enough to keep us entertained between the relentless and sometimes violent banter between Count Funghoula and Mistress Boobiyana, pranking Funghoula endlessly, and who is always prepared to dismember or castrate "Fungy". Some notable clips involved a vampire geisha, a succubus stalking a motel, a twist on Little Red Riding Hood, a woman caught in a horrific time loop, and zombie dragons. The dragons were multiplying as they formed and would protrude from the faces of infected people nearby. Derek McDermott: Outback Monster Adventures is similar to the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, helping people with problems with different creatures.
One of the longer films featured an old man and a cop in a small town. The cop advises this old man fishing that he shouldn’t eat the fish he catching because he doesn’t trust it’s chemically safe. Leaving for the night, the cop is driving in the desert when a kangaroo is in his way. Refusing to move, the cop tries to scare the kangaroo off the road and, in turn, is attacked Cujo style by it and other kangaroos in the area. The next day, the old man by the river comes across the cop, but the old man doesn’t even recognize him. The one I especially liked was "The Miner". It was more of a lengthy film, but the storytelling was great by showing a past day and present day point of view. I thought "The Miner" in particular was a great short film stand-alone, and my favorite I was introduced to on this show so far.
Overall, "Horror House" combines the best elements of a slapstick-Elvira hosting "SNL" essence meets "Freddy's Nightmares" vibe that’ll produce some nostalgia and create new memories. I liked the use of special effects, like words and blood that popped up for certain actions. There were also different cues used to really make it feel like an environment to take you away from the world for about a half hour at a time. I loved the quality of the production, like the use of effects used such as the black border to help it feel like a television set, and different lighting that was used throughout the episodes. It’s also obvious they’ve really started to find their footing with these characters, and I’m eager to see what each character will evolve into!
Check out the latest episodes below and stay tuned for our interview with David Black!
