The House of Lost Souls Blu Ray Review (Cauldron Films)

The House of Lost Souls (aKa La Casa Delle Anime Erranti and Ghosthouse 3) is a 1989 Italian horror television film written and directed by Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox, Eaten Alive!, Nightmare City, Ironmaster, The House of Witchcraft, Black Demons, Hitcher in the Dark, Nightmare Beach, Spasmo, Eyeball, Almost Human, Man from the Deep River, and Ghosthouse). It was produced by Massimo Manasse (Delirium, The Sweet House of Horrors, The House of Clocks, and Brivido Giallo) and Marco Grillo Spina (Delirium, The Sweet House of Horrors, The House of Clocks, and You’ll Die at Midnight). It’s from the Houses of Doom and Ghosthouse franchises. A group of young geologists which includes Kevin (played by: Joseph Alan Johnson from The Slumber Party Massacre, Iced, and Berserker) and Carla (played by: Stefania Orsola Garello from The Flesh and The Devil, King Arthur, Nora, and Heaven) get stuck staying at a dilapidated old hotel when their trip is delayed by some dangerous weather. This end ups being a very wrong turn as the hotel comes alive with the vengeful spirits of the dead. They are hell-bent on taking their head chopping revenge against the living. They want no one to survive in The House of Lost souls!!!! The Houses of Doom franchise were all based on haunted houses and their unfortunate visitors that go through hell. This Italian horror series includes various television movies all made in 1989. Cult director Umberto Lenzi was responsible for half of them. The House of Lost Souls kinda reminds me of The Shining. You can see the influence of it all over of this one. I think it’s honestly the most entertaining and fun production from all of The Houses of Doom films. It was much better than I thought it would be. It has a quality score from Goblin’s Claudio Simonetti (Dawn of the Dead, Demons, Tenebrae, Opera, and Suspiria) that really creates a vibe here. The script is crazy and it gets more chaotic as it goes on. Both Joseph Alan Johnson and Stefania Orsola Garello are actually pretty good as the leads in The House of Lost Souls. These two just can’t catch a break during all of this. The supporting cast includes Matteo Gazzolo (Body Puzzle), Laurentina Guidotti (Specters), Gianluigi Fogacci (Disperatamente Giulia), Hal Yamanouchi (The Wolverine), Licia Colò (Le Finte Bionde), Costantino Meloni (Da Grande), Charles Borromel (Absurd), Fortunato Arena (The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist), Massimo Sarchielli (National Lampoon’s European Vacation), Giulio Massimini (Delirium), and Beni Cardoso (Barbed Wire Dolls). The special fx and gore are really good for being the 80’s. It had some nasty and gruesome deaths from artist Giuseppe Ferranti (Voices from Beyond, Demonia, The Crawlers, The House of Witchcraft, Touch of Death, Aenigma, Don’t Open Till Christmas, Rats: Night of Terror, Nightmare City, Cannibal Ferox, and A Cat in the Brain). It has a bizarre atmosphere but it actually works for something like this. It has some random villains but they are creepy. This definitely has strong replay value to it with all it’s insanity. It’s dated but I personally love the 80:s so it takes you back to those times, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Cauldron Films! This 1080p (1.66:1) unrated transfer is from a brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative. This is a massive upgrade compared to all of it’s older releases. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono and Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks on the disc. The music definitely stands out when it comes to the audio for this. It has so many crazy scenarios that are elevated by it. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the madness is elevated, and the music has a great boost to it. It has English and English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with Samm Deighan. She shows her appreciation for the Italian director here. She chats about him doing a variety of different genres during his career. She brings up that he never got the appreciation like Fulci and Argento. This is a solid track from a fan that knows his work and values what he created for the screen. It has an additional “Audio Commentary” with Rod Barnett and Adrian Smith. They chat about the La Casa franchise which included Evil Dead overseas. They talk about the director pushing the limits for a television feature. They claim each production had the budget of $700,000. There’s lots of detailed information here. It has the almost 19 minute “Working with Umberto”. It’s an interview with FX artist Elio Terribili. He chats about the difference between digital and film. He talks about working in the 80’s. He brings up having to deal with other crew members besides the director while doing special fx. It has the little over 14 minute “The House of Rock”. It’s an interview with composer Claudio Simonetti. He chats about his work with Goblin. He talks about some of the bigger projects that he worked on back in the day. He brings up working with some of the best Italian film makers. He goes over his collaboration with Umberto Lenzi. It has the little over 52 minute “The Criminal Cinema of Umberto Lenzi”. It’s a career spanning interview from 2001. He chats about lots of his work. He talks about his beginnings and early stuff. He goes over all the different sub-genres that he tackled over the years. It has various video clips from his films here. All of these interviews are in Italian with English subtitles. It was originally only available in the out of print “The Houses of Doom” limited edition box set from Cauldron Films. Luckily, they re-released all of the films with their own home video release. It’s available everywhere right now including DiabolikDVD.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!