House of the Dead: The Funny Cut (DVD)

When I first saw House of the Dead a few years back, I thought it was already funny. Attempts to purposely make it humorous fall flatter than a half-rotten zombie dropped from on high. But for those who are Boll completists, or if you're just morbidly curious, House of the Dead: The Funny Cut is probably worth a look.

The story, such as it is, remains intact on the director's reworked version: a group of horny students whose mothers dress them funny all hop aboard a ferry for an exclusive rave… that's haunted from the grave! Apparently nobody in the group took Spanish 101, because they don't get their first clue that a place called "Isla Del Muerte" might not be a good place to party.

I think the original version of the movie has a certain charm because its goofy, but wasn't really made to be an out-and-out comedy. This time around, the filmmakers are trying far too hard to make the audience laugh with spit-takes, flubs, and even pop-up videos with sound effects (but at least the sound effects aren't misspelled). Just imagine if George W. Bush somehow found himself writing and producing an episode of I Love Zombie Movies, and you might get an inkling of what you're in for here. It's not fun(ny).

The cast includes Jurgen Prochnow and Clint Howard with a special appearance by breast augmentation specialist Siegfried Wienermeister, plus the most American Asian chick you will ever see, Liberty, played by Kira Clavell. Speaking of seeing, you'll be getting even more of an eyeful naked boobs in House of the Dead: The Funny Cut (and if Dr. Wienermeister provided the implants for this flick, it's not his wisest advertisement).

There isn't any word from the credited screenwriters — Dave Parker, who's also a director and whose movies I have not yet seen; and Mark Altman, who wrote a couple of low-budget flicks I liked [Free Enterprise, Room 6] — so it's unknown as to how the pair feels about the "new dialogue" touted on the DVD's back cover.

The director commentary and behind-the-scenes moments are pretty amusing and it does look, at last, as though it was a lot of fun to make this movie.

On the DVD:

New audio commentary with Uwe Boll

Behind the House – Anatomy of the Zombie Movement Featurette

Stacked for ZOM BAT – the Sexy Babes of House of the Dead

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