Don’t Go in the House is a 1980 slasher film written and directed by Joseph Ellison. The film follows a man who after suffering an abusive childhood in which his mother punished him by burning him becomes a pyromaniac serial killer who kidnaps and burns alive women who resemble her. Don’t Go in the House in a film about the psychology of a serial killer crating a more realistic portrayal of a psychopathic character.
The film begining by introducing the protagonist metal worker Donny who is a disturbed young man. during the opening scene he watches a worker burn himself at a furnace and doesn’t do anything as other help him for which he gets chased by his boss. His co-worker then tries to connect with Donny as he is worried about him, but Donny is somewhat emotionless. This shows the phycology of a psychopath as an emotionless character without empathy. He hears the voice of his mother in his head commanding him calling him a good boy with shows his disturbed mental state. He lives with his mother who was abusive to him as a child. When he finds out that she died at first, he is sad and in pain but then be becomes excited. He has the psychology of a child playing his music loud, jumping in chairs smoking and damaging a statue. However, phycology he is still under the control of his mother even though the voices in his head day that his free. When he lights a match, it triggers a flashback of when his abusive mother believes he is evil and must be punished burning his arm on the stove his father’s death broke her and now she is burning the evil out of him, this demonstrates the cycle of abuse and the phycology behind him as a character.
Donny has a conversion with his work friend over the phone which showcases his psychopathic phycology as he is detached from the people in his life. This is shown as the voices in his head say he should kill he looks at the weapons in a store with fascination as well as a fire-retardant suit. He then goes to a flower store where he buys some flowers and picks up the flower shop girl after she misses her bus. He then brings her home where he is conflicted but ends up knocking her out and stripping her naked. The phycology behind is psychopathic actions are the shows as a flashback relates to his abusive childhood with is mother burning him on the stove and from this there is shown to be a psychological and symbolic aspect to him wearing a fire-retardant suit and a flame thrower as he burns women alive. Donny ends up picking up another woman stranded on the side of the road and kills her in his house. He tries to get another woman into his truck but freaks her out but eventually ends up doing so and kills her as he introduces her to her mother’s corpse, his mental psychic then snaps even more when he talks to his friend that his scared about his mother. His mother in his head scolds him. This film showcases the idea that Donny is under the spell for his mother and that she is a sense takes control of him, however the voices in his head tell him to be in charge. He then hears the voice of the woman he has killed lighting at him as he scolds than as they don’t know about his abuse and that due to his father leaving him his mother hates him. This shows the broken mind of a killer and the crazy warps psyche of him that stems from abuse. In his psyche he is angered by the lack of connection and attention however he believes that the newest victim is nice. His broken mind is further shown as he believes the corpses are mocking him as he lashes out in anger as he tries to take command and be in charge. His warped mind is further shown as he has fantasies in his head as he tells the proposes about himself being powerful. He then listens to rock music as his own immature act of rebellion as he sleeps like a child.
He then has a dream about fire explosions on the beach like the metal works he works at as the fire runs down a line as molten metal is being formed, he is then dragged away by corpses. This shows that his phycology is fractured about his acts and is express some level of guilt for what he has done he intellectually understands it but cannot have emotion towards it. He then awakens like a child having a nightmare as he is haunted by the priest of his mother and the people he has killed as he sees his mother as a corpse with fire behind her on the stairway saying she is going to get him. Donny the goes to the priest to get holy water where they talk about the devil and evil. He says that his mother believed that people were born evil and that the evil must be burnt away. Donny hates his mother and the priest for seemly having the answers for everything. He shows the priest the burns form his mum his sins and hopes sees burning in hell. She believed that she was burning the evil out of him as he was born from it as she takes revenge on her husband by torturing her son. This shows the physiology of Donny as someone who was taught that he is evil from abuse and therefore acts out the evil that he believes he was destined to become.
He then tries to turn away from evil. He is scared by his mother and begs for her forgiveness as he wants to forgive his mother and forget the past as he gives her a holy water baptism whipping away her sins. He then talks to the corpses saying he will forget the past and that he is going to change as he doesn’t want to hurt them. However, the voices in his head of his mother saying to burn the evil and purify them with flames shows from his because his phycology is messed up as he feels completed and ordered to kill. He then rings up his friend at work Bobby to go out and get some girls as he minds slowly becomes undone, he goes to get clothes as he is awkward but there seems to be a part of him that enjoys the normalcy to an extent. They go to a disco were and picks up some girls despite being social awkward, however as he dances, he has visions of her bloodied and burning as well as a visions from his childhood where he was being burnt on the stove witch makes him attack the girl as her brother attacks him as he flees.
Donny then hears his mother praising him telling she was evil showcasing his warped psyche as he still cares about pleasing his abusive mother. He then picks up two girls and makes up a story about him being jumped and defending himself to impress the two girls and that he was in the military as psychologically he must create these delusions to feel powerful and in control. They go to his house as Bobby goes to father Gerritty to try and talk to Donny as he grabs one of the girls and drags her away. He talks to the corpses as he is in command and says they are not nice and not jealous. He sees himself as in charge and becomes enraged by them saying they took advantage of him and that they will pay the price. This shows the mind of Donny as someone who is mentally psychopathic and wants to exert power and dominance unto others practically women due to him being powerless against the abuse of his mother. Bobby and Father Geritty try and talk to Donny and when he doesn’t answer they break down the door where they find the women chained up in a steel room and rescue them. Father Gerritty then goes looking for Donny who appears in a flame retardant suit with a flame thrower and set him on fire as Bobby puts out the fire and rescues him. This shows the phycology of Donny as somebody who is mentally degraded due to the abuse he has suffered and in his psychopathic tendencies wants to hurt and kill. In the climax Donny goes to his mother’s room were the voices say that he is a lair and that they are disappointed with him. He believes that he did a good thing for them, but they are still not happy, and they won’t forgive him and that they want to be free from him by coming alive and try to kill him as he is not the master as he sets both them and him ablaze. This showcases that the psychopathic behaver is self-destructive and will ultimately lead to death and that no matter what abusive he has suffered that doesn’t mean that he isn’t evil. The film ends with another young boy being abused by his mother who hears voices saying they will help him showing the cycle of abusive and evil will continue forever, and certain people will be destined to live in this hell.
Don’t Go in the House sets itself apart from other 80s slasher films of the era as it dives into the psychology behind the serial killer villain creating a more realistic portrayal of the crazed killer within this genre.
