‘A new wave of blood gushing suspense’
Houseboat Horror is a 1989 Australian slasher film released to video. It was directed by Kendal Flanagan and Ollie Martin. The latter produced and wrote the screenplay.
Cast:
Alan Dale, Christine Jeston, Craig Alexander, Des McKenna, Gavin Wood, John Michael Howson, Louise Siversen, Peppie D’Or, Stephen Whittaker, Julie Thompson, Mark Muggeridge, Wilkie Collins, David Blackman, Greg Latts, Ian Campbell, Steve Hutchinson, Christopher Young, Don Bridges, Catherine Hill, Sue Hancock, Ruth Yaffe, Lewis Porter, Alisa Meadows, Jason Archer, Sandra ‘Scarlett’ Wilson, Ray Boseley, Ollie Martin, Zlatko Kasumovic.
Plot teaser:
A film crew composed of media types and party animals from the city embark on a road trip to record music videos of a rock band at rural Lake Infinity.
A hitchhiker is shocked by the grisly discovery of her friend’s dead body. Alone and forced to run through dense scrubland to escape an unseen assailant, she fails to evade the killer and is stabbed multiple times.
The visiting rock band with film crew, stop for fuel at a petrol station and is given an uneasy reception by locals who seem wary or suspicious of outsiders. They leave to meet the rest of the crew at a river where houseboats have been hired for transport and accommodation…
Reviews:
“If this flick has anything going for it then it’s the gore. Don’t get me wrong, the fx are cheap as chips but the film delivers in the grue department: heads are split in half with a machete, throats are slit and – surely a first – a woman is killed with a horseshoe! Also, the film is book ended by a couple of relatively effective scenes (a hitchhiker is chased down near the beginning and the killer goes postal during the, er, climax). It’s topped off with some suitably cheesy, and not very effective twists… Justin Kerswell, Hysteria Lives
“This movie really does tick all the miniscule budget horror boxes. Shot on video ?… Check. Chintzy synth score ?… Check. Actresses not nearly hot enough for their sexpot roles?… Check. Animal from Hey Hey It’s Saturday fisting a bongo ?… You better believe it.” Pete Laurie, Bored and Dangerous
“The plot is completely unoriginal, the resident Psycho doesn’t have any screen presence, and the pace is so unrelentingly sombre that you are left wondering when the end credits might finally come up to put the movie out of it’s misery. For those that like a high body count and cheesy gore effects, dive in there’s something in there for you.” Scary Minds
