This is going to be one of those "Don't watch it unless you absolutely have to" movies. To be fair, it was not as bad stink-fests like Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Or Frankenfish. Unlike the really bad horror flops, House the Dead was not unpleasant to watch. You didn't feel like you lost 1.5 hours of your life. Or worry about recurring nightmares of giant man-eating fish. In fact, House of the Dead was a typical horror movie focusing on the escape from hungry zombie scenario. So why avoid it, you ask?

Well, let me run through the basic plot-line. Bunch of young folk arrive at a rave fest on a secluded island. Unfortunately the early-bird party-goers have all been killed or maimed or zombified by the undead who incidentally were roaming the pathways of this island. Well, not all of them; some folks made it through the initial gnawing attack to head up the second battle front with the new arrivals. By the way, there is a coast guard and boat captain in there somewhere and these guys provide the much needed weapons to fight off the zombies. And boy, there were many of them. I take it these numbers are probably due to the countless years of zombifying visiting ravers and such. And so, it does not represent the actual number of ravers who showed up for this one big event (let me take a moment to worry that there might be that many ravers out there). Well, folks keep getting potted off by zombies and eventually, there are two left. Question is, can they fight off the big boss at the end?

So what's to dislike, you say? In a nutshell, I hated the music and the direction style for the action bits. By the way, when I first started watching this movie, I had no clue that it was based on an arcade game. Alright, so now I know this helpful little fact; I still don't like the movie. But it does explain a lot of the scenes which would have been weird drawn out fight sequences. Take that lengthy battle in the graveyard close to the seedy hut. Everyone had to make a run for it, through a throng of zombies and arrive safely at the hut. Guns blazing and all that. This was a really long scene with painful Matrix-style action bits (you know, slow motion shot of bullets, rapid camera rotation on person, etc). The fact that rave music was constantly blaring out in the background did not help. This was the turning point when I started rooting for the zombies. Really, someone shut down that music. I'm with the zombies on this one. Poor guys probably had to suffer through years of duff-duff music on that island; maybe they just wanted to be left alone, to listen to sounds of the waves or something. 

Then there were the numerous cut scenes from the arcade game. Now it makes sense that the movie-makers were referring to the popular game series and doing a tribute, in their own little way. How sad that, in the entire time I watched it, I was feeling bad about the poor quality animations. After all, it didn't look like a big budget movie. One positive aspect to this movie is the promotion of the game. That might not have been intentional but, as someone who was unaware of the game series, I am now quite interested in checking out the actual arcade game itself. After watching the movie, you can honestly see why certain aspects (e.g. incessant zombie attacks, underground tunnels, isolated island) can be rather appealing for a fast-paced zombie-based game.