Devil Times Five - Horrible House on the Hill

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "People Toys" or "Devil Times Five")

directed by Sean McGregor (and David Sheldon)
USA 1974

The Blu-ray of Devil Times Five is reviewed HERE

A bus overturns in the snow with the only survivors being the five child passengers (Leif Garret, Tierre Turner, Dawn Lyn, Tia Thompson, and Gail Smale) en route to an asylum. They are unwittingly taken in by a collection of back-stabbing and inebriated wealthy vacationers in an isolated cabin. When the dead bodies start turning up, the remaining adults must face off with the pint-sized maniacs (who come up with some creative ways of killing off the adults like a bath full of piranhas). While it lacks the emotional resonance of Narcisco Ibanez Serrador's WHO CAN KILL A CHILD?, DEVIL TIMES FIVE is a disturbing film for featuring some assured child actors perpetrating R-rated violence against some recognizable TV and stage adult actors (including Shelley Morrison who viewers may recognize as the South American maid Rosario on "Will & Grace"). A release of Jerry Gross' Cinemation Industries (who distributed everything from Joe Sarno's artful erotic INGA to Lucio Fulci's DAWN OF THE DEAD inspired gore-fest ZOMBI), DEVIL TIMES FIVE does not shy away from grindhouse level brutality.

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 1974

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DVD Review: Code Red DVD - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Code Red DVD Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:28:36
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.45 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Code Red DVD Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary with Joan McCall, Mickey Blowitz, Dawn Lyn, and David Sheldon moderated by Darren Gross • Poster Gallery (0:35) • Alternate Main Title Sequence (4:3; 0:13) • Interviews with Tierre Turner, Joan McCall, Dawn Lyn, Michael Blowitz, & David Sheldon (4:3; 21:58) • Original Trailer (16:9; 2:15) • Easter Egg (extras menu): Tierre Turner Interview Outtake (4:3; 4:05) • Easter Egg (extras menu): Joan McCall Interview Outtake (4:3; 1:50) • Easter Egg (setup men): David Sheldon Interview Outtake (4:3; 1:05) • DON'T GO IN THE WOODS trailer (4:3; 1:07) • LOVE ME DEADLY trailer (4:3; 0:56) • SCHOOL GIRLS IN CHAINS trailer (4:3; 2:03) • SWEET SIXTEEN trailer (4:3; 2:03) • BEYOND THE DOOR trailer (4:3; 0:27) • SECRETS OF SWEET SIXTEEN trailer (4:3; 2:15) DVD Release Date: May 6th, 2008 Amaray Chapters 12

Comments

The Blu-ray of Devil Times Five is reviewed HERE

Once again, Code Red has given the kind of special edition treatment to a marginal title that puts most larger companies to shame. We get a commentary with co-director David Sheldon, producer Mickey Blowitz, and two of the actors, interviews with them plus Tierre Turner, the trailer, and an alternate title sequence (the print used for this DVD bears the title THE HORRIBLE HOUSE ON THE HILL while the more familiar DEVIL TIMES FIVE title card is included as an extra). There are three easter eggs (2 on the extras menu and 1 on the setup menu which are outtakes from the interview featurette). The anamorphic dual layer transfer looks excellent given the limitations of the production.

The film's troubled production history (the first cut ran less than an hour so the producers had to get together and write additional scenes and bring in a new director to direct them in Los Angeles - one sepia-tinted attack scene in post production slow motion drags out for five minutes was an intentional stylistic effect but may also have been an instance of unacknowledged padding) is detailed in both the featurette and the audio commentary (producer Mickey Blowitz is more frank than McCall or Shelden about the contributions of the original director while the two former child actors recall not having been aware of the problems with the original shoot).

- Eric Cotenas

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