House Call, Beware of Knocking

Mormons...Jehovah's Witnesses...those damn burglar alarm companies...the volunteer firefighters...Boy Scouts selling wrapping paper...and you can think of dozens more. They knock on our door, uninvited, and ask to be let in. Then they want money. Many of us won't open the door, and some of us fantasize about what we'd like to do to these buggers. Open the door brandishing a shotgun...or maybe, just maybe, have something in our basement lab waiting for them. Hence a 12 minute horror short by Joseph Sorrentino (writer) and Daniel Brown (director), "House Call."

Forget about "NO SOLICITING" signs. They don't work and everyone knows it. George (Kerwin Gonzalez) knows this and his job requires him to knock on doors and sell homeowners on methods to make their homes more energy efficient. George has never read this blog, because if he did he would know that one-third of the human race is totally insane. Enter a homeowner (Barry Tangert)...he'll invite George in to hear his spiel. Uh oh, our mysterious homeowner isn't interested in ways to make his house more energy efficient.

What happens next? Hah! Total horror! You'll divert your eyes and pray that the aforementioned filmmakers won't show everything...they will. At this point we need to give credit to the special make-up f/x dame, Lisa Sorrentino. George Romero had Tom Savini, and Daniel Brown has Mrs. Sorrentino. As the plot quickly spirals into extreme horror, we are treated to some classic one-liners. For example, when George calls the homeowner insane, the response is, "My dear departed parents called me insane once...just once...then I put them in canning jars." Poetry!

This 12 minute film that will have you covering your eyes will also have you laughing as some witty and comical dialog is extolled, especially by our antagonist. If you intend to allow your children to knock on doors collecting for their travel baseball team...well...do them a favor and watch "House Call" first. Shocking and extreme will fill the screen for 12 minutes, so if you are into subtlety and symbolism...well, watch this film anyway, its a goody.