Dirk V
Reviewer

      Product placement in movies has reached a new, all-time low. “House of the Dead”, the horror film based on a Sega video game, is so commercially driven, it is sickening. What otherwise would have been a decent horror film has been ruined by the creators' attempt to market its video game origins.
 
      The plot of the film is basic to the horror genre. A group of teens are throwing a large party on a deserted island. Once the beer starts flowing and the boobs start showing, the teens find out they are not alone. The island is crawling with zombies intent on killing every one. A small group of survivors band together to fight the zombies, and attempt to make it to safety.
 
      “House of the Dead” is really not that bad. It has poor acting, which is to be expected from a film of this type, and plenty of boobs and violence—although it does lack gratuitous amounts of blood. But none of these factors deter from what you would expect from a film of this type—a cheap, horror flick.
 
      Product placement, however, ruins what could have been an enjoyable horror film. At the beginning of the island party, a large Sega sign is displayed above the DJ booth. While this recognition of the films roots as a Sega video game are not too blatant, later sequences from the film are just nauseating. As the film progresses, segments of the video game are used in the film. Scenes from the video game will be used during transitions in the film, and during battle sequences. And, when a main character dies, the scene is reminiscent of an end game in video games.
 
      These attempts to promote the video game in the movie are more disgusting than any of the gory special effects. Without these video game segments in the film, it would have been enjoyable. However, the decision to use them cheapens the film. It offends the intellect of the viewer, and reduces the film to an hour and a half commercial.