Evil beyond evil...

Witchhouse
1999 | Color | 72 Min | 1.37:1 | R | Stereo | Horror | Full Moon Pictures

Source: VHS 

Director: 

David DeCoteau (as Jack Reed)

Writers: 

Charles Band

Neal Marshall Stevens

Stars: 

Matt Raftery

Monica Serene Garnich

Brooke Mueller

May Day 1998 - Dunwich, Massachusetts. In an old mansion, a teenage party is about to take a terrifying turn... When a group of seven kids is invited over by their strange classmate ELIZABETH for a little "get together," they soon become unwitting participants in a horrific sacrificial ritual. LILITH, Elizabeth's ancestor, has returned from the dead to exact her revenge upon the descendants of those that brutally murdered her in a witch hunt 300 years ago.

So I was trying to watch The Tenant today as it is on my bucket list for this Halloween. Needless to say, I could not do it I'm an hour into it and it's soooooo slow. So being that I was alone today I thought why not hit those thrift shops. Low and behold out of the corner of my eye I spotted the Full Moon logo in the VHS section. I must admit it is still fun to find these on VHS being this was the hay day for the company. Now the cover is pretty beaten up and has a few stickers on the front due to being an ex-rental. That did not stop me from popping this bad boy in once I got home. How did it fair well read on and see?

The movie opens up with a couple setting up the plot and quickly I was kind of bummed. The first shot of the building that the movie will take place in seems to be covered by snow. And yeah I know it was set on May Day, but Witches and snow during the countdown to Halloween did not mix. Low and behold though they go inside to a very Halloween themed decorated house. Now I'm really confused (May Day, Snow, Halloween) but I will get past it bring on the Witch!

The set up starts out strong the first couple walks into the house after nobody answers. They do some exploring that leads to a jump scare when the boy disappeared from the screen to jump back out scaring his girl. What a jerk right, wrong this somehow turns them on and even though they think nobody is around this leads to a somewhat of a sex scene within the first 5 minutes! Of course, they are interrupted by our host that leads into the movie and our first death scene. Holy crap David DeCoteau thanks for not beating around the bush. But then....

Yep, the closest we get to naked people sorry.

....the plot kind of drags for a bit. The cast works together well and plays there roles very well. In fact, Ashley McKinney Taylor plays one of the leads (AKA the bad girl) and is a star player in the movie. So I looked up what else she did and this was about it. She did one other movie, but that was all. For a very pretty actress, I wonder why she stepped away from the trade. Two of the actors kind of felt like they phoned it in or maybe just read the lines as they went so when they died I was kind of happy, but then I read about one of those actors Dave Oren Ward and learned hewas stabbed during a traffic altercation in West Hollywood, and died hours later at a hospital shortly after filming this movie.

The set pieces fit the mood very well and the look of this movie fits in great for this witch revenge Halloween party. The special effects are not to bad for a movie with a $250,000 budget and shot in 8 days. This film was also shot back to back with Retro Puppet Master which I need to watch soon. 

One of the coolest parts of this movie for me happened in the first 10 minutes. This is a party so music is played right? Well in the background you hear this great heavy metal band playing a great tune. The song was so good I had to pause the movie and look into. Sweet baby ray's that is Quiet Riot jamming in the back round with their song "Terrified"!! I remember hearing about this but totally forgot until now. The rest of the soundtrack is pretty cool as well just not as cool as Kevin DuBrow. 

Still think is cool when Catholics save the day!

Ok so this movie is not perfect you see the boom mic as often as the witch, it has a few bad lines and the lighting is way overdone throughout the movie. Really though that is about it for the negative it is not the best Full Moon movie and it is not the worst. This movie does what it is set out to do and entertains us with an original story about a Witch. It has the perfect Halloween story and its hour and twenty minutes run time goes by pretty fast. 

If you are looking for a fun to watch low budget Witch movie this Halloween head over to Full Moon Streaming (Click the Banner on my Sidebar) and check out Witchhouse it is not a bad thing at all.

3 Bloody Brains