Superstition (1985)

That was an excellent one.

Fresh and Exciting

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the few actually scary horror films made in the 1980s, SUPERSTITION pushes all the right buttons. While the uninspired plot just strings along a series of violent murders, the film manages to convey an atmosphere of terror - and of the unknown. The supernatural entity which commits all the murders is kept masked, enshrouded in darkness for the entire film, making it seem eerie and faceless, and of course all the more frightening.It's rare when an effective film like this comes along, so its not to be taken lightly. As well as the genuine thrills there are also plenty of violent, gory death scenes to liven things up, and despite the low budget these can rival (and better) any modern-day production. From the powerhouse opening where a severed head explodes in a microwave (it has to be seen to be believed) and a boy is literally cut in two by a window, you know that this is going to be an entertaining film. And it sure is.As well as the aforementioned gruesome activities we also get a show-stopping moment where a circular saw breaks, flies across the room to drill through a priest's chest. Another poor victim has a stake hammered through her chest, while a scaly hand takes care of the rest of the cast. The bleakness and pessimism of this film is summoned up by the shock ending in which the final survivor is also killed. The inappropriate musical score is probably the worst thing in this film, but luckily it doesn't intrude and detract from any of the key scenes. Influences from THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and THE OMEN are clear, but kept fresh.None of the actors here are famous, proving that you don't always need a star name to have a good film. For a change I liked a lot of characters in this film, and nobody was too wooden. The most engaging of the lot is the gruff detective who looks like a cross between J.T. Walsh and Ned Beatty. The hero is quite bland but likable, and also the father of the family living in the house, who himself is a reverend, is believable: he drinks, and when he hears his wife screaming hesitates in fear before trying to rescue her. The realistic reactions of a man in this situation.Still, there's no need to worry about the quality of acting when you have people hanging in lift shafts, severed arms grabbing the legs of a young swimmer, and a man impaled by broken glass. On top of this there's a suspenseful finale where the sole survivor is menaced by the silhouette of a monstrous witch. These factors help to make SUPERSTITION an effective, gory, frightening and above all enjoyable shocker.

Brought to us by producer Ed Carlin and co-producers Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna, who gave us haunted house horrors The Evil and The Changeling, Superstition is yet another supernatural offering set in and around a creepy old property. This time around, the spooky shenanigans are accompanied by a whole handful of creative, bloody deaths, and lots of jump scares (probably in an attempt to draw in the slasher crowd)—a good job since the plot is an often illogical mish-mash of hoary old horror clichés.In 1692, a witch is executed—drowned in a pond, and trapped there with a crucifix. For almost three hundred years, the evil woman's spirit is the cause of violent deaths in and around the nearby church-owned property. When Reverand George Leahy (Larry Pennell) and his family move into the old house, the witch soon starts to cause trouble, now even more powerful thanks to the removal of the crucifix during the dredging of the pond. Reverand David Thompson (James Houghton) discovers the truth behind the killings and tries to put an end to the witch once and for all.The film opens in terrific style with a juicy double death scene: having played a prank on a courting couple (thereby providing the film with the first of many jump scares), a pair of pranksters meet their fate in the creepy property, one being decapitated, his severed head exploding inside a microwave oven, the other getting chopped in two by a sash window. Several other macabre set-pieces follow in quick succession, including the hanging of an electrician in an elevator shaft and the death of a priest, a circular saw blade spinning into his chest and exiting through his back.Also adding to the fun: Sheryl and Ann (Maylo McCaslin and Heidi Bohay), sexy teenage daughters of Reverand Leahy, going down to the pond for a spot of fun in the sun (wearing bikinis, naturally), only for one of them to be grabbed around the ankle by a severed hand; a flashback to the trial of the witch that allows for some silly Exorcist style guttural utterings, a few cool facial bladder effects, and the sight of a priest being crushed in a wine press; some memorable visuals with impressive lighting effects (somewhat reminiscent of Argento); Reverand Thompson's surprised expression every time he uses the crucifix to open (or blow up) a locked door; George having his face lacerated by flying shards of glass from an exploding mirror; Sheryl getting nailed through the head with a big spike; and blonde daughter Ann (Heidi Bohay) running around in skimpy silk night-gear.

"Superstition" is a solid little shocker from a decade that certainly didn't lack for quality horror. Fans of the genre are sure to find it enjoyable, as it possesses an extremely potent atmosphere and very high body count. It was an early credit for producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, head honchos of the Carolco company which churned out its fair share of entertaining genre pictures in the 1980s. The story deals with a hideous, vengeance crazed disciple of Satan who was supposedly executed in the 17th century but who now lives on to terrorize all who come to a particular country house and rural area. It begins with a bang; its opening set piece ends with the ingenious chopping in half of one poor schmuck and the decapitated head of another exploding in a microwave. There's also an ingenious kill later on involving a runaway saw blade. Hardcore horror lovers will be pleased with the relish director James W. Roberson brings to these sequences, as well as the unrelenting sense of doom and gloom. The film is very much wholesale slaughter and there is absolutely no guarantee of any characters' survival. Things start out grim and just keep getting grimmer. Of course, there are still some moments that lighten the mood a *little*, such as one sexy young woman snapping at another, "Shut your bitchy mouth!" when the latter complains about their father. One great thing that the film has is a European sort of flavour, especially in its extended flashback sequences showing the fate of the witch, and the curse she would place on all. Gore effects, cinematography, and production design are all excellent. And the music score, reminiscent of the work that rock band Goblin did for Dario Argento and others, is impressive. As one might expect, the acting, while not bad, ultimately takes a back seat to everything else. James Houghton is bland but likable enough in the role of the heroic young priest, Albert Salmi is in fine grumpy form as a local detective, Larry Pennell and Lynn Carlin are good as a drunken minister and his wife, Jacquelyn Hyde (wonderful name) and Carole Goldman are both memorable as a doomsayer and the witch, respectively, and Billy Jayne of other genre fare like "Cujo" and "Bloody Birthday" can be seen as the ministers' son. This is genuinely spooky and nasty stuff and definitely fun. It's very well paced and has one of the more entertaining wrap-ups this viewer has seen. Well worth watching. Eight out of 10.

***SPOILERS** Nowhere as effective as it was back in 1982 when it was first released, in being banned in countries like the UK, "Supersition' still gives off a number of jolts to its audience in that almost everyone in the film ends up suffering a gruesome death by the time it's over.The standard horror movie plot has to do with this creepy old house that was involved some 300 years ago in the execution-by drowning-of its owner accused witch and Satanist Elondra Sharack. Over the years anyone who lived in the Sharack house who wasn't a Sharack family member met a horrific death. Now with a new Reverend-Rev. Thompson-in town looking to disprove that the Sharack House is haunted by the Devil him or herself the horrors that were dormant there for so long came back! And came back with a vengeance.Afer a few horrific deaths in and around the Sharack House were then brought back to olden times-the summer of 1692-to when the house got cursed by it's owner Elowdra Sharack who was declared a witch by the local priest Pike. After Elowdra's execution Pike and the townspeople who participated in it started to get second thoughts about what they did. That's because most of them ended up getting mysteriously killed with Pike's church being burned down moments after Elowdra's execution! As time went on anyone who lived in the Sharack House ended up meeting a terrifying death there with the exception of Elowdra's most recent descendant Elvira and her mute and brain damaged son Arien who were immune from her curse.***SPOILERS*** Playing with fire Rev. Thompson had the Leahy family headed by Rev. John move into the Sharack House until he could find them a permanent place to stay in town. If Rev. Thompson didn't know it at the time he soon found out that by having the Leahys move into the cursed Sharack House he in fact condemned them to death!One of the goriest and blood splattered horror flicks to come out in the 1980's "Superstition" also had one of the most effective exorcism scene in it, conducted by Rev. Pike on Elonda Sharack, that was far more convincing and believable, with the dubbing perfectly matching Elonda's lips, then even in the the movie " The Exorist" itself!