This House Possessed (1981)

not horrible nor great

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

THIS HOUSE POSSESSED starts off w/ a couple of amorous kids trespassing on the title property. They are hastily moved along by what appears to be supernatural means! The scene switches to rock icon, Gary Straihorn (Parker Stevenson) rocking like nobody's business. Oh no! He collapses on stage! He wakes up in the hospital, screaming like only a rocker can. He needs a rest. Some time away from the rock scene, man. Doctor's orders. His nurse, Sheila (Lisa Eilbacher) massages his rock-hard muscles. Somehow, the possessed house watches all this on TV. Now, that's rock and roll! Miraculously, Gary and Sheila head for the house, though they know not why. On a whim, Gary buys the place, which has a state-of-the-art security system. Gary works on his power ballads, while Sheila massages his forehead. The house watches. A Raggedy Ann doll attacks! Sort of. A scenic bike ride ensues. We're introduced to "The Rag Lady". Back at the hacienda, odd occurrences... occur. When Gary's rockin' "lady friend", Tanya (Shelley Smith) shows up unannounced, the house objects. More power ballads reverberate like curdling mayonnaise, while Sheila cries. A very interesting shower-bath takes place. Love blooms for a rocker and his nurse. Fiery death -finally- results, when a librarian stops by. Send more librarians, says I! Let the mayhem commence! There's a big revelation toward the end, but by then our will to live has ebbed. We are one power ballad away from eternity now. Aloha. Barry Corbin is the Sheriff and Slim Pickins is Gary's manager. Watch for Amanda Wyss (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) in her tiny role at the beginning...

Wow! This is not just another silly TV horror movie, this is a classic! The original story, the great directing, photography and the superb score make this a must-see is you are into haunted house movies. Highly atmospheric! When will this movie get it's proper DVD release, I wonder? Ok, the fire effect is a little bit cheap, but on the other hand, who knows what a tight budget they had for this movie? And to come up with a great movie like this on tight budget makes it even more worth honoring. I wonder where the house is that they used for filming?

A haunted house where the haunting manifests most of the time through the computer that controls nearly every part of the house... fascinating. Yet the haunting is so powerful it can kill/watch/manipulate people miles away, and it seems the force inside the house has feelings, since it's main aim is to bring the person it loves into it's power. The script of this movie is highly original and most of the scenes are really great - the "bloody shower" scene or the very atmospheric scenes at the beginning, when the house watches the people through some monitors at night...just sitting there and waiting... - this movie really gets in your mind and stays there. Throw in a very good performance by the female leads and a convincing performance by the male lead, a really great score that helps much to enhance the thick atmosphere created by the extremely good directing, editing and photography, and here you have it: a really outstanding haunted house movie! One reviewer here criticized the use of "suddenly opening doors" in this movie: Well, yes, at one point a door opens itself, but since the house is alive a lot of stuff moves itself here, so you can't criticize that, unless you want to criticize that the movie doesn't need a lot of blood and gore to create tension... Yes, the fire at the end looks not so good at the indoor shots, but, since most of this seems to be shot outside a studio in a real (great-looking) house, I guess they just couldn't burn this great house down! But just look at that cool "breathing-wall" shot! And maybe they were low on budget, too, and if this is true, then it makes the movie even more greater, since to create such a great movie with a low budget is really a masterpiece!

I remember I saw this movie when I was a child. The directing is very good, as is the photography, the editing and the music. The music is fabulous. The strange synthesizer effects, the usage of a special musical theme for some of the main characters. Even the opening theme from the first minutes of the movie is great!! The story is also very good. This movie is really a must-see if you like haunted-house movies.