Die phantastische Geisternacht

This is an unknown gem of a movie that has some real chills. Like much of it's genre it shows too much at the end and falls apart while fumbling for an (unsatisfying) explanation of the events. Overall, definitely recommended over the "Scream" rip-offs or "Exorcist" rip-offs of the late 70s and early 80s. If it were released today it would probably be a modest box office success.

Look for some conceptually innovative supernatural activity!

Troubled Iris seeks the help of a paranormal psychologist/university professor who himself can't let go of his deceased wife and thus is about to be fired, to investigate hauntings at her cabin.

I saw this film on Instant Netflix under the title "Secret Screams", but no matter which moniker the movie goes by it's awful nonetheless. the acting is sub-par, the little special effects the film uses are hokey even for '80's standards, nothing really happens for a good 2/3rds of the movie and the plot is simply a jumbled mess. chalk this one up as an exercise in tedium.

My Grade: D-

Renée Soutendijk was a very popular actress in The Netherlands and Belgium, where I grew up during the 80s and early 90s, and a beloved sex-symbol thanks to her roles in local cult-classics like "Spetters" and "De Vierde Man". At the end of the 80s, she aspired an international career, but it was over very quickly, and I still don't fully understand why, because the few movies she made in the US were interesting; like this "Grave Secrets" and the Sci-Fi thriller "Eve of Destruction". She's a good actress, and her English is almost completely accent-free, which can't be said from most Dutch performers trying their luck in Hollywood.

That being said, "Grave Secrets" is a sorely lacking and disappointing horror. Especially for being produced in the late 80s, the film doesn't nearly deliver enough in the gore and sleaze department, and this despite numerous shocking & controversial themes in the plot (incest, rape, baby murder, ...). The main and obvious problem is that all the good stuff is saved up until the final 10-15 minutes. The first 70 minutes are far too dull, vague, and bloodless. The most exhilarating thing happening for a long time is a ghostly force throwing a raw egg in the face of paranormal investigator Paul Le Mat, go figure! The climax is fun, with a glorious over-the-top role for stunt man Bob Herron, but it comes too little too late to fix everything.

Grave Secrets is a fairly routine paranormal mystery with some dated ghostly special effects, but it does develop into a deliciously twisted tale towards the end, so hang in there: Iris Norwood (Renée Soutendijk) is bothered by spooky occurrences at her bed and breakfast home, so she enlists the help of paranormal expert David Shaw (Paul Le Mat). Staying at the B&B for a few days, David witnesses the strange events first hand and slowly unravels the mystery behind the haunting - it transpires that Iris is being terrorised by the headless ghost of her abusive father Kurt, who raped her and made her pregnant, and then buried her baby alive after she gave birth!!! That's some seriously unhinged stuff right there!

Since much of the film is rather sedate, with the spooky stuff limited to floating books and records, patience is definitely required, but there is a modicum of fun to be had along the way with David's dippy fashion disaster PA Darla (Olivia Barash), who tries to attract her boss's attention by bending over in front of him in a short skirt, and with David Warner as a medium, who conducts a seance in the haunted house. The final act finally delivers the more demented stuff, as David and Iris follow Kurt's ghost to find out where he buried baby Brian; however, they must do battle with her zombified father when a local guy inadvertently reunites the spook with his missing head! Naff '90s visual FX abound.

This movie begins with a woman named "Iris Norwood" (Renee Soutendijk) driving a car with an older man sitting beside her and he is apparently in some pain. He suddenly attacks her and she escapes by leaping out of the fast-moving car just before it crashes into a large tree. Three months later a college professor by the name of "David Shaw" (Paul Le Mat) is lecturing his students about a paranormal experience with a spirit of the dead when he notices a visitor leaving his class at the very end. The visitor just happens to be Iris. Eventually, David and Iris meet and she tells him that the bed & breakfast that she owns is haunted. What then transpires is a ghost story which starts off slow but builds in intensity until the very end. Unfortunately, the last 10 minutes or so of the film has too many details thrown in without enough detail for the audience to assimilate. Now, this movie definitely has some good horror mixed with a little comedy here and there but again the ending could have been handled better. Slightly below average.