Witchcraft IV: The Virgin Heart

My review was written in August 1992 after watching the movie on Academy video cassette.

"Witchcraft IV' is one of the best in this popular home video series, with an alluring central performance by pinup Julie Strain. This patented combination of sex and horror will get a brisk response.

For the third film in a row, Charles Solomon (who had a small role as part of Jim Garrison's team in "JFK") plays lawyer Will Spanner, who suppresses his warlock nature until called back into action by adversarial witches.

He's hired by Lisa Jay Harringotn to defend her brother, accused in a ritual murder. Trai leads to evil Britisher Clive Pearson, who manages the career of sexy stripper/chanteuse Belladonna (Julie Strain).

In a script nod to Walter Hill's "Crossroads", an occultist acquaints Solomon with "The Legend of the Blues", relating musical mastery to devil worship. Happy ending is a bit hard to swallow, but the producers undoubtedly are thinking of sequels.

Solomon is his usual good ole boy self, while Strain, a 6-foot tall model familiar from both Penthouse and Playboy magazines and videos, has her best acting showcase to date in the central role. Special effects are minor.

This terrible movie series - that in the meantime has reached number twelwe, I don't understand why - reaches really the bottoms with this fourth entry, starring again warlock-lawyer Will Spanner against none other than the devil in a convoluted, bad lightened, worse acted sort of Mississipi Adventure gone wrong, with its story of bluesmen and pacts with the Lord of the Flies. More a mystery than a real horror movie - but it is really bad both ways you see it - this movie has the only reason to be watched in the presence of Julie Strain as stripper-singer extraordinaire Belladonna, that shows her bare and best assets, her wonderful breasts, but even she is totally wasted in the abomination that this movie is. Don't bother to rent nor to buy.

The fourth film in the neverending Witchcraft series finds Will Spanner (Charles Solomon) hired by Lily Wild (Lisa Jay Harrington) to help her brother Pete (Orien Richman) when he's the number one suspect in the disappearance of his girlfriend Norah (Sunset Thomas).

Will and Lisa find a matchbox for a club, the Covenant, at the scene of the crime. Will goes to the club to check things out and finds an attractive stripper named Belladonna (Julie Strain). Mr. Spanner becomes fascinated with Belladonna and what secrets the club may be hiding. His search leads him to a musician Santara, who may or may not be the key to things.

Boring!

It's been three years since warlock Will Spanner (Charles Solomon Jr.) has used his powers, but when faced with a demonic, murderous music manager who removes his victims' hearts, the supernatural lawyer must once again draw on his magical abilities.

With Will investigating a murder case that takes him to sleazy strip clubs and smoky blues bars, Witchcraft IV: The Virgin Heart is more like a film noir than a horror — and a bad one at that, with a dull mystery and a lifeless performance from star Solomon. Written and directed by James Merendino, the film cements the Witchcraft series as one of the worst horror franchises ever, this latest entry being the weakest one yet.

As with the previous three films, the film suffers from dreadful acting, flat direction, and cheap production values, with particularly bad sound, much of the dialogue almost impossible to make out. I imagine that none of this seemed all that important to Merendino, just so long as skin-flick legend Julie Strain (playing a stripper called Belldonna) got her clothes off—which she does.

This was the last of the Witchcraft films to feature Charles Solomon Jr. as William: perhaps even he had his limits and could take no more of this garbage.

In WITCHCRAFT IV: THE VIRGIN HEART, a woman is abducted and it's up to private investigator / warlock, Will Spanner (Charles Solomon Jr.) to get to the bottom of things.

Spanner's search leads him to a club called Coven. This is a rough place. How rough? Well, it's filled with industrial smog, and the bartender wears nothing but waders pulled up to his man-nipples! Now, that's rough!

Thankfully, a dancer called Belladonna (Julie Strain!) takes the club stage. It's not long before her clothing dissolves into memory. Henceforth, we realize that this is Ms. Strain's movie, for our minds are filled with nothing else! Fans of this Amazon, warrior-goddess take note: She's really good in this! While one could simply watch her standing mute, for hours, she proves herself to be more than the sum of her magnificent parts!

As Spanner delves into Belladonna's dark world, he becomes increasingly involved with her.

Mostly a mystery / detective story, those expecting a straightforward occult film will be sadly disappointed. For a movie called WITCHCRAFT, it seems absurd to save almost all of the supernatural stuff for the final 20 minutes!

Those expecting a non-stop, Julie Strain-naked-extravaganza will be only mildly satisfied, since she's interrupted constantly by the long-winded story! Seriously, it's ludicrous anyway, and could be told in a 10 minute, short film!

MOST UNBELIEVABLE SCENE: When Belladonna is abused by some mere man. You'll keep yelling, "Why doesn't she just kick his a$$?!", at the screen...