Death Spa

Wow - this movie is fun and bad all at the same time. I'm amazed at how many people rent "horror" movies expecting them to actually be good - good in a sense of a strong story, decent plot, top notch acting and true scary moments - don't they realize that for every truly good horror film (and they are rare) there are fifty bad ones? And out of those fifty bad ones, there are maybe ten that rise to a new level - ones that are so bad that they are entertaining for all the wrong reasons - ridiculous script, bad acting, lame music and horrible directing. DEATH SPA is one of those - they rip-off many other movies including CARRIE, The EXORCIST and actually another murder spree in a gym movie, KILLER WORKOUT. Now Killer Workout is actually more fun and more lame but Death Spa has some hilarious moments. DEfinitely worth checking out for you fans of cheesy and laughable horror movies.

Death Spa (1989)

*** (out of 4)

Michael (William Bumiller) runs a health club that's the biggest thing in the city thanks to new technology that allows a computer system to run things. However, things take a dark turn when a couple members are severely injured and after more deaths happen it appears there's something much darker at play.

If you rented videos back in the 80s or 90s then I'm sure you stumbled across this film in the horror section at some point. I must have passed the video by countless times, picked it up a few times but I never left the store with it. After all, it's a horror movie set in a health club, how good could that be? Now that I've finally caught up with the picture I can't help but be disappointed in myself for not giving it a shot back in the day.

Look, if you're wanting high art or some sort of hard-hitting drama then you're not going to find it here. DEATH SPA is basically a low-budget slasher movie that appears to have been directed by someone who knew what the people watching a film like this wanted to see. Director Michael Fischa and writers James Bartruff and Mitch Paradise all do a wonderful job because what you've basically got here are a bunch of gory murders and a bunch of hot ladies taking their clothes off. These are staples of the VHS-era and this film offers plenty of both.

I really liked the death scenes in the film as they were not only creative but we also got some extremely gory moments. There are several highlights among the death scenes but there's one where a woman gets some sort of acid on her and just gets eaten away. As for the nudity, yeah, there's the required shower sequence but with a twist. DEATH SPA certainly isn't a masterpiece and it really would have benefited by being ten-minutes shorter but at the same time this is exactly what a film should be like if it wants to be in that low-budget horror field.

Holy crap, this was put on late at night in drunken good fun and somehow this is a late 80's camp gem. The colors, music, and cinematography are crazy good fun.

The premise is solidly ridiculous - a murder spree at an LA fitness club seemingly caused by a malfunctioning computer. There's a playfulness to the whole enterprise, from the lighting, cinematography and lighting, to the overall high camp feel of it all. It's slightly surreal but in an offhand kind of way. The opening scene is pretty spectacular - a long take set to some sweet 80's synth with a great title "card". And the kills ramp up nicely - ending with a head exploding in a gale force wind and some killer flying fish.

Judging by the movie poster, I expected a really bad, almost unwatchable B-Movie. Don't be fooled by the poster, though, 'Death Spa' was better than expected.

It is still a B-movie, we can't escape that fact. But the film featured better characters and a better story than expected. William Bumiller stars as Michael, the owner of an executive, high-tech health spa - and this man is so sexy! When club members start dying, the film becomes a murder mystery thriller - and a rather interesting one at that.

Michael's wife, Catherine, died a horrible death a few years ago and he is trying to move on. Only, Catherine won't allow him... Yup, there's a supernatural element here as well. The effects during the film's finale also weren't too shabby. In general I found 'Death Spa' surprisingly good, and it kept me glued from beginning to end. So many 80's horror movies are in fact horror comedies, but there's no humor here. I rather enjoyed it.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

After reading the glowing reviews for this film I had to seek it out, especially as it's been compared to Aerobicide (Killer Workout). However I found that Death Spa was not as good, despite the fact that there's more gore.

The plot to Death Spa is a bit muddled and I found it hard to follow to start with. It seemed to be about a mans dead wife who was coming back to haunt him, causing deaths at the spa. There are some nice scenes such as when the naked girls are showering and bits of glass fly at them. And there's the scene where the guys ribs split open. The thing is, the deaths are not quite as 'gory' as some reviewers here would have you believe (at least on the Witch Bitch VHS I saw). The best scenes are at the end when all the mayhem occurs. The highlight is the frozen fish death scene that many have mentioned, which is hilariously cheesy. There's plenty of naked breasts too if that's your sort of thing.

Overall, Death Spa is fairly good but not amazing. The frozen fish scene is priceless. If you liked Death Spa you may also like Killer Workout, which I personally think is much better.