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An agoraphobic writer somehow gets enough control of her issues to drive up a secluded country estate where she can rest and get some writing done only to find out it used to be a whorehouse and the scene of a few brutal murders. Naturally, the ghosts begin calling to her, but can she be trusted?

The Nesting has its heart in the right place and, perhaps, with a less annoying protagonist, it could have worked better than it does, but the simple fact of the matter is that no one wants to spend nearly 2 hours with someone this whiny. I can't tell if it was the writing or the actress, but she got on my nerves. The house location is really impressive and there's some mood to be milked from that, but not many of the scares land and it feels like it takes forever to get going. Still, it's not badly made and worth a watch.

Probably should have been much more nastier and sleazy than it was, because of the plot's lurid context and it being directed by adult filmmaker Armand Weston. However that's not the case, even though it does provide some nudity and unpleasant shocks it doesn't go all that far with it. Nonetheless the main issue arose with the narrative, as this haunted house feature just wasn't all that gripping in its mystery or characters. Outside some of its stinging set-pieces (rooftop rescue) and its perfect rural locations that centred it all around a strikingly imposing Victorian house, it was rather bland. Novelist Lauren Cochran suffers from Agoraphobia and decides to leave the city for the countryside for peace in an attempt to help her writer's block. The old house she rents has a shocking history, although unaware to that, strange things begin happening as she begins to see a recurring lady figure and brutal deaths start occurring. The formulaic story is rather contrived in its developments (visions of the past, family secrets and retribution) or in a way there's not much happening at all. There the script even toys around with the character's phobia to draw upon mystery and tension. It's unremarkable, but still the film looks well produced for such a little b-picture. Many stylish shots that can have an eerie feel, a kinetically unhinged music score that only adds to the anxiety filled atmosphere and the editing is tautly done despite its slowly unravelling nature. The performances are kind of bumpy as Robin Graves' neurotically uptight turn is believable, but aggravating in some hysterics. Also genre favourite John Carradine has a key role and tiny part for Gloria Grahame. An accomplished, but unspectacular 80s haunted house fare.

"Last night I lost touch of all reality".

Book novelist finds herself strangely attracted to an eerie, run down house in the middle of nowhere. Against her better judgement, she rents the house to work on her newest book and to get some peace and quiet, however she is unaware that the house used to be a bordello where a series of murders took place years earlier. To make matters worse, the ghosts of the victims seem to be haunting the place.

Scary horror film with some rather original moments and some surprising death scenes, runs out of steam in the second half and drags onto a rather unsatisfying conclusion. The cast is better then usual however.

Rated R; Strong Violence, Nudity, Sexual Situations.

The Nesting is an open-ended supernatural thriller featuring a convincingly neurotic writer with a bad case of agoraphobia (among other things) who decides to rent a house she finds out in the country that looks suspiciously like the one featured on one of her book covers. At times the film is a reasonably intelligent thriller but it has a tendency to err on the side of goofiness. Many of the characters, despite being likable, are incredibly over the top (the Colonel, handyman Frank, etc) and quite often characters are brought into a scene solely to die because there aren't enough victims on-hand.

The film's ambiguity is largely owed to the fact that the ghost scenes only seem tooccur when the writer is nearby and the others seem to die right after the encounter. That and a later reference would almost suggest that the thing could have been in her head although the attacks look like they're being carried out by an invisible, supernatural assailant.

The writer's character is relatively dull, as are her two apparent romantic interests. Other characters are humorously colorful and bring a lot more to the production but the protagonist really seems to exist to do little other than unconvincingly act scared by various phenomena (oddly not done as well as the agoraphobia, but clever camera-work helped with that) and to unravel a mystery that never quite gets compelling.

This post-AMITYVILLE HORROR haunted house film directed by porn director Armand Weston occasionally delivers the goods, but is more-often-than-not lame, overpadded and a little cheesy.

Writer Lauren Cochran goes out to the country to try and get past her agoraphobia, but when she moves into a frighteningly familiar octagonal house, she finds that there's things to be afraid of inside as well! First off, I'm rather disappointed that the film didn't make the main character's agoraphobia more of a main plot point. The idea of an agoraphobe renting a haunted house, unable to leave because of crippling panic attacks but unable to stay because of haunting specters, would make for a pretty claustrophobic watch. Instead, Weston's script takes the plot in many different directions, implementing slasher elements, prostitute ghosts and a CHANGELING-like mystery unraveling.

Sometimes, it works; there are some actually pretty spooky scenes here and there, and the mystery moves deftly enough to keep you involved. There are also some really fun set-pieces involving sickles and high-rise rescues.

Unfortunately, the over-the-top acting and dialogue from most of the supporting characters ruins any atmosphere the film could've created (the writer's quippy boyfriend had me about ready to turn off the film 20 minutes in). The unraveling of the mystery reaches a silly, melodramatic conclusion. And I often found the sound design to be distractingly amateurish, a gripe I do not have very often. Overall, you could do a lot worse with '80s haunted-house flicks (HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS, any AMITYVILLE film), but you could also do better (CHANGELING, SILENT SCREAM).

Fun fact: The octagonal house where the film was shot is still standing in New York state and may be the only domed octagonal residence still in existence in the United States!

Who could ever have predicted that an early 80's haunted house thriller directed by one of America's most infamous porn-horror directors (Armand Weston; sick genius behind "The Defiance of Good" and "The Taking of Christina"), and actually revolving on the grim past of a secluded whorehouse, could be this … boring, low on sleaze and totally lacking excitement and bloody make-up effects? I'm generously rating "The Nesting" four stars out of ten, due to some isolated moments of sheer brilliance and the terrific choice in atmospheric exterior filming locations, but the honest truth is that this film doesn't deserve half of that, because the narrative structure is infuriatingly dull and ineffectively complex. Lauren Cochran, a female horror novelist living in the center of New York suffers from Agoraphobia (fear of crowded places) as well as from sexual repression and writer's block. She moves into a beautiful octagonal old mansion in the countryside, but promptly starts having nightmares and meaningful hallucinations regarding the place's dubious past. She discovers the house used to a brothel but some tragic event occurred there near the end of World War II, and now it seems as if the restless spirits of the prostitutes are using Lauren as a medium to extract their vengeance. Admittedly, the subject matter is hugely derivative and something you've already seen dozens of times before (and better), but hey, that's horror cinema for you and at least the whorehouse setting could have resulted in something slightly more interesting. The script is full of potential, but director Armand Weston makes the terrible mistake of trying to imitate the ominous atmosphere and suggestive mystery of "The Shining", which was released one year earlier and scored big at the box office. Multiple scenes are shamelessly copied from "The Shining", but Weston clearly isn't as talented as Stanley Kubrick and a cheap and anonymous production like "The Nesting" needs more action instead of intellectual tension-building. There are a handful of notably terrific sequences, like Lauren's agoraphobic attack in the streets of London, the death of the sinister handyman in the lake and our heroine getting pursued by a deranged local, but sadly they're just isolated highlights in an overall boring wholesome. Genre veteran John Carradine plays his umpteenth role of creepy old guy hiding dark secrets and Gloria Grahame – in her last big screen role – appears in the flashback scenes as the whorehouse Madame. The gory highlights in "The Nesting" are passable, with the exception from one nifty eye-impalement (which I suspect is stolen from Lucio Fulci's "The Beyond") and one uncomfortably gross moment involving a scythe. That's hardly worth purchasing an obscure and probably overpriced VHS-copy, isn't it?

Lauren Cochran (Robin Groves) is an agoraphobic novelist who leaves the hustle of the bustle of the city to rent an isolated house in the country, where she hopes to concentrate on her next book. Fat chance, for soon after arriving, the writer suffers a series of terrifying visions that lead her to suspect that the place is haunted. She's correct, of course: her new abode, a whorehouse during the war, was the site of a terrible, bloody massacre, and now the spooks want revenge!

For a film about a haunted brothel, by a film-maker best known for X-rated 'roughie' porn, The Nesting is surprisingly less exploitative than one might expect, taking a comparatively reserved approach that concentrates more on delivering atmosphere and scares than simple shock value.

To director Armand Weston's credit, the result isn't all that bad, with an intriguing basic plot, reasonable central performances, and one or two well constructed death scenes that benefit from the sparse but effective use of gore (the demise of a nasty hick at the hands of a sickle wielding Lauren is especially fun); but although the finished product ain't a total disaster, it's not a complete success either, suffering from a poorly developed script in desperate need of judicious pruning (the film is way overlong at 102 minutes!), a couple of irritating characters (most notably, Lauren's wise-cracking boyfriend Mark), some blatant silliness that should have been fixed before filming commenced (how the hell does Lauren's self-help tape know the layout of her apartment?), and a daft ending that just doesn't know when to quit.

It's a shame, because one can't help but feel that with such a salacious premise, the whole affair is something of a wasted opportunity: if Weston had stayed true to himself by allowing his film to be even half as depraved as his X-rated output, The Nesting would have been a far more satisfying film—a sleaze fan's idea of heaven instead of a fairly entertaining, but ultimately forgettable ghost story.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Subpar, thrillless "thriller" bout an obnoxious, self-centered, privileged agoraphobic mystery writer and her almost equally obnoxious boyfriend, who she keeps pushing away, the two made to be miserable together. Usually there is some point of sympathy established between audience and protagonist so that you have some sort of reason to care about their fate, but I kept waiting and waiting for any indication of such, and the character continued as unsympathetic as ever, so I figured she must deserve whatever's coming to her, but too bored to wait and find out.

Well filmed, so images are good, just totally devoid of any character interest

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This movie is well worth renting for several reasons--one is the atmosphere of the house the leading lady rents in the countryside which is superbly eerie. The house itself is unique too in haunted house films as it is octagonal, which allows for some interesting shots and angles ( the crow's nest segment is truly nailbiting). Two, the unpleasant realism of the town folks also adds a dimension of unease that amplifies the existing tension of the ghost story and then finally merges with it. That this film was all shot on location helps add to the gritty tension that would have been missing if the producers had tried to recreate the atmosphere in a studio (something too many modern day horror films repeatedly do). As a bonus for film buffs, Gloria Grahame, of It's A Wonderful Life fame appears here as a ghost that could help solve the mystery. Although the movie is not perfect, it is a creepy romp that is more often than not unsettling on more than one level.

The Nesting (1981)

** (out of 4)

Writer Laura Cochran (Robin Groves) rents an old mansion from Colonel LeBrun (John Carradine) and soon realizes that there are some strange things going on inside it. It turns out that the mansion was used in WWII for prostitution and that many of them were brutally murdered and now their vengeful spirits are there. The 80s will always be remembered by horror fans for the countless slashers but if you look back at the early part of the decade you'll notice countless haunted house movies. This one here certainly isn't in the same league as THE SHINING or THE CHANGELING but for the first minutes it's actually pretty good but sadly it all falls apart. The first portion of the film actually managed to bring up a nice atmosphere, which led to a few creepy moments but these scenes quickly went out the window as the film started to movie into the second half. This is where the film really went off the tracks because they take everything from the house to the outside and we got some pretty stupid scenes and not any good ones. There are two weirdos on the outside bothering the writer and we get separate attack scenes and neither of them are very effective. I'm going to avoid spoiling anything but the second attack gets dragged out to a pretty long sequence, which just ends is a very silly fashion. Another problem with the film is that it runs way too long and simply doesn't have a strong enough of a story to keep the viewer interesting in what's going on. Groves offers up a good performance as the writer who is slowly losing her mind as does Michael David Lally and Christopher Loomis in his small role. Vet Carradine is always fun to watch but it looks like by 1981 people would know better than to rent a house from him. Oscar winner Gloria Grahame (THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) makes a small appearance here in her final film. Another thing that kept bothering me throughout this film is wondering why the writer simply didn't leave the house. I mean, after countless deaths, attacks on your life and strange happenings, there really wasn't a reason for her to stay yet she just put up with all of this as if it was just a typical day. THE NESTING isn't a bad movie but at the same time it certainly needed a lot of work to be made better.

There are plenty of horror movies where the characters don't do what any typical person would do in their situation, but it happens so often with the main character in this movie that it's laughable. John Carradine and Gloria Grahame (her last film) were terrific, but they have very small parts. There were a couple of great death scenes, but they don't make much sense. It was tough for me to make it through this one. Every scene seemed to drag on. It wasn't suspenseful, it was painful. I don't think it was intended to be a B-movie, but it definitely is. If you like them, you may like this.

The main character goes from a seemingly likable character to very rude and pushy, which gets someone killed after her guilt-tripping pushiness puts them in a precarious position--literally. But what's her reaction? To start her pushiness up again and insisting someone else stick their neck out like the previous guy. Look, from our side, we see what she sees, but for her to instantly insist on the paranormal to doctors and scientists when she's clearly disturbed to begin with is hard to accept. Her going to an old, decrepit, poorly lit house to write and live when she's dealing with irrational mental issues likewise strains credulity. She also expects the man whose love she doesn't return to drop everything at a moment's notice to basically help her despite her insistence on being there in the first place. She came across as entitled and used to getting her way even when things made no sense.

The story poorly set up the conditions for her to be under in the first place. It would have made more sense if she'd come to live there because she had no choice, like maybe she'd been evicted and got the house as an inheritance and had nowhere else to live--something. And she stays in the house despite the hauntings when she clearly doesn't have to. The whole story is forced.

S/N: Her facial expressions when under stress and/or afraid are also unpleasant to look at, particularly centered around her mouth. I really don't mean to be rude, but I didn't like looking at her.

An agoraphobic writer gets a house in the country which turns out to be haunted. That's a great set up to a movie. You have a character who's scared to leave their house being stuck there with things even more terrifying than what awaits them outdoors. Unfortunately, there were times I almost forgot the heroine had this affliction, because she sure seems to get over it whenever the plot calls for her to and there aren't enough scares to make this slow burning, overlong movie very interesting.

A rather bland horror film that is as bad as it sounds, it actually surprisingly starts off quite well, with some effective scenes, but in the end it is not all so glamorous. The characters and acting are both poor, the special effects are rather icky, and in the latter half of the film there a number of sequences that seem to drag on and on pointlessly. In particular, the final twenty or so minutes leave a quite a sour taste in the mouth, however there is one reason why the film may be interesting to view, that being the choices of music, which, although not always appropriate, are still curious and intriguing.

Well i've seen this movie a couple times and I have a copy of it on DVD that I transfered from VHS last time I rented it. This is one of those classic horror movies from back in the day when horror movies actually did make you jump, and they made sense! LOL The plot took me for a spin and it was a little confusing at times, but i've figured it out after the second time seeing it.

I with they made movies like this still that had odd story lines to make you think, and that didn't always rely on today's technology to make it all about the special fx.

This movie was cool though, definitely worth the watch!

"The Nesting" is a ghost story about a haunted brothel.It works on a more psychological level and offers a decent plot helped along by some solid acting.A female writer suffering from agoraphobia moves into an eerie old mansion somewhere in the country.Soon she is plagued with erotic nightmares,her phobia is getting worse and people are getting killed through a series of strange 'accidents'.It seems that the house has its own sleazy and murderous past."The Nesting" is a pretty creepy horror film with gory sickle hacking.Robin Groves provides some tasteful and highly welcomed nudity and John Carradine shines in a small role.The final twist is surprising and wonderful.If you are a fan of "The Changeling" or "Ghost Story" you can't miss "The Nesting".8 out of 10.

I stumbled upon the 1981 horror mystery "The Nesting" in 2021. And it was a movie that I had never even heard about before, but as I had the opportunity to sit down and watch it, of course I did. It is a horror movie after all.

And the term horror might be stretching it a bit far for "The Nesting", as there was nothing scary about the movie. I doubt that even back in the day of 1981 that this movie was particularly frightening.

The storyline is pretty pointless, and seems mostly rather random, as if writers Daria Price and Armand Weston were just making it up as they went along filming the project. Sure there is continuity to the story, but the contents are just not particularly interesting, and it felt like a random mixing of two different movies put together to make "The Nesting".

It was just hard to find a single focal point to the storyline, as the two writers take it in many, many different directions, attempting to accomplish a lot with different elements, but failing collectively to do so.

The characters in the storyline were flaccid and boring, to be bluntly honest. The main character Lauren Cochran - played by Robin Groves - is rather annoying and seems to be all over the place and screaming over little things.

For a horror movie then "The Nesting" was a swing and a miss. This movie is definitely not a movie that I would recommend any horror fans rush out to get their ghoulish claws on. Even for a 1980s horror movie this was pretty flaccid.

My rating of director Armand Weston's "The Nesting" settles on a mere three out of ten stars.