Spirits

This is a very boring, low budget haunted house movie about a group of paranormal investigators exploring a house supposedly haunted by the spirit of a sadistic murderer named Picard. Fred Olen Ray's name isn't exactly synonymous with quality film-making, but he is capable of churning out decent B movie time killers from time to time. This one is not one of his best. The story is thin, the dialogue is pathetic, the movie is padded out and the acting is mostly terrible. Saving this from the scrap pile are some make-up effects (at the very end!) and a trio of halfway decent performances. The first good performance is from horror veteran Robert ("Count Yorga") Quarry, who plays the man in charge of putting the crew together. The second is from Carol Lynley, who is wasted in a nothing role but manages to deliver her lines effectively. The final is from B-movie Scream Queen Michelle Bauer, who gives what is probably the best performance in the entire movie as a demon posing as a nun. Too bad she's only in the movie for two or three minutes because the movie could have definitely used a lot more of her! The rest of the cast (which includes a clueless Erik Estrada as a priest and a monotone B movie queen Brinke Stevens) are downright terrible in their respective roles.

Please do not waste your time watching this horribly scripted and acted movie. Let me tell you why...

A few friends and I were looking for a spooky movie at the video store, unfortunatly it was around Halloween and all the good movies were gone. So we settled for this, the box didn't look half bad, little did we know.

Okay, first Erik Estrada as a Priest? Then came the really corny music. The acting was terrible along with the visual effects, we were laughing so hard. Then we were totally appalled by the sex scences. A nun and a priest? Even if it was only a dream it was sooooo wrong.

It only got worse. The "evil" makeup was so bad it could not be taken seriously. Finally we just gave up. Don't waste your time or money on this cheap exorcist knock-off.

University psychology professor Dr. Richard Wicks (Robert Quarry) plans a weekend research experiment at the allegedly haunted Heron house, where a series of grisly murders took place 10 years earlier. Also along for the ride are fellow psychologist Beth (Kathrin Lautner), historian Harry (Oliver Darrow) and psychic Amy (Brinke Stevens). The house was built by Satanist Henri Picard and, of course, people start seeing things and get possessed. Also lurking around is Father Anthony Vicci (Erik Estrada), who has a connection to the events 10 years ago and is being haunted by it.

I revisited this low budget shocker recently and still enjoyed it. Ray rarely did straight horror flicks when he started getting his groove on and this proves he should have done more of them. Yes, it is cheap and plunders from LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, THE HAUNTING and THE EXORCIST, but Ray knows how to properly work in great exploitation material. Seriously, where else are you going to see Erik Estrada recoil in fear at the sexual advances of a nude nun (an uncredited Michelle Bauer) wearing only her habit? Surprisingly, Ray lets Brinke keep her clothes on and just lets her act. The location is that same big white house you've seen a dozen times in stuff like SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE II. There is also some pretty good make-up effects from Optic Nerve. Carol Lynley has a couple of scenes as Sister Jillian. Father Merrin gets a "thanks" in the end credits.

Erik Estrada..yikes, as a priest! In this movie he is a priest trying to regain his pride having formerly fallen from grace by sleeping with a woman.

It's a tough battle for him as Spirits keep sending taunting sexually pleasing females to him in either visions or nightmares.

Brinke Stevens plays a psychic trying to get rid of these spirits. Michelle Bauer has a small but nice role in the film as well.

It's a well put together movie that has a decent storyline. An average movie at best.

This movie was somewhat entertaining. There's more bits and pieces of many different plot ideas instead of one basic plot. I was a little offended that there was so much female nudity in this movie. I think it was sexist, and made mainly for men, which isn't right. The worst thing about this movie was the poor acting. The characters barely showed any emotion, and when they did, it was brief. Even though the movie was mildly entertaining, it never got you really interested. This movie deserves a 2 on a scale of 1-10.