Streghe

An Italian horror flick that was shot in Florida. A group of friends visit a home that has been inherited by siblings Carol (Michele Peacock) and Ed Hayes (Gary Kerr). The house has stood silent for 50 years, but it has a history where a witch was burned right in the front yard after tossing a curse to all those present. Unfortunately there is not fruition to that curse, but those who have entered the house for a little vacation are going to feel the wraith of the evil spirit who as it ends up may just be related to the siblings.

I didn't really find it that enjoyable though as it steals story elements from much greater horror flicks like EVIL DEAD for example. In addition a few of the males characters just seemed to meld together as they were not particularly well written. I would suggest EVIL DEAD instead.

Here we go again. The epilogue begins in the past with an accused witch being tortured and burned alive by the locals, and before it happens she curses the townsfolk. Now moving to the present a group of college kids (the descendants of the townsfolk) decide to take their holidays at a rundown mansion, which the witch had occupied. Not knowing anything about the house's past. Soon enough strange things begin to happen, and a young girl in a white gown suddenly appears with something to do with the witch's revenge.

Uninspired, but ludicrously cheesy and gruesome low-budget Italian horror schlock none the same. Obviously it has been influenced by such prominent 80s efforts like 'The Evil Dead (1981)', 'Demons (1985)' and 'Night of the Demons (1988)'. The supernatural elements are hysterically merged with demonic possession, haunted house happenings and slasher traits. It's quite a delusional mixture that writer / director Alessandro Capone lays on thick. Material-wise it doesn't make sense, and is downright uneven. Where they do stretch out a number of endings. The insane nature works in its favour though, because there's no atmosphere and the jolts are telegraphed. The violence is brutally tacky with constant use of tomato sauce leaving some hard to clean stains and with college kids abound… the hot topic of sex and don't forget the booze. Good times… well until the slaughter begins. One scene involving a half dressed girl, swimming pool and a swinging chainsaw was a seductive blast! The performances are forgettably bland from the young cast (with Michelle Vanucchi as a likable heroine), but they do serve their purposes with their clichéd characters. It's a clear-cut stereotypical bunch too. Production is cheap, and make-up effects go on to cement it, but it's sharply photographed with effectively lit visuals.

Was there a writers strike in Italy in the late-'80s?* That's the only way I can explain the virtually non-existent plots of many an Italian horror film from that era. The script for Streghe (AKA Witch Story) could be written on the back of a stamp, and summed up in just three words: witch, curse, deaths.

The film starts with the burning of a witch, who places a curse on her persecutor's descendants. As she dies, her young daughter throws herself out of a window (the first of many people to be launched through glass in this film). Cut to the present, and a brother and sister invite a group of friends to the house that they have just inherited, unaware that the place used to be home to the witch and is now haunted. The group's partying (which includes one of the girls performing a sexy tabletop striptease for her friends!) comes to an end when they start to die in inexplicable and gruesome ways.

Any semblance of a rational story is soon forgotten, as director Alessandro Capone focusses on delivering titillation from the pretty girls and a handful of death scenes; however, director Capone repeatedly wimps out, the young ladies only stripping as far as their underwear, and his kills bloody but lacking in imagination. Almost everyone crashes through a pane of glass at some point, and, in the film's dumbest moment, a possessed girl emerges from under the surface of a swimming pool brandishing a revving chainsaw.

3/10

*It's hard to believe, but, according to IMDb, there were actually three writers responsible for this mess.

The spirit of a witch,who was tortured and burned at the stake during 1930's haunts a house where some obnoxious teenagers live.The evil spirit is also capable of possessing their souls and turns its victims into bloodthirsty demons.Carol and her brother Ed are heading to a house they recently inherited from their parents.It's supposed to be a vacation,so they bring a bunch of friends along.It turns out that the house they are staying in was once owned by a witch who was tortured and burned at the stake a long time ago.The young daughter of the witch committed suicide shortly after that incident.Many of the women are soon possessed by an evil force causing them to sexually torment and then butcher the males one by one.Cheesy and gory Italian horror flick obviously inspired by "The Evil Dead","The Beyond" and "Night of the Demons".It also resembles US witch slasher "The Superstition".The acting is pretty bad and there is no suspense,but the killings are quite bloody for example one fatso is slaughtered with a meat-cleaver.7 out of 10.

WITCH STORY is another one of those 80's horror movies where a group of college kids go off on a really bogus idea for a vacation by spending it in the creepy old haunted house one of them inherited, and where back in the 1930's a witch was tortured & burned in the front yard back while screaming "I dedicate my pain to you, Satan!" This is another one of those movies where the college kids are a representative "Ark" of humanity, with the cool guy, the fat guy, the jock guy, his WASPY slut of a girlfriend, the token African American (a she, for an added twist), a nerd, and the all round nice girl who will invariably wake up to find out It Was All Just A Nightmare at two or three or four times during the film, only to see & scream at dead bodies placed out of camera range to save on the effects budget by having her just scream.

This is another one of those movies where the fat guy gets to eat himself to death and then is slaughtered like a hog, literally. This is another one of those movies where during the "getting to know you" party scene (with bizarre product placement by Kentucky Fried Chicken, Lays Potato Chips and Budweiser) the black girl introduces herself by saying "Well first off, I'm black", since being such is her only vital function within the plot. This is another one of those movies where someone replies "Gee, all this time I just thought you had a really nice tan." This is another one of those movies where demon possessed slutty babes throw their victims through car windshields, and stash functioning chain saws -- still running, apparently -- in the old swimming pool so they can surface and swing the chain saw around like Jason on bad meth. This is another one of those movies where the nerd looks a hell of a lot like the dude with the glasses from They Might Be Giants, and even sings a song with his guitar that we never saw before he starts playing it, and is never seen again afterward.

This is another one of those movies where the cool guy has a flirtatiously attractive 3rd or 4th cousin meet them all at the bus station and imply inter familial fornication just standing there looking like a tramp. This is another one of those movies where the trampy Southern cousin also turns out to be interested in the occult, and carries her own tarot card & Ouija board set with her so that she can receive ominous & frightening supernatural vibes when guys are about to score with her. This is another one of those movies with not only a haunted house but a secret passageway -- with lighting effects by Tobe Hooper from POLTERGEIST -- leading to an inner sanctum of evil, where by God there actually awaits a Haunted Suitcase.

On a brighter note, this is another one of those Italian horror movies that seems to have been inspired by Mario Bava's KILL BABY KILL, including a weird demonic kid with a bouncing ball, and made possible by the still inexplicable popular success of Umberto Lenzi's GHOSTHOUSE, which would make an excellent double bill if you have enough beer. This is another one of those mid-later 1980's Italian made horror films that has the visual flair of a Fulci or Lamberto Bava, but more low key and reminiscent of an off-Broadway production of a 3rd rate play starring a bunch of nobodies. This is another one of those movies that has gore, nudity, bad trip lighting effects, an ominous priest gone bad and apparently a kitchen staff. This is another one of those movies that is well made and enjoyable, though about as awful as they come at the same time: A party movie.

But this is also another one of those movies that you'll have a hard time tracking down because of soundtrack rights to the movie's abusively awful late 1980's rock score, always a dumb idea, and does indeed end with a scene that commences with a title card reading "October 31th", further indication that the folks who made this epic were not the brightest bulbs in the lighthouse but knew how to have a good time, which may be more important. And as such, this is another one of those movies that if you DO manage to score a prior rental tape, DON'T TELL ANYONE YOU HAVE IT!! or certain people will never let you alone until you let them see it, which is a more frightening prospect than anything depicted in the movie itself. Trust me.

4/10