Witch Bitch

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.

Witch Bitch… For the (alternative) title alone this movie should be considered a "classic" in the industry of silly-n-cheesy 80's horror! "Death Spa" delivers everything you can derive from the title and cool DVD-cover (mine actually displays a girl's bare ass): rancid sleaze, a retarded plot and loads of gooey make-up effects. Recent widower Michael Evans runs the fancy and hi-tech Starbody Health Spa, where all the gym devices are computer-driven and sexy young girls become a member if only to get close to hunky Michael. Business is great until peculiar 'accidents' begin to take place. Michael's girlfriend Laura is the first victim when she gets heavily burned after using the spa. The next incidents are even worse, resulting in the death of several guests. Michael suspects his brother-in-law to sabotage the place, as he never got over his sister's tragic suicide, but it's more likely that Catherine's vengeful spirit returned from the grave herself. "Death Spa" is wacky nonsense, completely without tension or atmosphere, but the gory murders are tremendously fun to watch! Some of the cheese-highlights include a girl literally blown to pieces by an exploding mirror and another hottie melts down to the bones! An elderly guy (a cop investigating the case) even has his throat bitten open by a deep-frozen fish!!! How many times have you seen that before? Everything in this gym center is bewitched, even the cocktail blender and the bathroom tiles. The dialogs & acting performances are horrible, the typical 80's music is atrocious and all the characters are so dumb they really deserve to die. Ken Foree ('Dawn of the Dead') briefly appears as the gym center's caretaker, but his share in the plot is hardly worth mentioning. "Death Spa" is insignificant and brainless 80's trash, and I enjoyed it A LOT!

I watched the film Deathspa under the title Witchbitch in 1990 and i found it quite enjoyable, It is fairly difficult to find but worth it.

The following review contains *Spoilers*

This film is not your conventional slasher flick but more of a horror/mystery film that does not take itself too seriously. The story is about a health spa which has been cursed by the spirit of a woman named Catherine who dies shockingly and her husband and brother work there. Unexplainable accidents and even deaths occur in the health spa and while this happens two detectives try to unfold these unexplainable occurrences, could Catherine be responsible for all the mayhem going on at the Starbody Health Spa.

We are introduced to at least a couple of dozen characters of various stereotypes including two workers in the club who are con artists, bimbos and vain people that like nothing more than to look good.

This film also contains many classic death scenes including a woman who is killed with a food processor!It also has many celebrity cameo appearances from Karyn Parsons who played Hilary in the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and Brenda Bakke from Demon Knight.

Recommended to horror fans who want to watch a film for enjoyment and have some fun 7 out of 10!

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.