Witchcraft IV: The Virgin Heart

My review was written in August 1992 after watching the movie on Academy video cassette.

"Witchcraft IV' is one of the best in this popular home video series, with an alluring central performance by pinup Julie Strain. This patented combination of sex and horror will get a brisk response.

For the third film in a row, Charles Solomon (who had a small role as part of Jim Garrison's team in "JFK") plays lawyer Will Spanner, who suppresses his warlock nature until called back into action by adversarial witches.

He's hired by Lisa Jay Harringotn to defend her brother, accused in a ritual murder. Trai leads to evil Britisher Clive Pearson, who manages the career of sexy stripper/chanteuse Belladonna (Julie Strain).

In a script nod to Walter Hill's "Crossroads", an occultist acquaints Solomon with "The Legend of the Blues", relating musical mastery to devil worship. Happy ending is a bit hard to swallow, but the producers undoubtedly are thinking of sequels.

Solomon is his usual good ole boy self, while Strain, a 6-foot tall model familiar from both Penthouse and Playboy magazines and videos, has her best acting showcase to date in the central role. Special effects are minor.

The fourth part of the epically lengthed Witchcraft franchise gives me the impression that their quality isn't going to improve anytime soon.

Once again we have yet another truly awful attempt at a horror following the "Adventures" of our warlock Will.

I'm fast starting to think that along with being one of the longest movie franchises in history that it may well be one of the worst.

Also starring Julie Strain this is another barely followable crapfest.

The Good:

At least they follow on from each other

The Bad:

Poor sound balancing

Film noir attempt is dumb

Terrible plot

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

In reverse land Julie Strain wears clothes in films!

In WITCHCRAFT IV: THE VIRGIN HEART, a woman is abducted and it's up to private investigator / warlock, Will Spanner (Charles Solomon Jr.) to get to the bottom of things.

Spanner's search leads him to a club called Coven. This is a rough place. How rough? Well, it's filled with industrial smog, and the bartender wears nothing but waders pulled up to his man-nipples! Now, that's rough!

Thankfully, a dancer called Belladonna (Julie Strain!) takes the club stage. It's not long before her clothing dissolves into memory. Henceforth, we realize that this is Ms. Strain's movie, for our minds are filled with nothing else! Fans of this Amazon, warrior-goddess take note: She's really good in this! While one could simply watch her standing mute, for hours, she proves herself to be more than the sum of her magnificent parts!

As Spanner delves into Belladonna's dark world, he becomes increasingly involved with her.

Mostly a mystery / detective story, those expecting a straightforward occult film will be sadly disappointed. For a movie called WITCHCRAFT, it seems absurd to save almost all of the supernatural stuff for the final 20 minutes!

Those expecting a non-stop, Julie Strain-naked-extravaganza will be only mildly satisfied, since she's interrupted constantly by the long-winded story! Seriously, it's ludicrous anyway, and could be told in a 10 minute, short film!

MOST UNBELIEVABLE SCENE: When Belladonna is abused by some mere man. You'll keep yelling, "Why doesn't she just kick his a$$?!", at the screen...

This terrible movie series - that in the meantime has reached number twelwe, I don't understand why - reaches really the bottoms with this fourth entry, starring again warlock-lawyer Will Spanner against none other than the devil in a convoluted, bad lightened, worse acted sort of Mississipi Adventure gone wrong, with its story of bluesmen and pacts with the Lord of the Flies. More a mystery than a real horror movie - but it is really bad both ways you see it - this movie has the only reason to be watched in the presence of Julie Strain as stripper-singer extraordinaire Belladonna, that shows her bare and best assets, her wonderful breasts, but even she is totally wasted in the abomination that this movie is. Don't bother to rent nor to buy.

An attorney, who just happens to be a warlock gets involved with Julie Stern, but notices some devilish happenings going on around him and her involving rock stars. Some hot sexual situations, but it seems that with each new entry in this series these films actually seem to get worse. Clunky dialogue and laughable situations are its main flaws. Rated R; Sexual Situations, Nudity, Profanity, and Violence.