La malédiction de la sorcière

An unusual, but rather enjoyable no-nonsense and wicked low-budget cursed haunted house/witch feature. A Reverend and his family move into a strange, remote house with a horrific past. Mysterious occurrences begin to happen and people within the property start dying or disappearing to only end up dead.

The plot is quite slight, with a premise relatively basic... revenge from beyond the grave; A drowned witch who reappears in demon form hidden under a cloak with glimpses of her long green hands and evil laughter to go with it. Its set-pieces are there for nothing more than atmospheric shock effects (gory, but creative and insane deaths), but director James W. Roberson effectively handles them and suitably paces the narrative with a dark, nervy energy.

It plays out like a haunted house ride... false jumps to only pump out the real one within its predictable superstitious framework (like the all mighty cross; the torment of all evil and good for exploding doors). Also there's a real nasty streak, which doesn't hold back for anyone and this makes the downbeat ending even more fulfilling. There's a real italian horror vibe to it all. The imagery is well-photographed (especially of the witch) and the score does pack that an ominous sting that crackles with intensity. Characters are one-dimensional, but the cast are committed with James Houghton, Larry Pennell, Lynn Carlin and Albert Salmi as a stubborn, hard-pressed detective.

I thought it was silly, but lively and unpleasant 1980s horror pulp that doesn't outstay its welcome. Fans of 80s horror overabundance should love.

Brought to us by producer Ed Carlin and co-producers Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna, who gave us haunted house horrors The Evil and The Changeling, Superstition is yet another supernatural offering set in and around a creepy old property. This time around, the spooky shenanigans are accompanied by a whole handful of creative, bloody deaths, and lots of jump scares (probably in an attempt to draw in the slasher crowd)—a good job since the plot is an often illogical mish-mash of hoary old horror clichés.

In 1692, a witch is executed—drowned in a pond, and trapped there with a crucifix. For almost three hundred years, the evil woman's spirit is the cause of violent deaths in and around the nearby church-owned property. When Reverand George Leahy (Larry Pennell) and his family move into the old house, the witch soon starts to cause trouble, now even more powerful thanks to the removal of the crucifix during the dredging of the pond. Reverand David Thompson (James Houghton) discovers the truth behind the killings and tries to put an end to the witch once and for all.

The film opens in terrific style with a juicy double death scene: having played a prank on a courting couple (thereby providing the film with the first of many jump scares), a pair of pranksters meet their fate in the creepy property, one being decapitated, his severed head exploding inside a microwave oven, the other getting chopped in two by a sash window. Several other macabre set-pieces follow in quick succession, including the hanging of an electrician in an elevator shaft and the death of a priest, a circular saw blade spinning into his chest and exiting through his back.

Also adding to the fun: Sheryl and Ann (Maylo McCaslin and Heidi Bohay), sexy teenage daughters of Reverand Leahy, going down to the pond for a spot of fun in the sun (wearing bikinis, naturally), only for one of them to be grabbed around the ankle by a severed hand; a flashback to the trial of the witch that allows for some silly Exorcist style guttural utterings, a few cool facial bladder effects, and the sight of a priest being crushed in a wine press; some memorable visuals with impressive lighting effects (somewhat reminiscent of Argento); Reverand Thompson's surprised expression every time he uses the crucifix to open (or blow up) a locked door; George having his face lacerated by flying shards of glass from an exploding mirror; Sheryl getting nailed through the head with a big spike; and blonde daughter Ann (Heidi Bohay) running around in skimpy silk night-gear.

After watching the opening 10 minutes of this film I was happy to see the director wasn't afraid to "show it all" in the area of gore. Stylistically, I would really be surprised if the director and/or cinematographer wasn't influenced by Dario Argento. Some of the music reminded me of a slight take on what Goblin did for Argento films- but no where near as well of course. The good thing about mimicking a maestro such as Argento is that you have good taste in film making. The bad thing is...not many can "do Argento" like Argento. So many will walk away thinking it is a cheap ripoff.

For those not familiar with Argento's work, you should find this to be a refreshing take on the horror genre in the 80s time period. If you are like me, I enjoy "grade Z" movies more then big budget films if they entertain me. It is about entertainment. This film entertained me. There were even a few times that I actually felt a little creepy tension- something that doesn't usually happen with lower budget flicks.

If you are looking for big budget romps, then keep on renting movies on the "new rental wall" at Blockbuster. Otherwise, you may have some fun with this one.

A 17th century executed witch kills anybody who enters a house that was built on the site of her execution. Supernatural horror that plays out like a slasher movie with many inventive deaths every 10 minutes or so. This is well paced and there is plenty of good gore, including an exploding head in a microwave, death by an escaped circular saw, spike through forehead, and so on. This was made during the Golden Age of the slasher movie and certainly gives good value for money. Give me 1980's effects and vibe any day over 21st century CGI and remakes! Original title in 1982 was Superstition. It did appear on the seizure list during the Video Nasties farce but was given a rerelease as The Witch in 1985. Sadly this film appears to be something of a forgotten one, I can't even reference in it in my collection of horror movie books. It really does deserve a DVD/BR release so that a new audience can see it.

'Superstition' is a 1982 supernatural slasher movie that may not have any sort of originality, but makes up for some of its short comings by having some inventive death scenes, cool gore and a creepy atmosphere. The movie is rather entertaining and does deliver on the carnage.

The plot = In the 1600's where a witch is sentenced to death by crucifixion in the black pond as she swears vengeance on her persecutors. Then we flash forward to the present day of 1982 a series of bizarre murders plague the house near the lake as the witch is haunting the property from beyond the grave.

The direction by James W. Roberson is quite decent as he doesn't shy away from the shock factor, the film feels very much in the vein of the 80's slashers due to the sheer over the top murders that occur throughout which thankfully helps distract you from the utter haphazard pacing, uneven acting performances & a fairly by the numbers story. This is by no means a plot driven flick but the mystery element is sustained long enough to keep you interested.

Overall this is a fun ride dripped in pure cheese with sheer enthusiasm for its gruesome set pieces, but doesn't really offer much more than that with no characters to really root for mainly because they're just cannon fodder & none of the performances really stand out to be honest, but if you're looking for nothing more than a fun ride, then 'Superstition' is the movie for you.