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The Nesting (1981)

** (out of 4)

Writer Laura Cochran (Robin Groves) rents an old mansion from Colonel LeBrun (John Carradine) and soon realizes that there are some strange things going on inside it. It turns out that the mansion was used in WWII for prostitution and that many of them were brutally murdered and now their vengeful spirits are there. The 80s will always be remembered by horror fans for the countless slashers but if you look back at the early part of the decade you'll notice countless haunted house movies. This one here certainly isn't in the same league as THE SHINING or THE CHANGELING but for the first minutes it's actually pretty good but sadly it all falls apart. The first portion of the film actually managed to bring up a nice atmosphere, which led to a few creepy moments but these scenes quickly went out the window as the film started to movie into the second half. This is where the film really went off the tracks because they take everything from the house to the outside and we got some pretty stupid scenes and not any good ones. There are two weirdos on the outside bothering the writer and we get separate attack scenes and neither of them are very effective. I'm going to avoid spoiling anything but the second attack gets dragged out to a pretty long sequence, which just ends is a very silly fashion. Another problem with the film is that it runs way too long and simply doesn't have a strong enough of a story to keep the viewer interesting in what's going on. Groves offers up a good performance as the writer who is slowly losing her mind as does Michael David Lally and Christopher Loomis in his small role. Vet Carradine is always fun to watch but it looks like by 1981 people would know better than to rent a house from him. Oscar winner Gloria Grahame (THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) makes a small appearance here in her final film. Another thing that kept bothering me throughout this film is wondering why the writer simply didn't leave the house. I mean, after countless deaths, attacks on your life and strange happenings, there really wasn't a reason for her to stay yet she just put up with all of this as if it was just a typical day. THE NESTING isn't a bad movie but at the same time it certainly needed a lot of work to be made better.

Lauren Cochran (Robin Groves) is an agoraphobic novelist who leaves the hustle of the bustle of the city to rent an isolated house in the country, where she hopes to concentrate on her next book. Fat chance, for soon after arriving, the writer suffers a series of terrifying visions that lead her to suspect that the place is haunted. She's correct, of course: her new abode, a whorehouse during the war, was the site of a terrible, bloody massacre, and now the spooks want revenge!

For a film about a haunted brothel, by a film-maker best known for X-rated 'roughie' porn, The Nesting is surprisingly less exploitative than one might expect, taking a comparatively reserved approach that concentrates more on delivering atmosphere and scares than simple shock value.

To director Armand Weston's credit, the result isn't all that bad, with an intriguing basic plot, reasonable central performances, and one or two well constructed death scenes that benefit from the sparse but effective use of gore (the demise of a nasty hick at the hands of a sickle wielding Lauren is especially fun); but although the finished product ain't a total disaster, it's not a complete success either, suffering from a poorly developed script in desperate need of judicious pruning (the film is way overlong at 102 minutes!), a couple of irritating characters (most notably, Lauren's wise-cracking boyfriend Mark), some blatant silliness that should have been fixed before filming commenced (how the hell does Lauren's self-help tape know the layout of her apartment?), and a daft ending that just doesn't know when to quit.

It's a shame, because one can't help but feel that with such a salacious premise, the whole affair is something of a wasted opportunity: if Weston had stayed true to himself by allowing his film to be even half as depraved as his X-rated output, The Nesting would have been a far more satisfying film—a sleaze fan's idea of heaven instead of a fairly entertaining, but ultimately forgettable ghost story.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

An agoraphobic writer somehow gets enough control of her issues to drive up a secluded country estate where she can rest and get some writing done only to find out it used to be a whorehouse and the scene of a few brutal murders. Naturally, the ghosts begin calling to her, but can she be trusted?

The Nesting has its heart in the right place and, perhaps, with a less annoying protagonist, it could have worked better than it does, but the simple fact of the matter is that no one wants to spend nearly 2 hours with someone this whiny. I can't tell if it was the writing or the actress, but she got on my nerves. The house location is really impressive and there's some mood to be milked from that, but not many of the scares land and it feels like it takes forever to get going. Still, it's not badly made and worth a watch.

This post-AMITYVILLE HORROR haunted house film directed by porn director Armand Weston occasionally delivers the goods, but is more-often-than-not lame, overpadded and a little cheesy.

Writer Lauren Cochran goes out to the country to try and get past her agoraphobia, but when she moves into a frighteningly familiar octagonal house, she finds that there's things to be afraid of inside as well! First off, I'm rather disappointed that the film didn't make the main character's agoraphobia more of a main plot point. The idea of an agoraphobe renting a haunted house, unable to leave because of crippling panic attacks but unable to stay because of haunting specters, would make for a pretty claustrophobic watch. Instead, Weston's script takes the plot in many different directions, implementing slasher elements, prostitute ghosts and a CHANGELING-like mystery unraveling.

Sometimes, it works; there are some actually pretty spooky scenes here and there, and the mystery moves deftly enough to keep you involved. There are also some really fun set-pieces involving sickles and high-rise rescues.

Unfortunately, the over-the-top acting and dialogue from most of the supporting characters ruins any atmosphere the film could've created (the writer's quippy boyfriend had me about ready to turn off the film 20 minutes in). The unraveling of the mystery reaches a silly, melodramatic conclusion. And I often found the sound design to be distractingly amateurish, a gripe I do not have very often. Overall, you could do a lot worse with '80s haunted-house flicks (HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS, any AMITYVILLE film), but you could also do better (CHANGELING, SILENT SCREAM).

Fun fact: The octagonal house where the film was shot is still standing in New York state and may be the only domed octagonal residence still in existence in the United States!

Probably should have been much more nastier and sleazy than it was, because of the plot's lurid context and it being directed by adult filmmaker Armand Weston. However that's not the case, even though it does provide some nudity and unpleasant shocks it doesn't go all that far with it. Nonetheless the main issue arose with the narrative, as this haunted house feature just wasn't all that gripping in its mystery or characters. Outside some of its stinging set-pieces (rooftop rescue) and its perfect rural locations that centred it all around a strikingly imposing Victorian house, it was rather bland. Novelist Lauren Cochran suffers from Agoraphobia and decides to leave the city for the countryside for peace in an attempt to help her writer's block. The old house she rents has a shocking history, although unaware to that, strange things begin happening as she begins to see a recurring lady figure and brutal deaths start occurring. The formulaic story is rather contrived in its developments (visions of the past, family secrets and retribution) or in a way there's not much happening at all. There the script even toys around with the character's phobia to draw upon mystery and tension. It's unremarkable, but still the film looks well produced for such a little b-picture. Many stylish shots that can have an eerie feel, a kinetically unhinged music score that only adds to the anxiety filled atmosphere and the editing is tautly done despite its slowly unravelling nature. The performances are kind of bumpy as Robin Graves' neurotically uptight turn is believable, but aggravating in some hysterics. Also genre favourite John Carradine has a key role and tiny part for Gloria Grahame. An accomplished, but unspectacular 80s haunted house fare.

"Last night I lost touch of all reality".