Witchtrap

Kevin Tenney directed two respectable horror films (WITCHBOARD and NIGHT OF THE DEMONS) prior to this, which confuses me. Neither of the two prior flicks were masterpieces, but they were competently made with fairly good actors and a veneer of professionalism, which makes this cinematic millstone a giant question mark. One would think that Tenney had a handle on how to do things like create atmosphere, rising action and suspense, elicit good performances out of his actors, etc. Nuh-uh. With this movie, Tenney seems to have had a cinematic aneurysm, losing any sense of how to make a professional, polished product.

While the movie doesn't suffer from technical ineptness, there's an amateur quality to the whole thing that makes it feel almost like a 1970s drive-in movie. Oddball camera angles (the opening scene could make you seasick--watch it and you'll know what I mean), stiff or non-professional acting, lengthy exposition dumps, and dialogue that is in turns wooden or ingratiatingly cute, and little action until the third act all make for an annoying viewing experience. Still, it can be charming if you're in the right mood. Linnea Quigley is the only name actor I could spot, and her nude scene was a blessing in the midst of all this mediocrity. The actresses playing the psychic investigator and physical medium both came off to me as non-professional or poorly trained (the investigator in particular desperately needed some vocal or dialect training--her accent was annoying). The actors playing the two cops-for-hire were ok, but the constant one-liners they delivered got irritating pretty quick. The movie picked up steam near the end with some better than average special effects (which is probably where most of the budget went), which was a welcome relief from all the tedious exposition. Lovers of bad movies might want to try this one, but all others would do well to select something else to watch on Tubi.

OK horror fans, you have to keep in mind this is a goof. Not a SCARY MOVIE style spoof but more of a pre-SCREAM "hey it's 1989 and the trappings of this horror genre are pretty evident" goof. It's also supposed to be an indirect sequel to WITCHBOARD even though the notice at the bottom of the VHS box cover says it's not. Yes, there's an actually note on the box declaring "this in not a sequel" - have we have seen that before? Anyway I think it's great - ridiculous but great. Like, have 10 beers then press play great. Plus scream queen Linnea Quigley is in it and she elevates any production she's in (and elevates my pants IF you know what I'm talking about it).

I watched this great little gem of a horror movie a few years ago, and I'm ashamed to admit it. But I totally forgot about it!! So, I popped it back into the VCR a few weeks back and loved every minute of it!! I have to admit, though, that most of the cast did a terrible job. Most of them overacted. But that's ok, because it's still a great movie. Linnea Quigley did an excellent job as usual. I just wish that she would've been in it longer. The film was very creepy and suspenseful. It reminded me a lot of Kevin Tenney's other films. Night of the Demons (a personal favorite!), and Witchboard. Both were very well done horror films that had a lot of atmosphere and suspense. I recommend anyone who is a fan of Linnea Quigley or low budget horror, in general to check out this flick if you can find it. I hear it's out of print. But if you can find it, GET IT! It's great and you won't regret it. Despite what the other people say. 9 out of 10! Great fun!!

Disappointing follow-up film from Kevin S. Tenney, who showed great promise with Witchboard, is actually a ripoff of his own Witchboard and Night of the Demons. With awful special effects and ludicrous acting & direction not to metion a recylced script, this stands out as one of the worst horror films of the 80's. Not even good in a bad way.

Rated R; Nudity, Graphic Violence, and Profanity.

This comes across as so amateurish it's amazing it got made. The script is lazy and naive, the acting is by numbers. Gratuitous nudity adds nothing. Yet... somehow... it's almost impossible to turn off. Maybe you just end up wanting to see justice done, and nobody makes it out alive. Meh!