Witchcraft IV: The Virgin Heart

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.

The fourth film in the neverending Witchcraft series finds Will Spanner (Charles Solomon) hired by Lily Wild (Lisa Jay Harrington) to help her brother Pete (Orien Richman) when he's the number one suspect in the disappearance of his girlfriend Norah (Sunset Thomas).

Will and Lisa find a matchbox for a club, the Covenant, at the scene of the crime. Will goes to the club to check things out and finds an attractive stripper named Belladonna (Julie Strain). Mr. Spanner becomes fascinated with Belladonna and what secrets the club may be hiding. His search leads him to a musician Santara, who may or may not be the key to things.

Boring!

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...

I watched the first three movies in this series just over a year ago, took a year off as I didn't really enjoy any of them, but thought alright let's get back into the WITCHCRAFT series. Then comes this dud.

Supposedly 3 years after part 3 a girl named Nora Breckenridge (Diane Thomas or Sunset Thomas as she is better known in the adult films she made) goes missing. The cops think her boyfriend is the culprit. He is played by Orien Richman as Pete Wild...no really that's the character's name. His sister Lily (Lisa Jay Harrington) hires Will Spanner (Charles Solomon) to be his lawyer. He then connects it to a stripper named Belladonna (Julie Strain) who he begins to tail to find out what happened.

I feel bad for Solomon as this was his third and final WITCHCRAFT flick and really what a terrible way to go. His character has really been reduced almost nothing as times when he should be doing something to help himself or other people he does nothing and ends up peeping in Lily's window watching her undress as well before it fades to the next scene. Horribly lit as you feel like they didn't have enough money to even turn the lights on. Horrible sound as half the time you can hardly pick out what the actors are saying. Horribly directed as you generally go from one extremely long, boring shot to the next and any scene may in fact only have two shots in it. This movie seems so much cheaper than the earlier entries, which is really saying something. Not sure how I am going to get through the rest of the endless series.

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.