Dreams in the Witch-House

This simply works. Lovecraft's original adaptation may have been abused here, (and if you expect a short horror film to match your expectations from a book you read 25 years ago that's your problem) but I'm guessing most have never read it anyway. Surely not 5 star for effects or cast but nonetheless the story itself and main character's acting are fantastic. What I loved most about this show is that unlike most 'horror movies' these days, the final moments left me hanging, left me in suspense, criticizing the TV, and then they fixed it. Most shows are too lazy to clean up after themselves but this one, it takes care of that.

Certainly not anticlimactic. My review in summation is sit back for a 2 bit thrill ride and you will get your money's worth.

Though I have to hope Lovecraft has some better stories out there, Stuart Gordon did a great job adapting this one. Though it certainly pales in comparison to Re-Animator or Dagon, his knack for capturing Lovecraft's style of "cosmic horror" shines once again. Ezra Godden, star of Gordons's Dagon, returns as yet another ill-fated Miskatonic student. Id really like to see this guy in some more movies, he was great in both this and Dagon, though the characters are admittedly quite similar. I wont spoil the ending for you, but the final scene involving Ezra's character is very, very cool, and not just any actor could pull it off as well as he. The supporting cast is also very good; the hotel manager reminded me a lot of the same character from Basket Case. Though we could have done without her nude scene, Chelah Horsdal was very convincing. The plot left a bit to be desired, but I guess thats just because I'm not a big fan of movies about witches in general. The ending was very surprising, but no worries I'm not going to ruin it for you. I recommend checking this out for yourself...not as good as Carpenter's Cigarette Burns that it comes packaged with, but it's close.

8/10

A college student (Ezra Godden) moves into a boarding house to write his thesis. He soon wishes that he'd stayed on campus when a mysterious portal opens in his room, unleashing a witch and her bizarre "familiar".

Horror and much weirdness ensue.

Director Stuart Gordon once again employs the world of H. P. Lovecraft to create one of the better MASTERS OF HORROR entries. Gordon infuses the classic story with his signature brand of gushy gore and humor, while retaining the Lovecraftian gloom.

A pleasantly bleak experience...

The university student Walter Gilman (Ezra Godden) moves to a very low-budget room in an old house. He becomes close to Frances Elwood (Chelah Horsdal), his next door neighbor, and her baby son Danny after saving them from a huge rat. While studying for his thesis, Walter listens to noises in the first floor, and finds the tenant Masurewicz (Campbell Lane) praying and hitting his head on a chair. The old man advises him about a rat with a man's face and a witch that would be after him, and offers a crucifix for his protection. Walter ignores the advice, and has nightmares along the night. When Frances asks Walter to be the babysitter of Bobby for a couple of hours, Walter is lured by the witch, who pretends to be Frances, and he is marked on his back. Later he realizes that the evil witch is Keziah Mason (Susanna Uchatius) and the rat is her assistant Brown Jenkin (Yevgen Voronin), and they want him to sacrifice Bobby in an ancient ritual to the devil.

This episode of "Masters of Horror" is a gore witch tale, with a good story and performances. I like this kind of horror movie that is not corny and in this case does not spare a baby and the lead character. It was good to see Stuart Gordon, the director of "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond", back in a good horror movie. I only regret that the show is less than fifty-five minutes running time and was released in Brazil in an expensive DVD. The series "Masters of Horror" is not aired on cable television in Brazil, and the viewer must rent or buy the DVD to see this series, and each episode is released in one DVD. Therefore, why not a box with all the episodes? My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sonhos na Casa da Bruxa" ("Dreams in the Witch-House")

As a long time appreciator of Lovecraft's work, I would simply like to thank Mr. Gordon for his effort. Dreams in the Witch House remains one of my favorite Lovecraft tales. Mr. Gordon has done a commendable job with respect to this piece. I have often wondered what would be involved in rendering Lovecraft's better tales for the screen without botching the job totally. Here Mr. Gordon demonstrates what can be done on a limited budget with a short Lovecraftian story.

All told, it's a shame someone doesn't hand him carte blanche to try his hand at one of Lovecraft's more ambitious works. Wouldn't if be fine to see a respectable rendition of something like "At the Mountains of Madness" or "The Rats in the Walls"? As for my personal favorite, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," it's been done (Vincent Price, et al, qv) but wouldn't it be nice to see it done right and without so much of the tongue-in-cheek?