Witchery

1989 "It can seduce your soul"
4.3| 1h35m| R| en| More Info
Released: 06 July 1989 Released
Producted By: Filmirage
Country: Italy
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A student and her photographer boyfriend visit an island off of Massachusetts to research a hotel supposedly haunted by a witch.

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Reviews

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?
Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype
Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
Michael Ledo Nothing says 80s like David Hasselhoff and Linda Blair. The film opens with an event that took place in the past of a pregnant woman being hunted down on an island hotel. Leslie (Leslie Cumming) is a virgin doing paranormal studies at this site along with her frustrated photographer boyfriend Hasselhoff. As the hotel is for sale a group of rich people, including the expected Linda Blair come to the location...all of which is an elaborated plan by a dead witch who wants to kill off a few in the group. The group is stuck in the house during a storm, but Tom Bodett keeps the light on for them, so how scary can it be?Yes. Totally 80's. Acting par on a Hassellhoff scale. Made for TV type sound track. Almost campy looking back at it.Parental guide: rape. nudity (Leslie Cumming)
capkronos There are many different versions of this one floating around, so make sure you can locate one of the unrated copies, otherwise some gore and one scene of nudity might be missing. Some versions also omit most of the opening sequence and other bits here and there. The cut I saw has the on-screen title WITCHCRAFT: EVIL ENCOUNTERS and was released by Shriek Show, who maintain the original US release title WITCHERY for the DVD release. It's a nice-looking print and seems to have all of the footage, but has some cropping/aspect ratio issues. In Italy, it was released as LA CASA 4 (WITCHCRAFT). The first two LA CASA releases were actually the first two EVIL DEAD films (retitled) and the third LA CASA was another film by the same production company (Filmirage), which is best known here in America as GHOSTHOUSE. To make matters even more confusing, WITCHERY was also released elsewhere as GHOSTHOUSE 2. Except in Germany, where GHOSTHOUSE 2 is actually THE OGRE: DEMONS 3. OK, I better just shut up now. I'm starting to confuse myself!Regardless of the title, this is a very hit-or-miss horror effort. Some of it is good, some of it isn't. I actually was into this film for the first half or so, but toward the end it became a senseless mess. A large, vacant hotel located on an island about 50 miles from Boston is the setting, as various people get picked off one-by-one by a German- speaking witch (Hildegard Knef). Photographer Gary (David Hasselhoff), who wants to capture "Witch Light," and his virginal writer girlfriend (Leslie Cumming), who is studying witchcraft, are shacking up at the hotel without permission. Along comes real estate agent Jerry (Rick Farnsworth), who's showing off the property to potential buyers Rose (Annie Ross) and Freddie (Robert Champagne) Brooks. Also tagging along are their children; pregnant grown daughter Jane (Linda Blair) and very young son Tommy (Michael Manchester), as well as oversexed architect Linda Sullivan (Catherine Hickland - Hasselhoff's wife at the time). Once everyone is inside, their boat driver is killed (hung) and the boat disappears, so they find themselves trapped and basically at the mercy of the "Lady in Black."So what can you expect to find here? Plenty of unpleasantries! One of the characters has their lips sewn shut and is then hung upside down in the fireplace and accidentally slow-roasted by the rest of the cast. There's also a crucifixion, witches eating a dead baby, a swordfish through the head, someone set on fire, a possession, a Sesame Street tape recorder, the virgin getting raped by some demon, a guys veins bulging and exploding thanks to voodoo doll pokes and some other stuff. From a technical standpoint, it's a nice-looking film with pretty good cinematography, a decent score and good gore effects. The hotel/island setting is also pretty nice. Blair (particularly at the end) and Ross both seem like they're having fun and Knef is great as the evil witch. Even though people like to ridicule Hasselhoff these days, he's not bad in his role, either.On the down side, despite all the gore, the film seems somewhat dull and it gets monotonous after about an hour. The supernatural themes are muddled and confusing, too. When characters are being swept into the witches lair to be tortured and killed, the filmmakers unwisely decided to superimpose the screaming actors over some silly looking red spiral vortex effect that looks supremely cheesy. And the witch lair itself is vacant and cheaply designed with unfinished lumber. And while most of the cast is at least decent, a few of the performances (particularly the "actress" who plays Hasselhoff's girlfriend and the kid) are so bad they're constantly distracting.
itsmrbigtoyou *Please note: (The below text is taken from the Irish DVD Release). Some of this summary MAY be wrong:Edge-of-your-seat chiller, in which The Legacy of an ancient Witch and her bloodthirsty coven causes a deserted island hotel to become the embodiment of evil two Centuries later.When an inquisitive photographer (David Hasselhoff, Baywatch, Knight Rider) and his virginal fiancée (Linda Blair, The Exorcist) creep onto the island to research its gruesome history, they are joined by an unwit- ting estate agent and his prospective buyers.Gradually the group find themselves falling victim to the ancient evil that lives on in the mysterious old woman who roams the hotel, seeking fresh victims for Satanic rites, human sacrifice and demon- ic possession...Check in at the Witchcraft hotel... we hope you enjoy your SLAY!Additional Info. on the movies contents:Violence: Some gruesome, sexual violence - VERY STRONG!Sex and/or nudity: Some strong, as well as innuendo.Bad language: Some, strong.Other: Some drug use and references.
Woodyanders I must confess that I've been a huge fan of the almighty David "the Hoff" Hasselhoff ever since he starred in the hit 80's TV series "Knight Rider." Whether it's his extraordinary debut as a libidinous high school basketball player in the hilariously raunchy "Revenge of the Cheerleaders" or his brilliant portrayal of a dashing prince in the schlocky sci-fi gem "Starcrash," the Hoff has proved time and time again that he's a simply terrific (and shamefully underrated) actor supreme. The Hoff excels here as Gary, a cynical and skeptical photographer who along with his repressed virginal writer girlfriend Leslie (attractive brunette Leslie Cummings) investigates a seedy dilapidated haunted hotel located on a remote island off the coast of Massachussetts. They're doing research on witchcraft throughout the ages and the hotel's last owner was an actress who allegedly practiced the black arts. A bickering family also shows up on the premises to check out the hotel. Pretty soon various folks begin to get bumped off in assorted gruesome ways by the mysterious Lady in Black (an effectively eerie Hildegard Knef).Granted, the rest of the cast gives the Hoff a run for his money: the ever-perky Linda Blair projects her customary charming flair as a spunky pregnant woman who winds up becoming possessed (natch!), legendary jazz singer Annie Ross bitches it up with gleeful aplomb as a snippy old bat (poor Annie winds up being incinerated alive after she has her lips sewn shut and she's hung upside down in a chimney), and gorgeous blonde Catherine Hickland oozes considerable sex appeal from every fetching pore as a lusty slut. Fabrizio Laurenti's competent direction, a suitably creepy atmosphere, Gianlorenzo Battaglia's slick, glossy cinematography (the fluid prowling Steadicam tracking shots are especially nice), the gaudy special effects, Carlo Maria Cordio and Randy Miller's spirited shuddery'n'spooky score, and the gory, sadistic violence are all up to par. But ultimately it's the tremendously dynamic and charismatic presence of the one and only the Hoff which makes this choice tasty chunk of tacky Italian horror cheese such a winner: He takes his shirt off once (hubba hubba!), gets sprayed with blood, and -- WARNING: Major *SPOILER* ahead -- even meets a pleasingly grisly untimely end. Produced by none other than Joe D'Amato, this picture overall rates as good, sleazy fun.