Director: Fabrizio Laurenti
Year: 1988
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: La casa 4; Witchcraft: Return of the Exorcist; The Haunted House; Evil Encounters
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Heading out to a remote hotel together, a seemingly disparate group of people looking at renovating the hotel are suddenly killed off one-by-one by a vengeful witch looking to use them to open a portal to Hell and forces them to come together to stop her and get away alive.
Review:
This turned out to be quite the enjoyable cheese-fest. One of the more likable elements is the fantastic sense of over-the-top supernatural activity that occurs due to the general setup. As the first half finds itself devoted to the woman-in-black bringing each of the different personalities to the area, from the inspector looking over the bought property from the previous owners, the pregnant wife’s nightmares about the older witch who previously lived there and the couple there researching it’s sordid past, there’s a great build-up here that makes for some wholly cheesy moments here with how they’re all brought to the hotel.
When they realize they’re stranded, the fun starts in earnest with the mysterious figure going off on the group. From the attack on the ferry driver that strands them there, the general sense of witchcraft-induced fun on the group escalates with the abduction and torment of the group one-by-one from around the hotel. Those torments get really creative at times, from a victim having their mouth stitched shut and placed unseen in a chimney before a warming fire is set, the screwing couple who get stretched and beaten who are later found to be graphically killed offer up cheesy fun throughout here. As well, with the rushed, frenzied finale that as plenty of cheese to be had on top of the other action, there’s some good points here.
The film does have a few flaws present. The biggest issue is the overall inability to make sense of anything that goes on since this never gives a believable answer. Nothing is explained about what her hallucination meant seeing the witch coven in the past, what the purpose of the witch living at the house was based on or even what the tortures for her revenge are supposed to be based on since they seem to be happening randomly to random people without any other design than the shock of what’s happening. There’s a lot of haphazard work done here for what is supposedly a major part of the film and lowers this one significantly.
That also leads into the film’s other flaw with the underwhelming and abrupt ending that comes out of nowhere and generates some big flaws. Once again, the idea of what happens here is completely unexplained as the one girl shows up possessed which isn’t explained how or why that occurs, much like the various confrontations that occur as they try to get away. Those actions are quite messy and rushed as this one tries to hurry up through its paces to get to the unneeded coda that adds nothing to this one. Combined with the cheesy effects showing their descent under the witches spell, these here are what hold this one back.
Overview: ***/5
A mostly enjoyable, over-the-top Italian cheesefest that fits right in line with their genre efforts from this time-period, there's quite a lot to like here even with a few minor flaws. Give this a look if you're into this late-80s style Italian horror efforts or are a fan of the creative crew, while those that aren't fans of either should heed caution.
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