Director: Jane Simpson
Year: 1996
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Witchcraft
Plot:
Stuck together over the holiday season, a group of Catholic school girls find that the restoration of the neighboring church holds a sealed chamber used in witchcraft and begin formulating how to raise demons and devils without being caught.
Review:
This one wasn't all that bad but really could've been a whole lot better. Most of what works here is centered around the copious nudity on display throughout here which comes off very nicely here as many of the performers are not only very worthy of doing this but it comes off much appreciated. This is quite nicely done through not only letting the girls strip down for just about any occasion possible but also in having very capable performers provide this abundance of nudity with incredibly attractive girls all throughout getting topless or even all the way naked which is quite a blessing here.
That also manages to give several scenes here a lot more wiggle room than they otherwise would, as the opening attack in the middle of their sacrificial ceremony is quite enjoyable with the bizarre attack on the naked girls being far more impressive than it should be, and their later incantations in the room make for quite a nice visual in the Gothic chamber as the entire feeling is a lot more pronounced than it really should be, while at other times it tends to be quite nicely exploitative as in the scenes of them showing off for the guys or seducing people which makes this all the more fun.
That makes up the other big part of this one as there's a rather fine air of Gothic dread and despair here with the promise of the school-girls in over their heads in regards to the appeal of the witchcraft and how it appeals to them with the dangerous games that they're playing. The main sequence of them using the incantations to actually go through with their plans is quite a nice overall showdown that makes for quite the fun finale as the race to use the one potion needed to keep them under control gets quite thrilling as the slowly- emerging demon hand is played off nicely as the fury-pitch to complete it in time gives this a nice set of enjoyment here that makes this quite fun.
There are a few small flaws, though, mainly in the fact that there's just not a whole lot of actual witchcraft and spells on display for the majority of the film and it really takes some steam out of the film. Though the film isn't boring or tedious, it tends to showcase their troubled behavior at school in lieu of getting to the discovery of the witchcraft and their powers, making this seem to feature them getting into it by total accident after the book's discovery and then being full-on witches the next day when we get back to them after following up on the other plot-lines, and that suddenness comes off rather jerky here by contrast.
There's not enough here to really give away the fact that the girls are truly into it as much as they should be considering the severity of the dark forces they're tampering with, and since there's no coercion by the main girl it all comes off pretty quickly and haphazard. The other issue here is the rather lame special effects that are just wholly unconvincing, with bland knifings that don't show any penetration, a puppet hand to simulate the demon claws rising from the mist, and a whole host of similarly easily spotted efforts employed to make this seem a lot more gruesome than it actually is, though there's just nothing about it that fools the audience. Otherwise, this one wasn't that bad.
Overview: ***/5
An appealing but flawed Gothic/Witchcraft effort, there are some rather likable parts to this one while still being let down by a series of flaws. Those who are fans of this type of fare or are curious about it would be the most likely for this one while most others out there should heed caution.
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