| Hysterically bad "Exorcist" meets "The Shining" rip-off. This is one of the last gasps of the Italian horror world. By the late 80s the Italian horror world was pretty much run dry, but the legendary Joe D'Amato knew he could still make a go of it.
This movie is a collection of actors who may or may not have any grasp of the English language, the main female lead and the kid are both barely able to sputter out their lines with completely wrong tone so they sound almost alien.
Possession stalwart Linda Blair is there to show off some serious 80s hair and have premonitions of evil, and David Hasselhoff is there to lend an extra dose of creepy. There are a few good scenes, in the basement of hell where people get their lips sown together or torn on the rack. They are effective and creepy in that Dante's Inferno insanity kinda way.
While the elements are there to make a decent horror movie--a Dunwich Horror kinda' windswept location, creepy denizens of hell, and The Hoff--it really can't tie any of it together, which results in a movie that is more humorous than scary. |