Good old Vipco – you can always rely on them to screw up. This time they spoil the big twist ending on the back of their DVD release, so don't look too carefully unless you want to have the film ruined for you. HOUSE OF WITCHCRAFT is a minor but solid movie, similar to Lenzi's other offering, HOUSE OF LOST SOULS, in that it offers up a small cast being decimated by all sorts of weird stuff and cheesy special effects. Here, we get maggoty skeletons, a guest appearance by the Grim Reaper (!), a pair of garden shears being used for nefarious purposes, and a somnambulist. Best of all though, is the creepy witch, who appears in nightmare visions, pulling a really ugly expression with rows of rotted teeth. It's kind of funny but disturbing at the same time so plus marks for that one.
The plot is pretty predictable, but there's plenty of low-key stuff going on to keep you interested. The cast is the usual bunch of young no-hopers and some middle-aged Italian woman waiting to get bumped off. There's a little nudity and the chance to see the lead's most attractive wife in a negligee, which is worth the value alone. Lenzi's been watching SUSPIRIA too many times, as he throws in an old blind guy and his dog. The Roman-looking blind guy is played by the film's sole veteran actor, Paul Muller, who was acting in peplum stuff like AVENGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS thirty years previously. He gives the best performance of the lot. The lead is one Andy J. Forrest, who had starred in loads of Lenzi-directed low-budget stuff in the '80s like BRIDGE TO HELL as the typical American good-looking fresh-faced hero. He's not bad, but it got a bit annoying when he rubbed his hands over his face over and over again to simulate anguish.
Of course, there are some funny moments to be had. Cheesy tarot cards play their part again, and it starts snowing in the basement for some unknown reason. There's a girl with porridge stuck to her face and good use of a wax severed head, which is brought out to play over and over again. Watch out for a hand-puppet of a pigeon and an owl tied to a tree branch, two things to scare our hero. Gore is minimal, unfortunately. My favourite scenes are with the bespectacled boyfriend, a hilarious chap who runs about in the garden, gets sheared to death and falls down a bottomless well. It's all good fun.
The plot is pretty predictable, but there's plenty of low-key stuff going on to keep you interested. The cast is the usual bunch of young no-hopers and some middle-aged Italian woman waiting to get bumped off. There's a little nudity and the chance to see the lead's most attractive wife in a negligee, which is worth the value alone. Lenzi's been watching SUSPIRIA too many times, as he throws in an old blind guy and his dog. The Roman-looking blind guy is played by the film's sole veteran actor, Paul Muller, who was acting in peplum stuff like AVENGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS thirty years previously. He gives the best performance of the lot. The lead is one Andy J. Forrest, who had starred in loads of Lenzi-directed low-budget stuff in the '80s like BRIDGE TO HELL as the typical American good-looking fresh-faced hero. He's not bad, but it got a bit annoying when he rubbed his hands over his face over and over again to simulate anguish.
Of course, there are some funny moments to be had. Cheesy tarot cards play their part again, and it starts snowing in the basement for some unknown reason. There's a girl with porridge stuck to her face and good use of a wax severed head, which is brought out to play over and over again. Watch out for a hand-puppet of a pigeon and an owl tied to a tree branch, two things to scare our hero. Gore is minimal, unfortunately. My favourite scenes are with the bespectacled boyfriend, a hilarious chap who runs about in the garden, gets sheared to death and falls down a bottomless well. It's all good fun.
