The House of Witchcraft is a 1989 horror film intended for showing on Italian TV and exporting worldwide. It is one of four films in the ‘Doomed House’ series. The others were Umberto Lenzi’s The House of Lost Souls, Lucio Fulci’s The Sweet House of Horrors and The House of Clocks.
Written and directed by Umberto Lenzi (Nightmare Beach; Ghosthouse; Eaten Alive; Nightmare City; Free Hand for a Tough Cop; Eyeball; Knife of Ice; Seven Blood-Stained Orchids; The Man from the Deep River; Paranoia) from a story by Gianfranco Clerici and Daniele Stroppa. The soundtrack score was composed by Claudio Simonetti [as Claude King] (Demons; Tenebrae).
The Dania Film-Reteitalia co-production stars Andy J. Forest, Sonia Petrovna, Susanna Martinková, Marina Giulia Cavalli, Paul Muller, Maria Stella Musy, Alberto Frasca, Maria Cumani Quasimodo, Cesare Di Vito, Tom Felleghy.
Reviews:
“Lenzi makes a film that may not be a narrative wonder, but if you made a supercut of all its weirdest scenes, you’d find a priest being beaten to death with a crowbar by a witch, a boyfriend chopped into pieces and dumped down a well and a basement where it snows and the daughter becomes a ghost. And maggots!” B&S About Movies
“The production values are fair, the music score’s OK, there’s a decent shooting location as well as some blood (including several decapitations) and brief nudity (which doesn’t happen until the last ten minutes). Cast-wise, the actress playing the old witch does an effective enough job and it’s nice to see genre vet Muller again. Sadly, all of the positives are constantly at odds with the terribly muddled plotting and laughable dialogue…” ★½ The Bloody Pit of Horror
“The final revelation and the circular ending are in tune with the genre’s staples [….] The plot has its share of inconsistencies (not to mention a ridiculous car accident near the beginning) but compared with Lenzi’s horror films of the late 1980s the direction is less ham-fisted, with some oddly surreal moments such as the scene of the snowfall in the cellar.” Roberto Curti, Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1980-1989
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“When you play the basement blizzard card with no explanation, the rest of it just reeks of running up the score on all those other also-ran made-for-Italian-cable-TV-movies. If only Umberto had thought to use that head in the cauldron bit just one more time. Oh, wait! He did!” Monster Hunter
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Cast and characters:
Andy J. Forest … Luke Palmer; Sonia Petrovna … Martha Palmer; Susanna Martinková … Doctor Elsa Palmer; Marina Giulia Cavalli … Sharon Mason; Paul Muller … Andrew Mason; Maria Stella Musy … Debra Palmer; Alberto Frasca … Steven; Maria Cumani Quasimodo … Witch; Cesare Di Vito … Policeman; Tom Felleghy … Police Inspector
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Country of origin:
Italy
Filming locations:
Rufina, Firenze, Italy
Alternate titles:
La casa del sortilegio – Italy ‘The House of Spells’
La casa dei sortilegi – Italy (alternate title)
Ghosthouse 4: Haus der Hexen – Germany
Totentanz der Hexen II – Germany
Technical specs:
1 hour 26 minutes
Stereo
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
Related:
Thanks to highly recommended The Bloody Pit of Horror for some images
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