Leofwine_draca
DEATH SPA is an ultra-cheesy slasher movie of the late 1980s notable for featuring a series of gory deaths at a health spa, of all places, bringing back some of the cheesy memories from AEROBICIDE. This film also contains a sequence of gory special effects which may not be quite as gruesome as you've heard, but which still pack a punch, so kudos to the FX guys for working hard.The story is about the owner of a health spa plagued by mysterious accidents and deaths. His gorgeous girlfriend, played by cult favourite Brenda Bakke, gets nude and blinded in the film's arresting opening sequence. The owner soon suspects the ghost of his dead ex-girlfriend is the one responsible and eventually the mystery is solved, but only after lots of badly-acting extraneous characters are bumped off by bizarre methods. It's certainly a cheesy, dated, and low budget film, but it also has an endearing quality to it I rather liked.
RevRonster
You don't sit down to a film called "Death Spa" and expect artfully crafted horror filled with terror, suspense, tension and deep characters and creative death sequences. No, you expect cheese and this film gives it to you! "Death Spa" is terribly made and is filled with bad acting, atrocious editing, a story that pretty much makes no logical sense and terrible practical effects and death sequences. But all the bad things this film throws at you mixes together to create something magically entertaining. Yes, this film is one of those "it's so bad its good" ordeals and it is the perfect feature to gather with friends and riff the night away. And the best part is this film is so terribly made that you don't even have to make fun of it to laugh. It's pretty much an accidental comedy and that's why it is so fun to watch.
Scott LeBrun
Things are starting to go seriously awry at the Starbody Health Spa. When patron Laura Danvers (Brenda Bakke) is blinded in a sauna accident, that's merely a sign of things to come. Soon people are perishing in bizarre ways. What's the cause of all this? Could it be the computer system running things, or the weirdo, David Avery (Merritt Butrick, in his final film) who designed this damn system? Or maybe a year old suicide by self-immolation has something to do with it.The script is really rather poor, but if one is a fan of the silly cheeseball horror of the 1980s, that shouldn't matter too much. The movie itself is clumsy and crude, with less than slick direction by Michael Fischa. But there's plenty to be amused with, nevertheless, as the fairly lean 88 minute run time contains a smattering of bare breasts and entertainingly tacky mechanical and makeup effects. The acting is mostly underwhelming, to put it charitably. William Bumiller as spa owner Michael Evans is a hunky but stiff lead. Actresses such as Bakke, Alexa Hamilton, and Shari Shattuck provide delectable eye candy. The cast is full of familiar faces: Ken Foree, Rosalind Cash, Francis X. McCarthy, Chelsea Field, Joseph Whipp, Tane McClure, Vanessa Bell Calloway, and Karyn Parsons. Peter D. Kaye contributes a passable music score. The movie features what has to be one of the worst closing credits tunes ever heard by this viewer. The pacing is so-so; the proceedings get particularly goofy when the parapsychologist played by Whipp is brought into the plot. At least "Death Spa" delivers a respectably wild finale and reasonably high body count. The routine ending is pretty much par for the course.Worth a gander for completists of '80s horror.Six out of 10.
morrison-dylan-fan
After having gone to the amazing two day horror festival Foree Fest,i went round trying to find other films that Ken Foree has been in,and while this film is not up their with the classic horror film Foree gas been in)Dawn of the Dead and The Devils Rejecks)This is still a very enjoyable thriller/horror B-Movie.The plot: Ome of the main investors of a very successful gym/spa Michael(who's wife had killed herself in a very strange way,)girlfriend is at the spa,and she ends up getting very badly burnt.And as other people star to get hurt,Michael starts to think that the spas big brother-style computer system is being tamped with,and he thinks that the person doing this is the brother of his deceased wife.But he starts to find out that his wife is not happy,that he did not die with her..View on the Film: The screenplay:The screenplay is by James Bartruff and Mich Paradise and it seems to be stuck in choosing what type of film it should be,in that the big brother part of the film is really interesting,due to how much we depend on computers now,but the film fails when it turns into another post-Friday the 13th style slasher.(thought the ribs and the fish deaths are great fun)But the rest of the deaths just really drain the clever side of the story.Final view on the film: A really enjoyable film,thats stuck between being a B-horror movie and a pretty clever thriller.
AD
