wes-connors Near an abandoned old house, a young couple parked for sex is interrupted by pranksters. The pair gets spooked off, and then the area is visited by a real monster. This turns out to be a witch drowned in a swampy pool of water on the property, probably. The angry 300-year-old creature intends to grab the entire cast, one-by-one, and murder them in ways which show the greatest amount of gore permitted for the cameras, apparently. This is all happening for reasons which will likely leave your brain immediately after they are explained, in forgettable flashback...Our star is handsome wavy-haired reverend James Houghton (as David Thompson). He helps get the house ready for the family of alcoholic fellow reverend Larry Pennell (as George Leahy) and his wife Lynn Carlin (as Melinda). Police investigator Albert Salmi (as Sturgess) and Mr. Houghton stick around for the murders. They admire Mr. Pennell's nubile daughters Heidi Bohay (as Ann) and Maylo McCaslin (as Sheryl). They are admirable. Other than that and the gore, it's nice to see little brother Billy Jayne-Jacoby (as Justin) shares my glass-dusting finger check.***** Superstition (8/26/82) James W. Roberson ~ James Houghton, Albert Salmi, Larry Pennell, Lynn Carlin

RecceR A family moves into a condemned New England house where a witch was executed by drowning in the pond on the property. I had never heard of this movie until a few days ago, but it seemed very interesting. Unfortunately, this movie was a big letdown considering the positive things I've read about it. Superstition is basically 90 minutes of bad acting and bad storytelling with some very gory (and surprisingly well crafted) death sequences. There were a few interesting parts of the movie, but they are overshadowed by this poorly executed film. I heard the score was changed, so the one in the version I watched may not have been the original. However, the score was an exact rip-off of The Shining (1980). I feel like I probably gave a rating slightly higher than it deserves, but I can't help but think about how much potential this movie had. I probably wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but if you stumble onto it for free and are bored, go for it.

Scott LeBrun "Superstition" is a solid little shocker from a decade that certainly didn't lack for quality horror. Fans of the genre are sure to find it enjoyable, as it possesses an extremely potent atmosphere and very high body count. It was an early credit for producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, head honchos of the Carolco company which churned out its fair share of entertaining genre pictures in the 1980s. The story deals with a hideous, vengeance crazed disciple of Satan who was supposedly executed in the 17th century but who now lives on to terrorize all who come to a particular country house and rural area. It begins with a bang; its opening set piece ends with the ingenious chopping in half of one poor schmuck and the decapitated head of another exploding in a microwave. There's also an ingenious kill later on involving a runaway saw blade. Hardcore horror lovers will be pleased with the relish director James W. Roberson brings to these sequences, as well as the unrelenting sense of doom and gloom. The film is very much wholesale slaughter and there is absolutely no guarantee of any characters' survival. Things start out grim and just keep getting grimmer. Of course, there are still some moments that lighten the mood a *little*, such as one sexy young woman snapping at another, "Shut your bitchy mouth!" when the latter complains about their father. One great thing that the film has is a European sort of flavour, especially in its extended flashback sequences showing the fate of the witch, and the curse she would place on all. Gore effects, cinematography, and production design are all excellent. And the music score, reminiscent of the work that rock band Goblin did for Dario Argento and others, is impressive. As one might expect, the acting, while not bad, ultimately takes a back seat to everything else. James Houghton is bland but likable enough in the role of the heroic young priest, Albert Salmi is in fine grumpy form as a local detective, Larry Pennell and Lynn Carlin are good as a drunken minister and his wife, Jacquelyn Hyde (wonderful name) and Carole Goldman are both memorable as a doomsayer and the witch, respectively, and Billy Jayne of other genre fare like "Cujo" and "Bloody Birthday" can be seen as the ministers' son. This is genuinely spooky and nasty stuff and definitely fun. It's very well paced and has one of the more entertaining wrap-ups this viewer has seen. Well worth watching. Eight out of 10.

Aaron1375 This horror film from 1982 was not to bad. For the most part I liked it, I would have enjoyed it more if it had maintained its super fast start where there were killings every few moments. It gets a bit slow there after a certain point and begins to get to talky, however it picks up near the end and finishes well enough to turn it from a bad film to an okay one. The story has this house that is very much cursed as it is the site of one tragedy after another. I mean, there is so much going on within the first few minutes of the film that they really should have like just condemned the place and forbid people from getting anywhere near it. Seriously, when a saw blade pops off and has enough force to kill a person then I do not care what your rationale is, you should definitely get the heck out. Instead, in this movie they move a family of five in. A reverend, his wife, their son, and their way to attractive daughters. Seriously, these two were way to hot to be the couple in this movie's two daughters. Well another reverend and a detective try to unravel the mystery, and they do so very poorly as by the end lets just say not to many survivors to be found. Of course, the police quickly suspect the mute guy, while the reverend is not to sure, however by the time he figures things out it is basically to late. The deaths are pretty good for the time as there are some interesting deaths like a microwave scene, a saw blade, and a nasty impaling. However, it does get dull after a certain point, before the end when the final killing spree occurs, there is the question of what was the point of the little girl which I know who she was, I just do not understand why as she disappeared for much of the movie kind of making her seem like a pointless inclusion. Also, it seemed like a lot of times the music was copying "The Shining". Overall though I enjoyed it.