La casa 4 (Witchcraft) (1988)

User Rating:

3.3/10   

Director:

Fabrizio Laurenti

Writers:

Harry Spalding (writer)
Daniele Stroppa (writer)

Release Date:

8 December 1988 (West Germany)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A pregnant woman is taken back to the house of her husband's mother. There she begins to have strange nightmare about her child and step-family...

Plot Keywords:

Witchcraft | Sequel | Female Nudity | Demon Rape | Independent Film

Cast

David Hasselhoff	...	Gary
Linda Blair	...	Jane Brooks
Catherine Hickland	...	Linda Sullivan
Annie Ross	...	Rose Brooks
Hildegard Knef	...	Lady In Black
Leslie Cumming	...	Leslie
Robert Champagne	...	Freddie Brooks
Rick Farnsworth	...	Jerry Giordano
Michael Manchester	...	Tommy Brooks
Frank Cammarata	...	Tony Giordano
Victoria Biggers	...	Secretary
Ely Coughlin	...	Satan
Kara Lynch	...	Cindy
James Haynes	...	Jon (as James Hanes)
Richard Ladenburg	...	Sheriff
George Stevens	...	Fisherman

Directed by
Fabrizio Laurenti		(as Martin Newlin)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Harry Spalding		writer
Daniele Stroppa		writer

Produced by
Joe D'Amato	....	producer
Jim Hanson	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
Carlo Maria Cordio
Randy Miller

Cinematography by
Gianlorenzo Battaglia

Film Editing by
Kathleen Stratton		(as Rosanna Landi)

Casting by
Werner Pochath		(as Paul Werner)

Art Direction by
Alex Colby

Production Management
Annie Jurgielewicz	....	production manager

Art Department
Julie Duncan	....	props

Sound Department
Michael Barry	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Maurizio Trani	....	special effects
Maurizio Trani	....	special makeup

Stunts
Brian Ricci	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Bates	....	still photographer
Ken Davis	....	assistant camera
Bobby Douglass	....	electrician
Lee Hughes	....	grip
Ben Miller	....	electrician
Syd Potter	....	grip
John Wynn	....	camera operator
Paolo Tiberti	....	grip (uncredited)

Editorial Department
David Shaw	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Jane Bailey	....	script supervisor
Walter Kelly	....	production accountant
Michael Peavey	....	helicopter pilot (as Mike Peavey)

Production Companies

• Filmirage S.r.l.

Distributors

• FilmExport Group (international)
• Colourbox (UK) (VHS)
• Esplanade Filmverleih (1989) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Irfan Film (1989) (Turkey) (all media)
• Vidmark Entertainment (USA) (video)

Also Known As:

Evil Dead 4 (Italy) (informal title)
Evil Encounters (USA) (working title)
Ghosthouse 2 (UK) (video title)
Malefiche presenze (Italy)
Witchcraft (Europe: English title)
Witchcraft: Return of the Exorcist (Philippines: English title)
Witchery (USA)

Runtime:

95 min | USA:96 min (uncut version)

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | France:-12 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Filmirage S.r.l.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the helicopter leaves the island, it is the middle of the night when Leslie and Gary first go into the house, yet it is the middle of the day when they finally get upstairs - all in the space of a few seconds.

Quotes:

Leslie: God you scared me.
Gary: Who were you expecting? The Phantom of the Opera?

Movie Connections:

References Sunset Blvd. (1950)

Excellent setting

I recently picked this up on VHS under the title "Ghosthouse 2", although it has nothing at all to do with the original Ghosthouse film. I was expecting it to be terrible, after reading IMDb reviews, but it actually turned out to be OK. The setting of the film is what gets the most marks from me - I love seeing the shots of the house and island from the sea. It's THE perfect setting for a horror film. I do think it was a little wasted on this particular film though. Never mind.

The film itself isn't too bad, it just drags a bit in some places and I didn't like the witchcraft theme. I found the scenes where people are transported via that "Doctor Who" style vortex extremely cringe-making. It looked like something from a cheap 80's sci-fi film! Other than that I thought the death of the old woman was excellent - she gets her lips sewn together and is hung upside down above a lit fireplace. She can't scream for help and the others have no idea she's there. Now there's an original death for you! The parts where the helicopter flies around the house are also excellent - the people inside can't signal for help because the house has trapped them inside.

I would recommend horror fans to give this a watch, it's silly and boring at times but the good bits make up for that.