Spunky college student Jenny (a breezy and engaging performance by the pretty Laurie Walters, who also popped up in "The Harrad Experiment" around the same time and later became a regular on the fluffy 70's sitcom "Eight Is Enough") and goofy aspiring newspaper reporter John (winningly played by Joe Spano, who went on to become a prominent cast member of the gritty 80's police TV drama "Hill Street Blues) take a road trip across the California countryside and discover an old, abandoned and decrepit health spa during their travels. They also meet and befriend nice elderly lady Agnes Abercrombie (a pleasingly lively turn by wizened old crone Edna Macafee). Moreover, our young couple discover much to their dismay that rumors of the old spa being a front for a crazed cannibal cult aren't nearly as far-fetched as they initially thought.
Director William Herbert elicits uniformly solid acting from the entire cast (Walters and Spano in particular are very likable and impressive), keeps the pace bumping along at a steady clip, stages the shock scenes with a reasonable amount of flair, and effectively creates an eerie, mysterious and unnerving creeped-out atmosphere that's both strangely compelling and oddly unsettling in comparable measure. Charles R. Blaker's funky score neatly alternates between groovy'n'jazzy lounge tunes and more typically shivery'n'shuddery "scary" music. Larry Secrest's grainy, unpolished cinematography gives the film an appealingly rough'n'ragged look while making artful use of such fancy flourishes as dissolves, freeze frames and slow motion. John Sykes' well-plotted script offers an intriguing set-up, a few dandy surprise twists, and a truly horrific climax. Excellent quintessentially 70's downbeat nihilistic ending, too. A bit slow, static and talky in spots, but overall a genuinely spooky and satisfying little fright film sleeper.
Director William Herbert elicits uniformly solid acting from the entire cast (Walters and Spano in particular are very likable and impressive), keeps the pace bumping along at a steady clip, stages the shock scenes with a reasonable amount of flair, and effectively creates an eerie, mysterious and unnerving creeped-out atmosphere that's both strangely compelling and oddly unsettling in comparable measure. Charles R. Blaker's funky score neatly alternates between groovy'n'jazzy lounge tunes and more typically shivery'n'shuddery "scary" music. Larry Secrest's grainy, unpolished cinematography gives the film an appealingly rough'n'ragged look while making artful use of such fancy flourishes as dissolves, freeze frames and slow motion. John Sykes' well-plotted script offers an intriguing set-up, a few dandy surprise twists, and a truly horrific climax. Excellent quintessentially 70's downbeat nihilistic ending, too. A bit slow, static and talky in spots, but overall a genuinely spooky and satisfying little fright film sleeper.