Witchouse (1999 Video) User Reviews

The Witchouse Project

[superman1 · 3/10 · 12 May 2017]

To have two sequels, this film must have been a success which surprised Fool Moon, and can only be due to its half-namesake, The Blair Witch Titanic.

To end this review, there is more fake thunder and lightning in this film than all other films combined in history. I underexaggerate, because one might have {lightning and thunder} to include a few real ones {thunder and lightning} too. But {thunder, lightning} this could cause anyone with epilepsy to be {lightning, then thunder} killed. If not cured. Or cause it in one without it {thunder and soon the lightning}. This alone makes it almost unwatchable and unhearable. I kill you not, this {thunder while lightning} {lightning and thunder} goes {thunder and lightning} on until {lightning and thunder} the very end. It is that much. It's always overhead {lightning and thunder then lightning too} too, because the {thunder} thunder almost comes before the lightning {lightning} every time. {No thunder. Thunder.} It is set in {thunder, before lightning} one house, until when they come outside. The End.

I did partly enjoy the guy who couldn't help taking off that guy in the original FrightNight, with his weird way of talking like he had a lighting and thunder rod on his head. And there is some Fullish Moon humour between humans, witch I laughed at. But by far the highlight is the eary metallic thunder and studio lightning which stole every scene, as if it would go dark otherwise or the film would run out. But it did not. Watch The Titanic Blair Witch Project inhomestead.

Poor effort from Full Moon!

[manchester_england2004 · 3/10 · 4 November 2010]

WITCHOUSE is a typical witch-seeks-revenge movie from Full Moon Pictures.

In this effort, an descendant of the witch in question invites the descendants of those who killed her to a party, where she intends to kill them off.

As anyone who has seen Full Moon movies knows, they are very much hit-and-miss. They have produced some real low-budget gems such as DEATHBED, BLEED and CASTLE FREAK. But there are also lesser works such as PUPPETMASTER or SKINNED ALIVE in their portfolio.

WITCHOUSE is one of the worst offerings I have seen from them. It is said to be a rip-off of NIGHT OF THE DEMONS. I have seen that movie myself. It is not much better but the comparisons are not far wrong.

Believe it or not, I actually saw the second sequel to WITCHOUSE, WITCHOUSE 3: DEMON FIRE beforehand. The sequel, whilst far from being great, is much better than the plodding waste of time that the original comprises of.

The individual scenes along with the dialogue are actually not that bad. It is the execution, particularly the acting, that is the major problem.

The worst actress of the lot is Ashley McKinney. Elizabeth should have been creepy and sinister. But Miss McKinney's portrayal was lifeless. The séance scene where Elizabeth tells the "guests" about Lilith just seemed to go on and on. She uttered every line in a very monotonous manner, without emotion or energy.

The villainess of the piece - Lilith - as depicted here is one of the most laughable creations I have seen. She is much more menacing in DEMON FIRE, where she has a COMPLETELY different appearance and is played by a different actress.

The protagonists are dull, uninteresting teenagers who are clearly played by actors well into their 20s. Brad and Maria are a sex-craved couple who do nothing but that. Scott was the "nerd" who did not seem the least bit scared of anything. Tony was an absolute moron. Janet was an annoying tomboy. Jack was an unlikely hero. And Jennifer was just plain dull.

The direction is flat and the special effects are lousy. I know this is a mega low-budget movie. But this is no excuse. DEMON FIRE does better on a budget that is stated on this site to be just $26,000. The latter movie includes a strobe lighting effect that is very effective.

The background music should have been ominous but instead just added to the dreary tone of the camera-work.

Oh, and if you're looking for nudity, you're certainly in the wrong place!

Overall, WITCHOUSE is an incredibly dull witch-seeks-revenge movie. I would advise people to skip this one. I don't know what WITCHOUSE 2 is like but WITCHOUSE 3: DEMON FIRE is certainly a better movie than the original. I would recommend the latter movie to fans of Full Moon or straight-to-DVD horror movies. I would advise others to check out a British movie called TERROR, directed by Norman J. Warren. This creepy, atmospheric and suspenseful movie demonstrates how a witch-seeking-revenge movie should be done!

Pathetic crap!

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 4/10 · 27 October 2002]

I was always a Full Moon's horror fan,but this film is a total waste of time.The characters are completely one-dimensional,there's absolutely no suspense-even the gore is absent!The cast is horrible-of course the girls are nice to look at.The special effects are really cheesy-the film is quite boring,but if you have enough time to kill...3 out of 10-watch "Re-Animator" or "Shadowzone" instead!

Full Moon Failure

[Rubbed Raw · 2/10 · 21 March 2001]

Probably the worst Full Moon Video I have ever seen. The acting, direction, and writing were all weak. The film only clocked in at 65 minutes, which in principal offends me, but in this case it was a blessing not to have to sit through another 25 minutes. Can it be true that they made a sequel to this disaster? Something tells me I won't be renting it.

Complete Piece of #@!*

[DanzWMe · 1/10 · 9 November 2020]

Horrible all around! I'm a fan of bad B movie horror that's so bad it's good but this is not even that. This is -D horror movie minus any horror. Plot is horrible & acting is horribly worse. One female character is so annoying you hope for her to go fast & horribly painfully. Turns out it was Brooke Mueller, ex-wife addict of Charlie Sheen. It's unbearable to watch but I made myself finish it to see if it had any redeeming moments - it doesn't. Just dumb characters who behaved in ways no real person would in that scenario. Just so dumb! A complete piece of sh@%. Skip it & save yourself headache & frustration.

Unoriginal, abysmally acted and boring

[capkronos · 2/10 · 11 May 2003]

I'm not sure of DeCoteau's intentions here, but this seems like a homage to Kevin Tenney movies, particularly NIGHT OF THE DEMONS, and boy does it suck!

A group of teens are invited to a party by a weird girl named Elizabeth (Ashley McKinney), who uses a seance to resurrect the demonic Lilith (ghouled-up Ariauna Albright) in the basement. The rest of this "movie" is attractive young people wandering around a big house, getting killed offscreen and returning as demons. Scripter Matthew Jason Walsh provides plenty of dumb dialogue and vapid characters, but forgot to throw even one original idea into this supernatural snoozer with no gore, suspense, plot, notable special effects, nudity or point, and there's no excuse for such bad acting (though I'm willing to let Matt Raftery and McKinney off the hook for at least trying). Not surprisingly, many of them came from that wretched MTV series "Undressed."

Worst Movie Ever

[brainfed · 1/10 · 6 July 2001]

No doubt about it. Worst movie I've ever seen.

Now, don't take this lightly. I'm not the kinda guy to just idly pass this sort of judgement. Not am I a casual movie viewer. I love movies; they're almost my life. Horror movies especially -- I review those on the internet -- except the only horror I felt from Witchouse was how bad it was.

So yeah, I'm serious about this. Worst movie ever. It isn't just that I didn't enjoy it. Every possible way this movie could have been bad, it was. Acting, casting, writing, lighting, setting, directing,costumes, special effects, camera angles, did I miss anything? I bet even the best boy sucked, whatever that is.

Guess I should probably say why. To start off, there was not a single line of dialogue delivered by any one of the characters in this film that I feel a real human being would say. "Let's make like a baby and head out." Come ON. And if I have to here that one guy say, "You know, I AM an applied sciences major.." ONE more time, I'm going to sob all night long into my pillow.

This film isn't about the ocean, but you'll soon forget that fact as the camera sways back and forth, back and forth, JUST like a boat, during the "important scenes." If I wasn't throwing up in disgust at this film, than it was because I was getting seasick.

Now, like many horror buffs I'm a big H. P. Lovecraft fan, which is why I have about a handful of hemorrhages whenever I see a film "based" on his work. Witchouse doesn't claim to be, but it's got as many allusions to his legacy you can get this side of the Miskatonic. Only they're all horrible misuses of his brilliance. The "Necronomicon" isn't roughly translated "Book of the Dead" in this but the family bible of a clan of witchs. And it's spelling with a U, for chrissake!

I won't spoil the ending -- Matthew Jason Walsh did that himself when he wrote it -- but I will tell you that it is anti-climatic, predictable, poorly-acted, poorly-writen... but if I keep on listing negative terms about it, then my thousand word maximum will soon be up.

In terms of scares, I can count how many times with movie scared me on the fingers of my left foot. Everything designed to pull screams of horror instead pulled groans. It was an A to Z of cliche, dried-out horror techinques that don't work very well. Wow, the lights went out. Wow, there's lightning. Wow, that actor seems to have on too much make-up. I can honestly say I was not even almost scared once. Not even when the monster recommended one character: "Don't lose you head!" and then, gasp, ripped his head off.

And let's not forget the acting. I wasn't sure if I was watching a horror film or a bad T & A where the girls were just forgetting to take off their cloths. Given, they didn't have much to work with, and I will offer a moment of silence for the late Dave Oren Ward, who died in time to be honored in the credits, but even still, you'd think they were TRYING to suck. Overacting or underacting, with no middle ground. I mean, confronted with an anchient witch -- even one as silly-looking at this movie's villian -- they could at least try to look a LITTLE scared.

Despite the high expectations you might have of the man who directed such timeless classics as 1988's "Sorority Girls in the Slimeball Bowl-a-Rama," and the immortal "Test Tube Teens from the Year 2000," David DeCoteau direction was rather crummy as well. The music was mediocre. The costumes were laughable. And so on and so forth.

You know, when I set about writing this review I told myself I'd make the most of the thousand words IMDB offers, but to tell the truth this movie doesn't even warrent it. I'd rather just forget I ever had the misfortune of watching it and try to get on with what remains of my normal life.

Bottom line: Nothing good in this movie. Everything bad. Don't see it. DON'T SEE IT! I know sometimes after I read a really bad review of a movie I'm like, "Heh, I gotta check that out just to see what was so bad about it."

This is not one of those times. Serious. Do NOT watch this film.

Thank you. That is all.

Cheap, silly, superfluous.

[silver_solitaire · 2/10 · 27 October 2002]

The make-up is bad, the special effects are bad, the acting is bad, the story is... nothing new, really. Seven teenagers get stuck in an old mansion and suddenly find themselves facing a nightmare in the form of a random witch who just so happens to be the ancestor of one of the teens. Gothic teen realizes her 300 year old pledge for revenge, usual horror plot ensues.

This story makes no sense whatsoever. It's not even funny to watch, it's just painfully bad. Don't waste your time. Watch the news instead, that's scarier!

I love Full Moon Features, but this one of the less memorable

[a_chinn · 4/10 · 2 July 2023]

Not to be confused with WITCHBOARD, this corny Full Moon Features Charles Band production has its usual charms, even if it's not up to the levels of PUPPET MASTER, TRANCERS, or OBLIVION. In the town of Dunwich, Massachusetts, a group of unsuspecting guests are invited to a party by a mysterious host who happens to be the descendent of a 300-year-old witch. From director David DeCoteau, a man who got his start directing gay porn and who now makes Hallmark Channel-style Christmas films (and sometimes Lifetime thrillers), you can guess the quality of filmmaking you're in for. It is far from the best Full Moon film, but it's hardly the worst and was apparently successful enough to spawn two sequels, which I haven't seen, WITCHHOUSE II: BLOOD COVEN and WITCHHOUSE 3: DEMON FIRE.

The loser beginning of a loser franchise....

[baconfats · 3/10 · 24 May 2006]

I have a hard time with Dave DeCoteau movies. Like most Albert Pyun suckfests, they drag, are confusing, and the gore is mishandled. Unfortunately, Witchouse is no different.

Set in Dunwich, MA, the film was shot at Full Moon's Castel Studios in Romania. Exteriors were shot in and around Bucharest.

Best Quote: Jack: "We're not in high school anymore, Bob. Why don't you put down the bong and realize that!?"

There's not much to recommend here except for the sets and the Killjoy-ish teeth on the witches. The home wiring lesson from our applied-sciences major hero, Jack, is neat and actually becomes important later on....

I've got a laundry list of problems with the film, but I'll stick with 3 here:

1. The fake thunder and lightning is incessant. VERY, VERY ANNOYING. Only halfway through the movie and I was yelling at the screen...

2. The pace severely drags at several different points. So much of the movie is plot dumps and throwaway scenes that when anything resembling "film magic" happens you feel relieved. The "seance" is actually a 5-minute monologue. Ugh.

3. The deaths are really poorly executed (hehe, no pun intended...man I kill me!). Usually a Full Moon highlight, the deaths in this film are incredibly ill-shot and dull. The opening "knifings" are 8th grade level home movie quality.

The only reason this movie gets a "3" from me is because I think they tried.

Boring

[Eamonn_green · 21 July 2002]

It actually looked decent on the cover but as the saying goes "never judge a book by its cover." Its the same with films. A strange girl Elizabeth invites all her classmates to a party but she invited them because their ancestors killed her ancestor for being a witch. So she resurects her ancestor and then there is mayhem. Don't watch it. 0 out of 10.

This Video Flick is a Lot of Fun!!!

[JimSthers · 9/10 · 18 October 2001]

I really enjoyed this movie, it has an atractive cast, some blood, a girl walking in her underwear after having sex, funny one liners and a scene in which one of the females punches the evil witch knocking her out. Rent it, you'll enjoy it.

Full Moon over Witchouse

[BHorrorWriter · 4/10 · 23 June 2000]

Most comments I have read about Witchouse aren't too good. Most people find it to be a poorly done B-movie. Well, yes, it is a bad B-movie. With a budget of $250,000 this movie has some very nice sets and the costume for Lilith was impressive. The first time I saw this movie I had to have it. I love bad b-movies. Especially by Full Moon. Why, I don't know!!!! Just recently I purchased it. I I can't wait to see Witchouse 2: Blood Coven due out in July 2000.

Witchouse is set in a creepy old mansion of the same name. A young girl brings together a group of friends from College for a "special night". They are to celebrate "May Day" which is really a Wiccan holiday. However, they are using it as a day of evil and black magic. Elizabeth has brought the group together so that her ancestor Lilith may kill them to avenge her execution (burned at the stake) for Witchcraft 300 year before. The guests are all descendants of the people that killed her.

That is all I will say.. Check this out, it does have it's moments. A moment of silence for one actor in the movie. David Oren Ward. After filming this movie, he was Stabbed to death during a automobile accident in California. He was only about 28. He is the stoner guy in the movie. He was also in The Killer EYE, which was truly a garbage movie.

4 out of 10

* out of 4.

[brandonsites1981 · 3 June 2002]

A bunch of college students are invited to a creepy old mansion by their weird friend for a Halloween party, however she has summoned an ancient witch (who also happens to be family) to kill them all. Thankfully short routine horror film with poor F/X, lame one liners, little plot, and a lousy cast. Rated R; Sexual Situations, Violence, and Profanity.

Oh well

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 20 October 2020]

Witchouse is the kind of movie that I'd compromise with any girl I dated in 1999. The video store was closing, she wouldn't watch a foreign film and it seemed like something close enough to what she wanted and that I could stomach. It is a film of, there's that word again, compromise.

It's directed by David DeCoteau, whose movies are either somewhat inspired silliness like Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama or beefcake disguised as horror like Bigfoot vs. D.B. Cooper or holiday movies. And oh yeah - A Talking Cat!?!

May Day 1998. Elizabeth Lafay - no relation to Abigail - has brought together the descendants of those that stopped her murderous aunt Lilith by burning her at the stake three hundred years ago for a murderous party.

One of the party-goers is Janet, who is played by Charlie Sheen's ex-wife (and friend to Paris Hilton) Brooke Mueller.

Filmed back to back with Retro Puppet Master, this is a Full Moon kind of movie, if you know what I'm saying and I think you do. That also means that there are two more in the series, if there wasn't enough witch or house or witchouse here for you. It's also kind of, sort of another installment of Night of the Demons if you were hoping for a third installment, filled with stock characters including one Linnea Quigley-ish lady who carries a guitar everywhere she goes so that we know she loves to rock and roll.

This ouse

[kosmasp · 3/10 · 13 August 2022]

No pun intended - I do wonder why they left out one h ... it should be there, right? I mean I am not imagening things am I? Maybe I am, maybe there only needs to be one H - that includes or fills up the witch and the house part of the word.

This all is way more interesting than most of what is happening in the movie itself. It does have a fairly interesting beginning, but is quite predictable after that. If you are a horror fan, you may have some positive thoughts on it all .. otherwise this really isn't worth watching to be honest.

Really Bad !

[thothgirl-43518 · 2/10 · 23 June 2020]

I'll watch anything, and even find something redeeming in a lot of bad movies, but this one was just horrifying. It was the terrible acting that got to me.

Co-Starting the Boom Mic...

[randallstandridge · 3/10 · 13 March 2022]

Seriously...the Boom Mic should have needed a SAG card for this.

Terrible movie, bordering on so bad its good...almost.

Enjoyable for all of the wrong reasons.

So Bad It's Good

[peterDM-30380 · 5/10 · 19 March 2021]

There are movies that are just plain bad, and then there are movies that are bad but have a campy flavor, so they're quite enjoyable. This is the latter. The cinematographer's obsession with Dutch angles is hilarious. It's like the house is on an ocean in a thunderstorm. If you want to show your kids what style and sexy looked like in the1990s, this is a good choice to show them.

Which House?

[Fraudzilla · 2/10 · 15 November 2023]

Witchouse is one of those movies that seemed to straddle that period between the death of video rental stores and the advent of budget DVD you'd find in places like supermarkets and convenience stores. I remember the cover vividly, admittedly more as on the DVD side. Truth be told, despite the affinity for horror I have, and my penchant for watching ANYTHING at the time, it never really appealed to me. The cover looked like early photoshop fan art for a Witchboard or Night of the Demons spin-off.

However, we find ourselves, in an era of streaming, and I'm bored. So here we are.

The movie centres on Elizabeth (Ashley McKinney) a slightly spooky girl who invites several schoolmates over for a 'May Day Party'. They're an unusual bunch, physics boffin Jack (Matt Rafferty) and his senior equivalent Brad (Ryan Scott Green), jock Scott (Dane Northcutt) and his cheerleader Maria (Marissa Tait), pothead Tony (Dave Oren Ward), his rockstar girlfriend Janet (Brooke Mueller) and random Jennifer (Monica Snow) who it transpires are all descendants of old townspeople who burned a witch at the stake hundreds of years ago, who is, of course, an ancestor of Elizabeth. Which they find out at a seance. Naturally.

In a completely unpredictable turn of events, this is all a scheme to summon Elizabeth's evil ancestor Lilith (Ariauna Albright) who wants to exact her supernatural revenge on the descendants of her killers. But where does Jennifer fit in?

I'll admit I didn't start Witchouse (god that is annoying to type) with high expectations, but they went positively subterranean when Charles Band's name appeared in the credits. Now don't get me wrong, Band has actually played a part in more than one movie I've genuinely enjoyed. Probably more than I want to admit to be honest. But by 1999 he was rather in autopilot, and truth be told I was surprised he managed a movie without killer toys.

Now the film has a lot of the hallmarks of the worst Full Moon movies, bad acting, worse scripts, a soundtrack that's rather overblown, but it's not without its positives. The spooky old mansion it's filmed in is actually very cool and atmospheric, and as much as I hate the demonic design the effects are largely passable to good, particularly for a movie on this budget. There's one laughably silly part where we see a shot of Lillith's feet hovering that's quite clearly just a pair of empty boots being suspended from above, but I can deal with that.

There are problems though. I can live with the plot that I think can be guessed from start to finish from reading the synopsis, but even within the confines of the genre, there's disappointment here. The deaths/possessions are neither scary nor gory, so that's your 2 key horror demographics disappointed, and the big 'twist' doesn't end up making a lick of sense.

To cap it off, this is painfully late 90s. Nobody gets into a movie like this expecting anything but cardboard cutout character tropes, and to be honest the jock and cheerleader don't bother me. The 90s stoner archetype and his mouthy rock chick girlfriend, who carries a guitar everywhere, are cinematic torture though. The geeky protagonist saving the day and having hilariously awkward interaction with his first love interest is something Full Moon would become briefly obsessed with around this point, which, given this is always the protagonist, says a lot about what they viewed as their target audience.

These characters aren't really helped by the actors, but in all honesty the script doesn't give them much room to succeed. Mueller, who would go on to more notoriety as a wife of Charlie Sheen and friend of Paris Hilton, is probably the worst, but her dialog is so awful I'm not sure who is really to blame. I was disappointed we didn't get more of McKinney, not just because she's beautiful, but because the character is so undercooked. We're told she's been a nice girl, just weird, but from the first minute we know she's up to no good so there's no character development. Mainly because she's beautiful though.

When it comes down to it, I imagine Full Moon fans still with the company by 1999 will probably lap it up, but for everyone else this is one you can avoid. I might still watch the sequels, because I'm just a glutton for punishment.

Not one of Full Moons better efforts a few good scenes but overall a fair video

[motter1036 · 3/10 · 14 April 2000]

One of the few Full Moon videos that fails in all areas.Most of their movies have interesting characters good atmoshere, some blood &gore a bit of sex and nudity etc. Witchouse first off looks like a set, not a real place, the characters aren't fleshed out and the scares are no where to be found.The gore is very mild and dosn't come close to looking real. The only interesting scenes are a couple of what looks a view into hell they are weird.

Very Good

[The Creeper · 10/10 · 1 January 2003]

This is one of my Favorite movies from Full Moon Pictures. It has it all: It's Scary, gory, It has action, good acting, and "okay" special effects. So far, it has sparked Two sequels. Part II is great, but Part III is a little weak in places. I would recommend that all Horror Fans see this movie.

10 out of 10

Fans of Horror Movies like this should Check out Puppet Master, Skinned Alive, Slumber Party Massacre, Sleep Away Camp, and other Full Moon Pictures flicks. For other recommendations, check out the other comments I have sent in by clicking on my name above this comment section.

Total Garbage

[dennis1978 · 20 November 2004]

The idea of this movie was OK. The problems with it were it had 0 production values, 0 acting talent and the "SPECIAL EFFECTS" looked awful. A lot of people say The Director Ed Wood Jr. made the worst movies ever but this movie in all honesty is the worst movie of all time. I don't say this lightly. I have got Bride of the Monster(An Ed Wood Jr. Movie) and compared to this, that Movie is like 2001 or The Shawshank Redemption or Pulp Fiction. The best thing about the Movie is the girl with the Dark Hair. She is a very good looking girl. There are people who have reviewed this movie and have said this is the best movie of all time. Whatever those people are on.........I want some of it. It must be some really potent Narcotic.

This is one of those, It's that Bad, it is actually good type movies(AKA Ed Wood Jr.)

Witchouse Rocks My Sox

[jordancobb138 · 10/10 · 30 March 2007]

This Movie is my favorite movie in the whole world it's awesome. You half to see this film you can buy it very cheap on Amazon.com or Half.com this film has awesome make-up effects on all the actors like Lilith (Ariana Albright) the witch. My 2nd favorite Actress plays a Rebel named Janet (Brooke Mueller) on this film I give this movie a 100 out of 10 (LOL) there is a Witchouse 2 and it is pretty cool not as cool as Witchouse 1 tho.. The thing I dislike about Witchouse 2 is there is no returning Actors such as (Brooke Mueller) Except the Witch Lilith Lefay and the Witch does not look the same as on the first Witchouse but it is also cool because the Witch is played by the same Actress as the first one,and the 2nd one continues the story from the first one.

Ok timewaster, but could be a better film

[aaronzombie · 11 July 2001]

I enjoyed most of this movie. It has a pretty good pace and some decent special effects, but the film also has many flaws. First of all the first half is basically a rip-off of the Night of the Demons films. It's about a strange girl invites a group of people to a haunted house for a party. Now does that sound like the first Night of the Demons or what? Also, most of the actors are absolutely pathetic. The two survivors are the only people that I cared about.

!!!POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!A group of people are invited to a mansion by a strange girl and discover they are to be sacrificed by a witch who was killed by their ancestors.

Entertaining, good effects, and I liked the two survivors, but the rest of the cast is horrible, and the plot is very unoriginal. **1/2 out of *****.