This Month

Produced in 1982, the horror/splatter film Superstition sat on the shelf until 1985, when it was released in the United States by Almi Pictures. It features many of the hallmarks of 1980s horror, such as a predominately youthful cast including bikini-clad teenagers; a confined location for maximizing thrills; a pulsing, ominous music score; a back-story to help explain the need for vengeful murder; and, of course, scenes of grisly death. Directed by longtime cinematographer James W. Roberson, Superstition aims for the sort of territory previously mined by expensive blockbusters like The Omen (1976) and The Amityville Horror (1979); it generally fails on most counts, but Superstition breaks from the pack in a few interesting ways. First, a long flashback sequence set in the late 17th Century proves to be engaging and convincing for such a low-budget picture; secondly, the filmmakers have no qualms about including children among their victims; and finally, some of the set piece killings are conceived and staged in an entertainingly illogical, even cartoonish, fashion.

Superstition opens with that most traditional scene of horror films: a teenage couple necking in a car. They are parked in front of the Sharack House on Mill Road, and the girl complains, "This place is so freaky. All those stories about murders and ghosts – it's haunted, they say." These simple words are all the plot required for many splatter fans, who are rewarded within minutes by two outrageous death scenes: in one the decapitated head of an unlucky prankster (Bennett Liss) explodes in a microwave oven, while his buddy (Johnny Doran) ends up being severed in two by a windowpane that seems to have a will of its own.

County police detectives Inspector Sturgess (Albert Salmi) and Jack Hollister (Casey King) drop in on Reverend Maier (Stacy Keach, Sr.) and the young Reverend David Thompson (James Houghton); it seems the church owns the property that the Sharack House occupies, and has for many years. The police briefly hold Arlen (Josh Cadman), the "idiot son" of the property's old crone of a caretaker, Elvira Sharack (Jacquelyn Hyde), but let him go for lack of evidence. In spite of the recent (and historical) carnage, a new church family moves into the residence: The Rev. George Leahy (Larry Pennell), his wife Melinda (Lynn Carlin), and their three kids, son Justin (Billy Jacoby), blonde daughter Ann (Heidi Bohay), and brunette daughter Sheryl (Maylo McCaslin). They and Rev. Thompson contend with numerous bizarre phenomena including Black Pond, a body of standing water on the property that gobbles up victims and spits out body parts; Mary (Kim Marie), a little blond girl in antique clothes seen wandering unquestioned around the house; undiscovered workmen who meet their grisly demise; and runaway circular saw blades. They also contend with themselves in a dysfunctional way – George is an alcoholic and the teenage daughters are often at each other's throats, to the point of engaging in slapping fits and spouting lines like "Shut your bitchy mouth!" Such familial travails are nothing, though, compared to spiky-clawed, witchy apparitions bent on revenge.

Superstition received little notice in the mainstream press upon release, and only cursory mention in such genre magazines as Fangoria and Cinefantastique. Writing a capsule review for the latter magazine, Bill Kelley rated the film as "worthless" and said, "Almi, horror's new sub-basement sleaze distributor, hauls another unreleased stiff off the shelf. At least this one – about a church with a haunted house for rent – was made here, and didn't need dubbing. Stacy Keach, Sr. (TV's Clarence Birdseye) takes a buzz-saw in the chest, but it and other bursts of gore fail to alleviate the boredom." Also in Cinefantastique, Dan Scapperotti gave the film a "mediocre" rating, and said "the gore effects are well done by Bill Munns and others." Judith P. Harris also ranked the movie as "worthless" and called the film "a cross between THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and THE DEVONSVILLE TERROR." She listed the deaths, which "...include decapitation, with the head blown up in a microwave, cutting in two at the waist, an electric saw through the chest and strangling on elevator cables. After this the scriptwriter's imagination failed and all the rest of the killings are offscreen, with only the bloody bodies showing up later. Made in 1982 without an ounce of suspense, the film has a number of grainy scenes, lots of dead spots, and the world's least charismatic cast."

Producer Ed Carlin had chalked up a number of interesting horror and sexploitation credits in the 1970s, having helped produce such titles as Blood and Lace (1971), The Swinging Barmaids (1975), The Student Body (1976), Moonshine County Express (1977), and The Evil (1978). Just prior to Superstition, Carlin produced Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), the most expensive Roger Corman film up to that time. The makeup effects in Superstition are plentiful but variable. Of the credited team, the most recognizable name is William Munns, who also worked on such films as The Boogens (1981) and Swamp Thing (1982).

In the United Kingdom, Superstition was released to videotape and promptly banned from distribution. In the mid-1980s there was a strong public reaction to several violent horror films, informally called "video nasties," and their easy availability to children. Superstition, with its infamous head-in-a-microwave shot, was easily set up as a target by those who were eager to stir up some moral outrage. Later, it was released uncut (under the title The Witch).

Producer: Ed Carlin
Director: James W. Roberson
Screenplay: Donald G. Thompson; Bret Thompson Plate, Michael O. Sajbel, Brad White
Cinematography: Leon Blank, Enzo Giobbe, Lee Madden
Music: David Gibney
Film Editing: Al Rabinowitz
Cast: James Houghton (Rev. David Thompson), Albert Salmi (Inspector Sturgess), Lynn Carlin (Melinda Leahy), Larry Pennell (George Leahy), Jacquelyn Hyde (Elvira Sharack), Robert Symonds (Pike), Heidi Bohay (Ann Leahy), Maylo McCaslin (Sheryl Leahy), Carole Goldman (Elondra), Stacy Keach, Sr. (Rev. Maier), Kim Marie (Mary), Billy Jacoby (Justin Leahy), Johnny Doran (Charlie), Bennett Liss (Arty), Josh Cadman (Arlen), John Alderman (Romberg)
C-85m.

by John M. Miller