I find it amusing that the summary says this film is, "A tale of witchcraft, black magic and a haunted house in the Amish country." What movie was the person who wrote that watching, as they most assuredly were not watching this one! I got this film in a collection with 20 other horror films. There are horror films such as Hellraiser III, The Prophecy II, Halloween 6 and a host of other direct to DVD horror films. I was quite surprised when I started playing this film and it looked really old. Then I saw it was from 1970 and it had the look of a made for television film. That did make me think this film would be bad, I remember a couple of made for television films from this era that were pretty decent like, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" and one where this girl marries a rock singer and they move into a house that literally wants the girl to stay there forever. This one was not in their caliber. If I can compare this film to another horror film of this era, I would compare it to "A Name for Evil" in that both were light on scares and simply bored me to near death.
The story has an aunt and niece coming to a nice house out in the country that is never described as Amish country like that summary states. They immediately fall for the house, but something strange happens when a neighbor, who immediately has a thing for the aunt, meets the niece. Something is up in this house, and it becomes abundantly clear when a séance is held at the house. The niece seems possessed, but something seems to be happening to the neighbor as well. Will they solve the mystery before tragedy ensues?
The film's main problem is pacing. It feels like it is going on forever, but the run time of the film is a mere 74 minutes. I kept checking my player to see how close I was to finishing the film as it just seemed to go on and on. I cannot fathom how this one has a score of 5.9 here as I was close to simply turning off the film. However, I forced myself to endure as I kept telling myself "It's only 74 minutes!" The plot is dull, as I stated, when it first came on I am thinking it is going to be like, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" as I hear ghostly whispers and maybe a combination as it would also be like that "Burnt Offerings". Those two films, though neither perfect, were enjoyable enough. This one though is more like, "A Name for Evil" as there is just a lot of nothing going on and a lot of wind machines being used!
This is the first film of the collection I have seen; hopefully, the other films will be a bit more interesting to watch than this one was. There may be one or two more television films on the collection, but as I've stated, there have been good horror films that have been made for television. This one just did not work for me...at all. My favorite part of the film was the credits as it finally meant I had endured the longest 74 minutes of my life!
The story has an aunt and niece coming to a nice house out in the country that is never described as Amish country like that summary states. They immediately fall for the house, but something strange happens when a neighbor, who immediately has a thing for the aunt, meets the niece. Something is up in this house, and it becomes abundantly clear when a séance is held at the house. The niece seems possessed, but something seems to be happening to the neighbor as well. Will they solve the mystery before tragedy ensues?
The film's main problem is pacing. It feels like it is going on forever, but the run time of the film is a mere 74 minutes. I kept checking my player to see how close I was to finishing the film as it just seemed to go on and on. I cannot fathom how this one has a score of 5.9 here as I was close to simply turning off the film. However, I forced myself to endure as I kept telling myself "It's only 74 minutes!" The plot is dull, as I stated, when it first came on I am thinking it is going to be like, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" as I hear ghostly whispers and maybe a combination as it would also be like that "Burnt Offerings". Those two films, though neither perfect, were enjoyable enough. This one though is more like, "A Name for Evil" as there is just a lot of nothing going on and a lot of wind machines being used!
This is the first film of the collection I have seen; hopefully, the other films will be a bit more interesting to watch than this one was. There may be one or two more television films on the collection, but as I've stated, there have been good horror films that have been made for television. This one just did not work for me...at all. My favorite part of the film was the credits as it finally meant I had endured the longest 74 minutes of my life!