Amazon.com video review:
Upon its release in 1981, John Irvin's version of Peter Straub's
bestselling horror novel was deemed one of the worst adaptations that the
genre had ever produced. Now it's available on DVD, and for the first time
in widescreen presentation, and not much has changed. It's still a
nearly unwatchable dud. Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas, and
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. play old friends, members of the self-created
Chowder Society, who get together and tell ghost tales. The scariest
story of all, however, is the one they never speak to each other. Fifty
years ago, the four men accidentally killed a young woman, and now she's back
(with much less meat on her bones) and seeking vengeance.
Sound chilling? Well, in Straub's hands it was, and the novel remains
the author's finest achievement. Irvin, however, distills Staub's rich
characterizations, gradual tension, and creepy atmosphere, and replaces
them with aging golden oldies (only Houseman appears to be having any fun)
hamming it up and hokey special-effect shots of a rotting corpse. The
film moves about as quickly as its ancient cast could during a relay
race. The whole thing has arthritis. --Dave McCoy
