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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps the quintessential b-horror film, September 29, 2002
With the DVD revolution came a rebirth of b-horror, with various companies releasing dozens of special edition versions of out-of-print 80s horror movies at a time. Unfortunately, some were overlooked, and the long-out-of-print Ghosthouse is among those that haven't been rediscovered. This film has a little bit of just about everything b-horror... You have one of the most amusingly absurd plots ever contrived (CB radio nerd picks up scary message from the future, tracks down the signal using 80s home computer technology, then drags his girlfriend there to share his finding with another group of trespassing teens and twenty-somethings...mayhem ensues), a killer clown doll, a murderous ex-psychiatric patient, graveyards, gory deaths, amusing effects that seem to just be there for the sake of it (including a number of glass objects blowing up like balloons and exploding..ooh, scary), an evil little girl, perhaps the best b-horror music theme ever (a cheesy short little loop that sounds like a demonic children's song and plays a part in the plot..and something I'd love to get the license to for use as an intro track to an album by one of my bands..), a weird hitchhiker who shows up at various points in the story... I could go on, but you get the idea.. And with all this, it still manages to balance the levels of unintentional humor and horror to the point where it's uttertly enjoyable, maybe even at (or..dare I say..surpassing?) the Evil Dead series mark. Unfortunately, for now you'll only find this gem used on VHS. It's even hard to come by at rental outlets. Hopefully one of those companies currently reissuing horror and cult DVDs will eventually unearth this highly entertaining horror film and give it the attention it deserves.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Campy cheesy fun., January 3, 2006
[good things]
It's a great, but typical haunted house movie, even though not very interesting it was entertaining. The girl wasa very good and creepy addition to the downright eerie backing music/score. I believe the movie was very well done, and the location was right on.
[the bad]
Typically with movies like this, the bad acting is a given-- we have that. We also have almost no blood, and the blood and effects we get were obvious low budget, but alright. The story also kind of drags on a little too long, there were times when I found myself wanting to hit fast forward. The overdubbing wasn't too great either.
[final thoughts]
Umberto Lenzi is not known for making great films, Ghost House is nothing different, but definitely one of his best. This movie is one of my favorites from my youth, and the backing music used to scare the piss out of me.
At any rate, Ghost House holds up with the test of time. It may not be a great movie, but it is not only very watchable, but entertaining with scares
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
spooky fun , cult classic, May 1, 2011
this is one of three ghost house movies that lenzi shot. This is the best by far but they are all good ghost movies. Unless you are a gore hound , this one is just a blast with wicked music behind the story even. It's a cult classic for good reason, now a movie fans would rate this somewhat lower I am sure but this is b movie greatness from a great director who could make everything from giallos to crime dramas to bad horror but this isn't bad it's cheesy cult fun that is loved all around the world. A regular critic would say look at the acting , the low budget but miss the wierd fun of it all. So if you love b movie cult classics that are wierdly fun then this one is for you. The dvd looks pretty good too with no extras really but at least we got this one on dvd. The other two are harder to find and I only have one of them on dvdr! This isn't a dvdr it's a real dvd so enjoy.
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