Ghost House / Witchery Double Feature

Two Italian horror gore-fests come out of the hidden movie vaults and are sure to please fans of bloody mayhem films. So sit down for a very bad but fun-filled movie night with the double feature of "Ghost House& Witchery", two obscure 1988 haunted house feature films starring a variety of B-movie actors. This viewer can't decide which nonsensical film outshines the other.

Let's start with "Ghost House," a morbid tale about a group of radio broadcasters that stumble upon cries for help over local radio signals. Upon investigation, they're brought to a local, sprawling, and dilapidated home thought to be deserted. A bizarre family has inexplicably moved in on the grounds of the house and as each family member gets terrorized and/or murdered, a sadistic little girl (who happens to be a ghost) and her eerie clown doll get the blame.

Naturally the plot is implausible but "Ghost House" entertains in ways that current horror films can only dream of. The same can be said of "Witchery," the direct sequel to "Ghost House" and it should be watched if only for the odd double-pairing of horror veteran Linda Blair and "Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff. They both end up at a vast hotel and a ghost witch starts offing the guests in gruesome and grisly ways. Blair, playing a pregnant woman, looks like she'd rather be elsewhere than in this film. And Hasselhoff's character's sole purpose is to bang his virginal girlfriend. Both reasons are sufficient enough to give "Witchery" a spin.

As part of their ever-increasing Scream Factory series, Shout's Blu-ray includes the trailer for both films as the only bonus feature. Next time perhaps Linda Blair can get pulled out from horror conventions and sit down to talk about her obscure horror film work. The high-definition transfers for both films can only be described as flawless. Kudos to Shout Factory once again!

"Ghost House/Witchery"
Blu-ray Double Feature
www.shoutfactory.com