Death Spa (1988)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Michael Fischa

Writers:

James Bartruff (writer)
Mitch Paradise (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Strange things are a brewing at the local gym!

Plot:

Michael's health club is beseiged with a series of terrible murders involving killer saunas and other grisly devices...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Client | Health Club | Tanning Bed | Spa

Cast

William Bumiller	...	Michael Evans
Brenda Bakke	...	Laura Danvers
Merritt Butrick	...	David Avery
Robert Lipton	...	Tom
Alexa Hamilton	...	Priscilla Wayne
Ken Foree	...	Marvin
Rosalind Cash	...	Sgt. Stone
Francis X. McCarthy	...	Lt. Fletcher (as Frank McCarthy)
Shari Shattuck	...	Catherine
Hank Cheyne	...	Robert
Chelsea Field	...	Darla
Joseph Whipp	...	Dr. Lido Moray
Karen Michaels	...	Rhonda
Tane McClure	...	Vicky (as Tané McClure)
Cindi Dietrich	...	Linda

Also Known As:

Witch Bitch

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | USA:R | USA:Unrated (re-release)

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Actress Shari Shattuck's first name is misspelled in the closing credits.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Gorgon Video Magazine (1989) (V)

Delightful 80's cheese-nonsense.

Witch Bitch… For the (alternative) title alone this movie should be considered a "classic" in the industry of silly-n-cheesy 80's horror! "Death Spa" delivers everything you can derive from the title and cool DVD-cover (mine actually displays a girl's bare ass): rancid sleaze, a retarded plot and loads of gooey make-up effects. Recent widower Michael Evans runs the fancy and hi-tech Starbody Health Spa, where all the gym devices are computer-driven and sexy young girls become a member if only to get close to hunky Michael. Business is great until peculiar 'accidents' begin to take place. Michael's girlfriend Laura is the first victim when she gets heavily burned after using the spa. The next incidents are even worse, resulting in the death of several guests. Michael suspects his brother-in-law to sabotage the place, as he never got over his sister's tragic suicide, but it's more likely that Catherine's vengeful spirit returned from the grave herself. "Death Spa" is wacky nonsense, completely without tension or atmosphere, but the gory murders are tremendously fun to watch! Some of the cheese-highlights include a girl literally blown to pieces by an exploding mirror and another hottie melts down to the bones! An elderly guy (a cop investigating the case) even has his throat bitten open by a deep-frozen fish!!! How many times have you seen that before? Everything in this gym center is bewitched, even the cocktail blender and the bathroom tiles. The dialogs & acting performances are horrible, the typical 80's music is atrocious and all the characters are so dumb they really deserve to die. Ken Foree ('Dawn of the Dead') briefly appears as the gym center's caretaker, but his share in the plot is hardly worth mentioning. "Death Spa" is insignificant and brainless 80's trash, and I enjoyed it A LOT!