Ghosthouse (1988)

Visions of a deceased girl and her doll bring doom to the visitors of a deserted house.

Director:

Umberto Lenzi (as Humphrey Humbert)

Writers:

Sheila Goldberg (dialogue), Umberto Lenzi (story) (as Humphrey Humbert)

Stars:

Lara Wendel, Greg Rhodes, Mary Sellers

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lara Wendel	...	Martha
Greg Rhodes	...	Paul (as Greg Scott)
Mary Sellers	...	Susan
Ron Houck	...	Mark
Martin Jay	...	Jim
Kate Silver	...	Tina
Donald O'Brien	...	Valkos (as Donald O'Brian)
Kristen Fougerousse	...	Henriett
Willy M. Moon	...	Pepe
Susan Muller	...	Henriett's Mother
Alain Smith	...	Henriett's Father
William J. Devany	...	Lieu Tenant
Ralph Morse	...	Coroner
Robert Champagne	...	Mortician
Hernest Mc. Kimnoro	...	Cemetary Custodian

Storyline

Visions of a deceased girl and her doll bring doom to the visitors of a deserted house.

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Plot Keywords:

ham radio | stabbed in the neck | haunted house | slasher | sequel by name only | 

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Taglines:

Death holds the mortgage, and if you move in...they'll be Hell to pay.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to producer Joe d'Amato, the film was a commercial success mainly because of Achille Manzotti's idea to change the title from "Ghosthouse" to "La Casa 3". "La Casa 1" and "La Casa 2" being the Italian titles for Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987).

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Goofs

When Paul comes to save Martha where Henrietta was buried... on her grave it says that she was born in 1938 and died in 1967. That would make her 29 when she died, but as the story says she died when she was eleven.

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Quotes

Paul Rogers: You guys should leave this place right away.
Mark Dalen: We'll be gone in a couple of hours. All we have to do is pack up.

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Alternate Versions

Some VHS copies of the film remove some of Sam Baker's dialogue while he is confronting Henrietta in the cellar at the beginning of the film.

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Connections

References Evil Dead II (1987)

User Reviews

I love this. Even if it is absurd.

Umberto Lenzi would be the first to tell you that he isn't a horror director. Generally working on war and adventure films, he dabbled in the seedy climes of the giallo and the cannibal film in the 70s, but that was pretty much the closest he came to horror. That is, until he was roped in by, you guessed it, the nefarious Aristide Massacessi to make an "unofficial" entry into the EVIL DEAD series (the Italian title of which was LA CASA). Although it has sweet nothing to do with Raimi's movies, it's actually quite a tight little supernatural haunted house movie, owing much to the likes of SUPERSTITION...

Critically, I can't really defend some aspects of it. The acting, script, sound track and plot are totally absurd. Although somewhat endearing, the whole "possessed doll" thing does NOT work when you are using a miniscule special effects budget. There are a few nice gore set-pieces and as the story gets increasingly ridiculous, it's surprising to see that there are some quite atmospheric moments worked in. A lot of this is owed to the fact that Massacessi managed to scrape together enough lira to justify shooting the movie in autumnal Boston, rather than on a CineCitta sound stage. Further points are scored by a typically typecast appearance from sleaze regular Donald O'Brien, who puts in the usual hilariously grizzly performance.

If nothing else, watch this movie for the absurdly Americanised pseudonyms. Lenzi chooses to call himself "Humphrey Humbert", and if that isn't ludicrous enough, one of the actors goes under the moniker of "David Champagne"! This is surely only second to Mario Bava's "John Foam" as being the most laughable pseudonym in Italian movie history.

This film has a sequel starring David Hasselhoff and Linda Blair. I haven't actually seen it and by all accounts it is spectacularly terrible, yet I still somehow feel drawn towards it. Cinematic masochism.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 August 1988 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Ghosthouse

Filming Locations:

Edward J. Gaffey & Sons Funeral Home -757 Country Way, Scituate, Massachusetts, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmirage

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1