Witchcraft 8: Salem's Ghost (1996)

Expected more

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

SALEM'S GHOST is another entry in the interminable WITCHCRAFT series, number eight in the franchise if you can be bothered to count that far. It's a straight-to-video piece of witchcraft trash about a historical warlock who is executed for his crimes before taking up residence in the basement of a creepy old house that a young couple purchase.This is a film content to copy elements from all other successful horror pictures like THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and THE EXORCIST. The acting is incredibly mannered and cheesy and the limited FX work is very poor. The guy playing the warlock is quite laughable. As there's not much in the way of plot, or indeed horror, aside from a few low rent scares and dream sequences, much of the running time is padded out with lame sex scenes involving various hard-bodied actresses going through the motions.

Witchcraft VIII: Salem's Ghost (1996) * (out of 4) This eighth film in the series goes against the grain by trying something different and not being connected to the previous seven entries. This time out a couple buy a home and soon discover a mysterious, covered up room in the basement. It turns out this room was used 300 years earlier when a warlock was put to death and now his spirit is causing trouble. WITCHCRAFT VIII is another weak entry in a pretty bad series but I guess it's at least better than the previous film so that's a good thing. Actually, there are a couple moments here that are so incredibly bad that you can't help but recommend the film to people. The first up is an incredibly bad take off on the 9 1/2 WEEKS scene where the couple has sex in front of the fridge and using all sorts of food. The sequence here is just so laughable and it's certainly never erotic. Another hilarious scene is a rip on THE EXORCIST when the priest arrives at the house. The scene is iconic in THE EXORCIST but here it's shot in the daylight with an ultra cheap fog machine. The rest of the film is pretty laughable at times including the dorky neighbors who are always getting trouble started up. The horror elements are very small and laughable but even the sex scenes are rather boring here. WITCHCRAFT VIII is clearly just for those crazy enough to work their way through the series.

The Witchcraft series is one of the longest running film series of all-time. Being an erotic-horror series, it would be fairly easy to make these film standalone with only the same theme. Surprisingly, the series actually does have a central reoccurring character - Will Spanner, an attorney who happened to have been born into a family of witchcraft. Beginning with Witchcraft 2, Will became the series central character, and for three films in a row, was even played by the same actor.However, Will isn't so much as even mentioned in this entry. In fact, the entire storyline from the previous seven films has been wiped out.Filmed over a span of just ten days in 1994, Salem's Ghost ended up becoming an entry of the Witchcraft series as a result of poor performance. Rumors of a possible spin-off series based around Salem's Ghost had been planned, but never brought to life.The film, which is a semi-remake of the original Witchcraft, revolves around a young couple moving into a centuries-old mansion in Salem. From the start, however, it's apparent that something is not normal in their new home. Sonny, the husband, has bizarre visions that lead him down to a hidden room in their basement. This room holds the spirit of an evil warlock who was buried under the house. When their bumbling neighbor steals a cross from the tomb, the warlock is unleashed, and begins a violent reign of terrorizing Sonny's wife.For a movie shot in just ten days, Witchcraft VIII: Salem's Ghost is quite good. Being an erotic horror film, there of course are long sex scenes, but they're well shot and interesting. The acting for the most part is quite good, with Jack Van Landingham giving quite an over-the-top performance as Simon Winfrough, the warlock. Special effects are below standard, but they're used sparingly, and it doesn't become a problem. Those with a sharp eye may spot the Stockton house from the original movie located across the street from the Dunaway house.

Totally unnecessary follow-up (part 7 was supposed to be the final one) is about a young couple who are haunted, then seduced by a 17th. century warlock that used to live in there mansion. The first seven were really bad, but this entry hits an all time low for the series. Not even the sex scenes or nudity in this one fail to inject any life into this entry.Unrated; Strong Sexual Content, Violence, Profanity, and Nudity.