Witchcraft (1988) ★★½
This was a film I last watched many years ago when I bought a cheap release of the DVD which, like this 88 Films Blu-ray, is entitled Wichcraft. Like then, I was drawn by the unlikely pairing of Linda Blair and David Hasselhoff in an Italian horror film, one where the cover art promises some lip stitching action, a sinister house, and a busty woman in a négligée.
With many different titles, from Witchery to Witchcraft, Evil Encounters to Ghosthouse 2 and La Casa 4, this is a film which offers a lot to prospective audiences, and even one of the taglines "A nightmare possession, horrific satanic rites and a gruesome sacrifice" seems enticing.
Although this isn't a film which anyone would describe as a horror classic, a great example of genre filmmaking, it's one which shows us some fairly likeable characters, puts them in a situation which is fairly easy to follow and with, in Hildgard Knef's Lady in Black, has a threatening supernatural entity.
Also, although not all of the acting is Oscar-worthy (Linda Blair has been much more convincing in other films, David Hasselhoff is Baywatch-standard, and Catherine Hickland Annie Ross show why they aren't household names) and the plot is a bit of a mess, the film is entertaining and very watchable. It can loosely be classified as 'dumb but fun', and I have plenty of time for films like this.
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