Bezenby Umberto Lenzi's Ghosthouse just about has all the trademarks of a late era Italian horror. A haunted house. "Teenage" victims. Gore. Cheesiness. Bad acting. It's all there, and it's all good.Back in 1967, a crazy father discovers his cat murdered in his basement, and his daughter holding a pair of bloodied scissors. Understandably losing the rag, he locks his daughter in the basement and goes upstairs, and that's when things get weird. A bulb expands and explodes and a maggoty thing appears and splits his head open with an axe. When mother comes to investigate a mirror explodes in her face, performing the good old Italian eyeball trauma, and then she gets a knife through her neck for her trouble.Fast forward to 1987, where CB enthusiast Paul is discussing Simon Le Bon and Kim Basinger over his radio. He catches a strange signal where a man is crying for help, followed by a weird tune and indecipherable vocals, and using his computer, somehow, he manages to track down the signal to a house in the country. Now brace yourself because this is a big surprise – it's the house from the start of the film.Grabbing his girlfriend Lara Wendel (who hilariously spends most of the film in a bad mood with him), Paul heads out to the house, where he finds CB operator Jim, his girlfriend, his brother and his Jim Carrey lookalike sister/pain in the arse Tina. Problem is, Jim acknowledges that the voice on the tape is his, but he's only just set up his CB rig and hasn't used it yet. That night, Jim is drawn to the basement, where a small girl and a creepy looking clown doll appear, and Jim finds himself uttering those words that Paul taped the day before…and ends up dead.I like Ghousthouse for many reasons. First, there's the cast, including Lara Wendel (Red Monks, Killing Birds), Donald O'Brien (Mannaja, Zombie Holocaust) and Bob Champagne (Witchery). Then there's the fact that the film splits into two plot threads rather than have everyone just stuck in the house being chased by ghosts. That does happen to some of the characters for the remainder of the film, but two characters never actually return to the house, and instead try and investigate the origin of the haunting, pursued by O'Brien (who plays a deranged caretaker in slasher mode). Then there's the sheer amount of haunted house action Lenzi pours into the film, from the usual taps pouring blood, appearing/disappearing ghosts, moving objects, disembodied laughter etc, to the more surreal basement full of quick lime and an appearance by the Grim Reaper.Gore wise it's pretty good. You've got the messy killings at the start, someone being stabbed with shears, a hammer killing, and a character being cut in two. There's also the sub plot involving the homeless black thief guy that's maybe not worth dwelling on too much. Ghosthouse is for me one of the finest of these cheapo horror films the Italians were churning out before the industry gave up, and further proof that Lenzi can be a good director if he wasn't too obsessed with killing animals for jungle flicks. Check out his seventies gangster movies – they're all gold.I've seen posted on the 'goofs' section here that Lenzi made the mistake of putting Henrietta's date of birth as "1938" on her tombstone, but it clearly says "1958" – give the guy some credit.

geminiredblue Once again, let me say "Thank God for RiffTrax." They tackled this one and came up with a gem! There are so many laughable moments, and their comments just add to the quirkiness of it all. Now then, those crazy Italian directors are at it again. This time, Umberto Lenzi (under the confusing pseudonym Humphrey Humbert) steals liberally from much better films, like POLTERGEIST, in telling a completely nonsensical story. Many years ago, a creepy little girl and her equally hideous clown doll go on a rampage and kill her parents. 20 or so years later (though it's never made clear because in Italian horror flicks, details are annoying) a ham radio operator named Paul (uh-oh!) and his bland girlfriend Martha sit around eating chili (cuz that's what us Americans do, right?) Then Paul's radio picks up a strange message. So out they go, attempting to find the source of the mysterious signal. Along the way, they pick up an annoying hitchhiker named Pepe. And finally come across the Ghost House. There, they meet up with a group of campers in an RV (cuz that's so American) and together, they decide to investigate the Ghost House. Now, I won't give anything else away, because this film has to be seen to be believed. Just know it's one of those unhinged Italian movies, so there's bound to be weird occurrences and violent deaths. But then again, that's why we love those crazy Italians. So track down RiffTrax's version, or invite your own motley crew of comedians over for a laugh riot!

Coventry What's the connection between Sam Raimi's legendary horror classics "The Evil Dead 1 & 2" and this low-keyed Italian haunted house horror movie directed by the notorious Umberto Lenzi ("Cannibal Ferox", "Nightmare City")? Absolutely no connection, you'd think, and yet thanks to promoting the film as a genuine sequel to "The Evil Dead", "Ghosthouse" became a huge commercial success in its home country. Say what you want about those unscrupulous Italian movie producers, but they undeniably have terrific marketing talents. Still, even in spite of the deceptive promotional campaign and the gazillions of negative reviews, I personally think "Ghosthouse" is a hugely entertaining and deliciously cheesy 80's horror movie. The graphic gore and clumsy execution are obviously the main elements to adore here, but still the film also features some ingenious conceptual ideas and even a handful of effectively creepy gimmicks. The opening sequences are downright fantastic and even raise the impression you're about to see a legitimate lost horror classic. The level of quality and intensity severely decreases immediately after the intro scenes, but still "Ghosthouse" remains a fun movie. An amateur broadcaster and his girlfriend head for a secluded and abandoned old mansion after they picked up disturbing radio signals coming from there. They team up with another trio of teenagers and discover the mansion is cursed ever since a macabre entity savagely killed the original owners. The nosy teen-detectives soon begin to spot appearances of a blond girl with an uncanny clown doll, accompanied with the supremely eerie tunes of a lullaby. When bodies start piling up, the police suspect the limb caretaker but obviously the house's past is coming back to haunt the trespassers. Very few story elements in "Ghosthouse" make perfect sense but - let's face it - intelligence and flawless continuity are the last things you expect in a rapidly produced Umberto Lenzi movie. The story behind the girl and her dummy is fairly creative, the filming locations are well chosen and the murders are marvelously engrossing … That's more than satisfying enough for me. There's never a dull moment and the lullaby, albeit terribly over-used, is one of the most horrific sounds I ever heard. The acting performances (or should I say dubbing jobs) are unspeakably atrocious, though. Especially Lara Wendel's lines hurt your ears. Oh and also, there's no nudity. What the hell is that about, Umberto?

Michael_Elliott Ghosthouse (1987) ** (out of 4) Italian horror film from director Umberto Lenzi about a haunted house and the fools who dare enter it. While this plays itself as a haunted house film, clearly influenced by The Shining, in reality it's just another excuse for over the top gore and violence. Lenzi manages to get a few creepy scenes out involving a dead girl and her doll but these only last a few scenes. The film starts off pretty good but falls apart when a couple kids try to uncover the mystery behind the house. The gore effects are rather strong and extremely well done so splatterheads should have that to enjoy.