Platypuschow Witchcraft is the first of no less than 16 movies and that is highly impressive!It tells the story of a woman who goes to stay with her mother in law after she gives birth to her first child. Trouble is her husband and mother in law aren't what they seem and have ties to the occult.Watchcraft first of all is unforgivably boring, very little happens. I think it's doing this for the purpose of building tension but it fails miserably.When things do happen they look so poor as intended impact is lost.I do hope the franchise improves as I'm 1/16 and suffering already.The Good:The fact that the franchise lasted so long is impressiveThe Bad:Very boringUnoriginalGeneric cliched finaleThings I Learnt From This Movie:Witchcraft must get better or it wouldn't have lasted so long, right?

Leofwine_draca Inexplicably producing an endless number of uncountable sequels, this is a cheaply-made and totally dull affair with direction and acting so amateurish in nature that it's extremely hard to sit through. It also happens to be a very slow-moving film, in which there are only a couple of death scenes up until the finale, which moves into Shakespearian tragedy with just about the entire cast being slaughtered in a sudden massacre.The plot, concerning a couple who move into a new home and are terrorised by witches who want to use their newborn baby in a ritual, seems to be content ripping off ROSEMARY'S BABY, but it couldn't be more different in feel to Polanski's film - mainly as it's totally lacking in atmosphere and suspense! The only supernatural special effects used are ones where our heroine sees some spooky visions in a mirror. We see transparent heads flying towards the camera, effects which look like they didn't cost anything to make. All this is accompanied by some silly over the top music which makes it very funny in an unintentional way.Along the way, lots of unexplained things happen, like our heroine seeing a vision of a woman eating a dead dog and her wrists suddenly being slashed for no apparent reason. A priest also pops up (in a role obviously modelled on Rod Steiger in THE AMITYVILLE HORROR), is subjected to facial burns, before climbing up a tree outside our heroine's house and committing suicide by jumping into a noose - it's as hilarious as it sounds. In terms of gore, the only minor instance is when a family friend is decapitated and we see her head bouncing along the floor in a cheesy way. The acting is abominable and extremely wooden, particularly in the case of Gary Sloan, who plays the stupid husband. Yet it's difficult to criticise a particular performance when all are poor. Aside from the somewhat amusing ending, this is a totally dry and pointless film, for those looking for a cure for insomnia only!

Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic) Kind of hard to see at first how this low budget rehash of ROSEMARY'S BABY spawned a thirteen chapter series of sexy horror skin flicks, but there you go. The WITCHCRAFT series direct-to-video films have always intrigued me because of their honest approach at giving its viewers what they wanted: Sex and horror elements combined into cheap, disposable entertainment aimed squarely at the video rental crowd.To a degree they and the Seduction Cinema type productions mixing over eroticism with community theater caliber horror movie trappings can be seen as an offspring of the erotic horror genre films that came out of Europe especially during the 1970s. Which were also low budget independently distributed alternative forms of entertainment to mainstream cinemas. If they'd had access to video distribution they would have utilized that too. The only difference between the bulk of the series and something like a Paul Naschy Waldemar Daninsky potboiler are the addition of more frequent sex scenes, less emphasis on gory shock sequences, and a lot less pubic hair.The WITCHCRAFT films were also more aimed at couples, as far as I can tell, with a sexy story of intrigue and gorgeous actresses & actors to keep the ladies interested with a few horror scenes now and then to reassure the guys they weren't suckered into watching a chick flick. There's nudity, sex, and objectification galore to be sure, but its not just limited to the female characters. Everybody is objectified by the WITCHCRAFT films, with careful attention to casting for both genders to make sure that fans of the human form of any persuasion will find them entertaining. The stories may be stupid and the execution hokey, but they deliver the goods and their effectiveness is reflected by the twelve sequels that followed this one.Which is what makes this installment stand out from the rest of the series, in that its a genuine attempt to make a supernatural shocker whose erotic content is limited to a couple of underwear scenes. Its actually a pretty earnest if somewhat unimaginative take on its source material, appropriately updated for late 80s yuppie types but relying on the good old archetypes: The menacing housekeeper, the frenetic dream hallucinations, an eerie mystery room holding answers to the secrets, a great decapitation scene, and a decently concocted story about damnation passed down for generations & revenge from beyond the grave.All standard issue stuff and handled professionally. If nothing else WITCHCRAFT is probably the most technically adept installment from the series, but ultimately lacks the payoff in fleshy goods that the reputation of the series suggests. Which by the way isn't the film's fault, it was the starting point, and its success allowed the producers to come back for another go, where they pushed their idea into what would turn out to be a very marketable form. Respect them in the morning or not the WITCHCRAFT films generated a solid cult following and remain in demand, which isn't surprising considering how direct they were in fulfilling the need for sexy erotic horror movies that you could watch with your squeeze. This one too, though they kept it pretty much a straightforward spooker, and the result paid off. Its not a particularly bad film for that matter, though I feel that gals will respond to it better than the guys, who can keep quiet & wait politely until part two to get their jollies off. And if you like this movie plus haven't already, please watch ROSEMARY'S BABY sometime. I think you'd like it too.4/10

bigpappa1--2 A woman, who just had a baby, goes to live with her mother-in-law along with her husband, but she notices weird things going bump in the night. Rips-off the classic Rosemary's Baby, but nowhere near as good as it. Skip this, and rent a copy of Rosemary's Baby. The bottom of the barrel. 1 out of 10.