I tend to like 1980's horror films. They were a part of my youth. Alas, Mausoleum is not a good one, although there are a couple points of interest. The film boasts a cool looking monster, which was later reused with a couple of minor altercations in the Unnameable movies (make up artist Christopher Biggs worked on both films). The lighting effects in the crypt sequences do generate some nice atmosphere (dig the green light). Oh, and Bobbi Bresee (a pretty but wooden actress) is topless three times in the movie. However, these pluses cannot compensate for awkward pacing issues and a really dumb script that appears to be a first draft. This demon, who slumbers in the mausoleum, possess the first born female of one family. That is providing the first born comes into the mausoleum. Here is a suggestion, if the demon cannot possess anyone unless she comes into the mausoleum, then DON'T GO INTO THE MAUSOLEUM. One could move their family to another state or, at the very least, one could find another cemetery to burying her loved ones other than the one housing the cursed mausoleum. In addition to being slow and silly, there are also some questionable stereotypes. The film throws in a "funny" black maid with all the sensitivity of a 1940's B programmer giving the kids in the South some comic relief.There are worse horror films out there, but is that much of a recommendation? Buy the movie poster, skip the movie.

This incomprehensible offering squanders a decent premise by bogging it down with so many inconsistencies that the end result is an incoherent mess. Taken a bit more seriously, the basic plot line of Mausoleum could have been shaped into a real gem, but as it stands, only the most forgiving genre fan will find much of interest here.The story revolves around a woman named Susan who inherits a family curse and becomes possessed by a demonic spirit with the ability to summon psychedelic lighting and dry ice wherever it appears. When both her husband and her psychiatrist begin to suspect that something is amiss, they embark on a race against time to defeat the evil invader, while Susan keeps herself busy by getting naked and killing off any man who hits on her.Though John Carl Buechler is on board for this ride, the special effects are a decidedly mixed bag, ranging from a handful of nicely executed gore gags to one dreadfully sloppy sequence in which demon-mode Susan forces a victim to float through the air, during which the harness used to suspend the ersatz Mary Poppins from the ceiling is not only clearly visible on screen, but remains in the frame for the entire stunt so that we can see the apparatus moving along its track as the doomed woman levitates. The various stages of Susan's transformations are likewise disjointed. The more subtle touches work best; a scene in which our hexed heroine sits silently in a rocking chair with her disfigured face obscured by shadows is one of the few genuinely creepy images in the film. However, when the demon is on full display, the mounds of latex on Susan's face make her look like she's ready to audition for GWAR.Ex-Playboy bunny Bobbie Bresee offers a decent performance, but it's made abundantly clear throughout the movie that the film-makers' primary emphasis is on her multiple nude scenes. Bresee is certainly easy on the eyes, but her rather ambiguous and prototypically banal brand of attractiveness ensures that she shifts throughout the film looking alternately beautiful and bland, depending on the lighting.The biggest problem with Mausoleum is that so little of the film adheres to its own flimsy logic. The crux of Susan's monstrous manifestations seems to be her anger at being a viewed as a sex object, since she wreaks violent vengeance upon multiple men whose crass advances mark them as near future victims. Yet, she actively seduces two of her casualties, and has sex with one of them before dispatching him. Her motives become even more dicey with the random killing of a female character, whose only sin is stopping by the house to drop off some paperwork.The set-ups for the murders are so transparent that they play out like scenes from a porno script, particularly the arrival of a delivery driver who Susan invites in to "use the phone". I kept waiting for a pizza man to show up and ask Bresee, "who ordered the extra sausage?" A comic relief monologue by a sassy African-American maid ends up being one of the most memorable moments in the movie, but since this is the only time the film actively courts intentional humor, this portion ends up being perplexing and out of place. Still, it's a genuinely funny sequence, so we have to at least give Mausoleum credit for succeeding on that front.The scene in which Susan's breasts morph into snaggle-toothed, blood-thirsty mammary monsters pretty much defies critical analysis, so I'll let that dubious plot point speak for itself.Despite a few strong touches along the way, the film completely falls apart during the last reel, and once we discover that the secret weapon needed to defeat the demon is a crown of thorns (?), any chance of Mausoleum finding a steady footing is erased immediately. The final scene attempts to insert a game-changing twist, but since said twist makes absolutely zero sense, the effectiveness of this fade to black is debatable. The incessant maniacal chuckling which concludes the film seems to suggest that Mausoleum has descended into such heady depths of idiocy that all you can really do is laugh about it. Of course it goes without saying that the song that plays over the closing credits is atrocious beyond belief.There are a few inspired moments here, but only the most ardent early '80s horror completist will glean much satisfaction from this thoroughly baffling exercise. Rest assured, the "so bad it's good" label can be readily applied to Mausoleum, so if your tolerance for that school of film-making is high, I can recommend this to you a bit more enthusiastically.

I feel that even the supporters of Michael Dugan's "Mausoleum" would agree that this is purely an effects movie using the old possession theme as a method to do so. Bobbie Bresee's a troubled wife, Susan Farrell, whose businessman husband, Oliver(Marjoe Gortner, who doesn't have a prayer, stuck with a dense dope of a husband whose wife is clearly in need of serious help and is always hesitant to do what's appropriate for her welfare and safety)is always working, away trying to close money-making deals while she's left to contend with a demonic possession handed down to her cursed family. It seems that a demonic spirit calls young Susan(..visiting her mother's grave), who had lost her mother and is struggling to accept it, to a creepy mausoleum with a crypt in the center(..with crawling rats on top). The crypt contains the spirit and it is set free by Susan, the result being her possession. The film focuses on Susan, as an adult, slowly taken over by the spirit as it targets unfortunates who come near her during the day. Susan's psychiatrist, Dr. Simon Andrews(Norman Burton), will witness the evil spirit after putting her under hypnosis, and reluctantly vow to put an end to it so that she can be saved.John Carl Buechler's monster designs are given the star treatment in this movie and some fare better than others. I think many of the latex make-up designs on Bresee range from effective to rather unconvincing. But, I cut him some slack since this was one of his first movies and he would improve soon after with his own directorial debut of Troll. There are some icky scenes such as Susan's poor Aunt Cora(Laura Hippe), while levitated in the air, has her chest split apart where we see her rib. And another suffers a horrifying fate when his chest is torn open by little beasties protruding from Susan's chest when she's in demonic form. One victim, for no reason he deserves, is merely delivering a plant for the recently murdered gardener and is invited into Susan's house, her demonic spirit causing the side of his face to bleed and break open. Maurice Sherbanee is the grubby voyeuristic gardener, Ben, who suffers for his desire to get randy with the missus. One man is burned alive in his car(..which soon explodes)just for causing Susan some annoyance at a bar! The clincher is an employee at an art store on the second floor of a mall who informs Susan she could not purchase an already sold painting, getting levitated in the air and dropped to his death. A constant is Susan's eyes glowing green(..actually, I found this rather effective, even if primitive by today's standards)before the evil spirit murders someone. Besting the mediocrity of most of John Carl Buechler's special effects are Bresee's exposed breasts;she often invites males for potential pleasure by showing off her body in lingerie and sexy gowns. I think director Dugan was ambitious and attempts to sell his story of possession, but the budgetary constraints are simply too much to overcome. The levitations are particularly corny and will likely cause giggles. When you're creatures look like rubber designs, it's hard to find them scary.

Pay no mind to the many troll user comments listed herein. If you're the kind of person who might rent such a movie as Mausoleum based on its posterart (or, furthermore, its very title), comments made about acting, budget, and special effects limitations are completely misguided.Mausoleum is strictly for those of us who cut our canines on '80s direct-to-video horror shinola, and who wax nostalgic for clam shell video cases.Bobbie Breese is stunning in the film, and how could you NOT appreciate Marjoe Gortner having his intestines eaten away (nevermind the fact that he's simply IN the film in the first place!) by Breese's monstrous, double-breasted chompers.The gardener is a cinematic wonder/McGuffin to behold, and LaWanda Page doing an incredibly un-PC Steppin Fetchit routine has to be seen to be believed! The movie is a definite throwback to classic '70s horror films (moreso in the beginning), before really taking off in the film's third act. Dugan's direction is especially atmospheric and under-appreciated. It's a shame his film career output was so limited.If any of these comments sound appealing to you, and you know who you are, help keep the memory of this little cinematic footnote alive in the new millennium.