Just as a big budget does not guarantee a film will be worthwhile, neither does a small budget mean it will be rubbish. This has a small budget, and it is rubbish. We've seen this sort of thing before the 1980s and not infrequently since. Here we have a fairly enigmatic if not mysterious piece of real estate including a pond, and a series of accidents and/or murders that have a clear supernatural connection. The big question is, do we have a plot? Well, sort of. We have a priest who dresses in a rather unpriestly fashion, and a cynical detective who is in no mood to arrest a ghost, but that is about it. And yes, and the old woman who warns of a long dead witch.The script isn't that bad, and there is a fair amount of gore, but once you've said that, you've said it all. Will our valiant priest triumph over the powers of darkness? More to the point, who cares?

The supernatural slasher film was a relatively rare sub-genre in the early 80's, so for that reason alone Superstition has always stood out in my mind amidst a very crowded docket of horror offerings from that era. This is a film with plenty of weaknesses, but it also delivers the most crucial elements of a good splatter movie with gusto, and in the end there is enough originality here to make Superstition a memorable outing.The plot centers around a condemned house overseen by a batty caretaker and her trogloditic son, where a series of gruesome murders has taken place over the years. A young priest comes to the site to help renovate the house so that a fellow clergyman and his family can move into it, but after a series of strange "accidents" which leave several people dead, it becomes clear that something very sinister is happening within the crumbling abode. As the priest digs deeper into the history of the house, we learn that the pond on the property was the site of a witch execution centuries earlier, and that the sorceress's final decree was a vengeful curse upon anyone who comes onto the land.Cue the newly-moved-in family, who, along with a detective with way too much time on his hands, become the cycle of victims necessary for the "slasher" portion of the film. The series of kills are gory enough to please those who appreciate the wetter side of 80's splatter, and the film offers a few genuine scares along with the standard "just kidding" jumps that were practically mandatory at the time.Portions of the film don't make a whole lot of sense, and some of the film-makers' decisions are real head-scratchers, such as the perpetually bra-less state of the elder priest's middle-aged wife. The flashback to the witch burning is ultimately pretty silly, and relies on every possession cliché introduced in The Exorcist. There's also a moment that any parent will cry "foul" on when a mother finds the body of her young son, upon which she immediately slams the door on it and flees in terror (I'm pretty sure the motherly instinct would kick in there and her first concern would be to see if her child was still alive). There's also a dicey shape-shifting power attributed to our homicidal witch, which allows her to manifest as a blonde adolescent girl, despite the fact that we see her in the flashback as a raven-haired woman. The subplot with the caretaker's son is pretty needless and vague, and leads to some clunky moments whenever he's on screen since he's by far the worst actor here (a hard distinction to earn in this case, since all he's really called upon to do is grunt and knock people over).The film is clearly influenced by Suspiria (I'm guessing the title was chosen so that this movie would be filed close to Argento's masterpiece on video store shelves). This homage is made clear both by the scaly, demonic appearance of the parts of the witch we get glimpses of, and the music, which could have been lifted from any of Dario Argento's gore epics. Though the film-makers don't try to mimic the maestro's sweeping camera work or psychedelic lighting, there are some nice touches here that demonstrate director James Roberson had an artistic mind. Creepy and unsettling uses of shadows heighten the suspense of several key scenes, and the hellish orange glow utilized throughout the climax helps provide the final reel with some truly memorable images.My biggest complaint here ultimately ends up being one of the film's strong points. We never see the witch in all her gruesome glory, but given the glimpses we get of her mottled arms and the razor talons on her fingertips, we imagine she would be a grotesquely awesome sight to behold. The big reveal we wait for throughout the movie never happens, and the most iconic shot of her we get ends up being her shrouded shadow bounding down the stairs. This is disappointing at first, but through the years, it has been that precise image of her fearsome silhouette that has stuck with me when I think of this movie. There's something to be said for that, and I'm forced to concede that in this instance what we don't see might be more effective than what we are shown.While not a bonafide classic, Superstition is a very worthy entry into the 80's splatter canon, and its flaws aren't enough to offset the touches of inspiration that show up throughout. If you don't take this one too seriously, you'll have a great time with it.

I had never heard of this film until I stumbled across a few minutes of it one late night on TCM. And of course leave it to Netflix to find me a copy. The viewing experience of the entire film was somewhat of a disappointment, however. There were some interesting pieces here, but not enough of them to put together a compelling (albeit low budget) horror film. The story concerns some evil goings on at an old house owned by a church. A new pastor takes over and is ordered by local law enforcement to clean the place up as it has become a trash-strewn make-out site. The only regular inhabitants live in a cottage next door. They are an old woman and her mute, but apparently dangerous son. The new pastor, as well as an older one, heads out to the property to have a look around. And boy, do we find some strange goings on here....It turns out that the house is haunted by the ghost of a witch who was executed some 300 years earlier. She is some angry witch, too! She was in league with Satan, and still carries a grudge to this day. Anyone who tries to move into the house is usually killed violently. And that's a problem since another new pastor and his family will be moving in soon! There are sure a lot of pastors in this story. And this new one and his entire family basically serve as made-to-order victims for this witch. Policemen, home improvement workers, clergymen, you name it all get whacked by this witch! Almost the entire cast dies if I recall. And there are a few really gory deaths.After an eye-catching opening sequence where two pranksters are killed, this film quickly becomes a cheese fest. The acting is less than adequate for one thing, and the cast has few recognizable faces. Albert Salmi as the head cop is about the only guy I recognized. He had a brief role as Danny Noonan's dad in Caddyshack. The photography is generally clear and bright, but the action isn't blocked in a way that we can always tell what happens to people. The music at times seems upbeat and inappropriate. Sometimes it too closely resembles the opening tune from The Shining. I don't recall ever seeing much of the witch except her demon-like hands and her silhouette as she's approaching some victims. But we do get a close-up of something much more hideous. That being the bra-less boobs of the new preacher's wife as she stands by a window. Unfortunately she's an older woman who looks noting like one of the Real Housewives of Atlanta or similar cougar-themed shows. Its just a really curious shot when we'd rather see her two daughters up close like that. I'd give the entire venture about 4 of 10 stars.The Hound.

I just found this after TCM ran it, I have to say for low budget they did a great job, watching it at night i did get some goose bumps. of course its low budget, but I think it was done well and the story has lots of twist and a surprise murder, thats not done often on screen. I was pleased with the story and didn't get bored with where it was going like some older film. The only annoying thing was the constant screaming from the characters as the action happened, gets on the nerves after a bit. plus the hands of the witch look really fake. The film ended on a interesting note, not the typical horror ending which I just love. This film is worth checking out.