David DeCoteau directed this cheap Charles Band production. It feels like a Full Moon riff on Night of the Demons, without the over-the-top gore, nudity, or fun. Heck, with a few trims it could’ve easily been a PG-13 flick.
A group of friends are invited to party at a spooky mansion by their goth friend Elizabeth (Ashley McKinney Taylor). Almost immediately, she has them join hands for a séance, which is never a good sign. Little do the friends know, Elizabeth intends on resurrecting Lilith (Ariauna Albright), a powerful witch who was burned at the stake during the Salem witch hunt. The friends also happen to be descendants of the men who burned Lilith at the stake, and it doesn’t take long for her to take her revenge.
DeCoteau really overdoes it on the lightning crashes and thunder sound effects as they are often way too loud and sometimes threaten to drown out the dialogue. We get it, Dave. It’s a dark and stormy night. You don’t have to hammer it home.
I don’t know if I wound up watching an edited version (which is sadly, an all-too common experience on some streaming services) or what, but every time there is a sex scene it is awkwardly edited so you can’t see any nudity. Even worse is the part where one of the sexy houseguests announces she’s going to take a shower and then they cut away to something else. I’m not saying some gratuitous T & A could’ve salvaged this ho-hum affair, but it certainly couldn’t have hurt. The kills are all relatively bloodless too, although we do get one pretty good head-ripping decapitation. It also doesn’t help that all the characters are grating shrews and/or douchebag bros.
On the plus side, it doesn’t waste any time getting to the point. The seventy-two-minute running time also helps, and DeCoteau keeps the pace running at an acceptable clip. That doesn’t make it recommended, but it does save Witchouse from being condemned.
Two sequels followed.
I believe you did see an edited version as i've heard that a lot of Full Moon films are censored on Amazon.
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