Superstition (1982) Review: The Kid Dies Halfway Through and Honestly, Thank God
In the deep passages of forgotten video store rentals exists the low budget supernatural knock-offs that all cashed in on the hiring public’s hunger for spooky chillers to watch on their huge fatback TVs. Loads never found their way onto DVD or Blu-ray, but a few little amusing ditties did. One such being Superstition.
Probably not named after Stevie Wonder’s hit, James W. Roberson’s 1982 cult shelf filler certainly had great visual locations, but not really a meaty story to go with it. Possessing the same atmospheres as Amityville 2, The Bogeyman, plus so many clones, the basic story is as follows: a witch from the 1600’s has returned because a huge silver cross was holding her in a lake — meaning that she could only come out at night — is removed from the waters so she’s free to do what she wants at any time of the day.
The opening of Superstition has a couple of goofy young fellas playing a prank on a kissing couple, only to both be decapitated via various body sections for their troubles. This all happens within a derelict mansion sized house owned by the local church. The police get involved, and it turns out the edifice isn’t going to be vacant much longer for one of their kind, a vicar, who has suffered a nervous breakdown, is going to be staying over with his family before getting a place closer to his parish.
Our main hero is Rev. David. He’s young with fluffy hair and glasses. After speaking to an old lady who sits in her cottage watching daily the tos and fros from the house as it’s renovated, does he get involved deeper and deeper in the spooky plot. She has a perfectly placed red herring mentally challenged hulking son who becomes the focus of the bumbling police, naturally.
The family who moves into the eye of the storm are typical of this era of horror film, a mom and pop along with two skimpily dressed teenage daughters (I mean short shorts and bikinis throughout the duration). Oh, and a mandatory irritating child. This kid, he looks maybe ten or eleven and cannot act. Fuck, he doesn’t know his way around a movie set. At one point he nearly falls over the edge of the camera stand. You can clearly see him dodge around it like a pox-faced dickhead. Whilst watching and seeing various clergy, plus workers getting bumped off by a blackened clawed hand, my Partner in Gore, Willow, and I, reluctantly assumed this child of stupid was destined to be a central character. Hahaha, nope, he dies mid way. Hahahaha.
As the scary happenings speed up, David heads to the church records and reads an old volume which reveals how the townsfolk, lead by Reverend Pike (who looks like he’s wearing a false nose), captured and drowned a real live witch, not a false one. We know she’s the true article because she starts talking in deep booming voices, then her forehead throbs and balloons up.
So, in the present day, as stated before, a cross thrown into the lake where she drowned has been taken indoors so her shadows and claws, plus witchy cliché cackles abound, are seen before all murders. It’s up to David to complete the spell which the townsfolk didn’t do centuries ago and hopefully save maybe one or two of the cast.
Albert Salmi, a true veteran of over a hundred films including Caddyshack, Empire of the Ants, and Dragonslayer as the main Inspector, plus James Houghton (More American Graffiti, The Purple People Eater) as Rev. David try their best to keep the film on the rails and it really isn’t a bad movie. A pot boiler, simmering along without many incredible ideas.
The kills are fine as is the blood. I think the biggest problem for me was the downbeat ending. It was so predictable but made no sense either. Dooming everything to total pointlessness. The resurrected witch isn’t seen, other that silhouettes and shadows, wisely. She looks eerie enough in short doses, but towards the end as she strolls down the stairs after David whilst laughing, where did all the balled-up newspapers come from? They’re like tumbleweeds!
Saying that, Superstition proved very popular on the rental chain gangs, so much in fact that it had an extra breath of life at the cinemas under a new title, The Witch.
This is one to watch late in the evening with an open mind. If you’re a completist of spooky flicks, then yeah, it has to be witnessed. The soundtrack is wonderful by the way, working wonders for most of the film.
AKA: The Witch, Superstición, Superstição
Directed by: James W. Roberson
Written by: Donald G. Thompson
Produced by: Ed Carlin, Mario Kassar
Cinematography by: Leon Blank
Music by: David Gibney
Edited by: Al Rabinowitz
Special Effects by: Steve La Porte, Kelly McGowan, David Miller
Cast: James Houghton, Lynn Carlin, Albert Salmi, Jacqueline Hyde, Stacy Keach Snr, Maylo McCaslin
Year: 1982
Country: USA
Language: English
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 1h 22min
Studio: Penaria, Carolco Entertainment
Distributor: Almi Pictures, Avid Home Entertainment, Anchor Bay Entertainment, StudioCanal, Scream Factory
