By Melissa Antoinette Garza
For years, I skipped this 80s cult hit because I thought it was another name for Killer Workout / Aerobicide. It wasn’t until I heard that Hilarious actor/comic Paul Scheer was going to be skewering it for his podcast, How Did This Get Made, that I realized the description of the film was completely different than the plot of Killer Workout.
The film opens Catherine (Shari Shattuck)kills herself by setting fire to her flesh. Her widowed husband Michael Evans (William Bumiller) tries to go on and run his health spa, but shortly thereafter his new girlfriend Laura (Brenda Bakke) is blinded by a chlorine accident. More incidents soon occur causing injuries and death.
Michael thinks his Catherine’s twin brother David (Merritt Butrick) who also works at the spa handling the full intricate computer system is behind all of the incidents and calls him out on it. Soon, it becomes evident that it’s actually the ghost of Michael’s wife messing with everyone to get revenge because she’s jealous of Laura.
The movie goes off the rails as the plot becomes completely confused with subplots. A lawyer and Michael’s partner both are trying to take the spa out from under him while some police officers and investigators seem as though they’re looking into the crimes but also have an unknown motive.
This would be fine if the supernatural element wasn’t there and if the movie did a trick ending where the ghostly elements were all actually set up by the people after Michael’s spa. Instead, the movie goes back and forth. Some of the events were orchestrated while others were done by Catherine. David’s involvement is a mystery. At times, he’s possessed by her. At other times, he doesn’t seem to be possessed but is still causing conflict. Other times, Catherine seems to be working outside of David.
Then there’s the computer aspect to the film. At times it appears David’s computer system helps Catherine execute her demented plan. Other times, it seems as though she doesn’t need it at all.
Despite this insanity, this was fun flick. The death scenes were cool. The overacting was a blast and the possession scenes where David and Catherine keep changing places is priceless. Throughout the film, it reminded me of Killer Party. It’s a great 80s flick but it can’t decide what type of film it was. At least, with Killer Party it was trying to both be a whodunit and a demonic force whereas here it was a demon, sci-fi, whodunit, crime thriller, suspense production.
Still, it has the 80s VHS charm that I adore and finding one of these I haven’t seen is becoming more and more difficult. Nostalgia and the camp factor saved this and made it worth watching.
I’m still looking forward to the podcast ripping this to shreds and it’s rightfully deserved. I can’t wait to hear Miss June Diane Rapheal’s perspective on the production.
That said, for fans of glam horror this is cool. It’s not scary but it’s entertaining. It’s available for sale on Amazon Prime streaming for $3.99 and that’s about what it’s worth.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6/10
