Scarecrow-88 Hokey Charles Band production(Empire pictures before starting Full Moon)about various characters participating in a million dollar treasure hunt in a mysterious castle whose owner doesn't show his face. Dr. Diablo remains in his little lair often caressing his crystal ball casting spells on those characters who represent the loathsome types that normally die in horror films. The french snob/slut eaten by a lion chair(!), a aristocrat(who likes wild game hunting)who winds up a feast for some sort of leaping monstrous leopard, a crook who finds himself chasing after the check and falling to his doom, an American bitch who teases the males of the group who treats everyone rudely and winds up in the clutches of a demon on a painting(!), and so on. Our protagonists are Jackie & Tom(Gail O'Grady & Harold Pruett), a sister and brother from Cleveland. If anyone will survive, they seem to be singled out. You have a VJ, Rex(Richard Blade)for a replica of MTV, who excitingly points out that this treasure hunt is sponsored by the rock star Cassandra Castle(Bunt Bailey), an alcoholic wench who wishes she was elsewhere rather than in this castle with these people she deems inferior and annoying(clearly, she's the annoyance, surprisingly Cassandra is normally the first to go in a horror flick like this, but is kept alive..hmm..).Good monster effects by John Carl Buechler's company redeem this otherwise silly waste of time. I think monster movie fans will like this best because the creatures present are quite well made. But, the premise isn't really taken advantage of to full effect. The castle is a perfect tool for a horror flick, but isn't ominous at all..and when you can not utilize the castle as a horror set-piece, you're in trouble. Adam Ant appears briefly(and effectively)as Dr. Diablo, the mysterious proprietor of the castle who practices black magic..or could very well be ole Beelzebub himself. Best sequence:An overeater literally turns into a pig!

slayrrr666 "Spellcaster" isn't all that bad of a film, it's just not a slasher.**SPOILERS**Winning a trip to Italy through a contest, Jackie, (Gail O'Grady) and her brother Tom, (Harold Pruett) join other winners Myrna, (Martha Demson) Yvette, (Traci Lind) Terri, (Lim Johnston Ulrich) Harlan, (Michael Zorek) and Tony, (Marcello Modugno) settle into their rooms with Cassandra Castle, (Bunty Bailey) a rock star playing along in the contest. Wanting to get a leg up on each other, they all try to sneak out and find the prize before it starts, to no avail. When the contest starts, they start to die one-by-one from a mysterious source within the castle. Figuring that evil forces are at work, the remaining members race to stop the assailant from finishing their work.The Good News: This one wasn't as bad as it could've been and is actually pretty good. The film has a large collection of really impressive special effects. There really isn't a lot of those effects that don't come off, and they mostly work. The different monsters created look really great, especially the lion-chair. That in itself looks really great, with the constant leather stretching and movement in slow motion combining with the realism for the creature and the fearsome look of it to really make the scenes work. The zombie sequence is one of the film's best, for it's an incredibly creepy scene and features some really good looking zombies. There's some definitive Italian in them, being very deformed and rotting, with grayed skulls, rotting limbs, exposed bone, and tattered clothing. They look really great and the sequence gives them a really nice introduction with their appearance. Having them emerge from the stone walls nearby and slowly creep up on the unsuspecting victim is really nice and the originality of the type of affair is another big reason. There's also a really nifty transformation in here from a human to a pig, and is done in complete werewolf type of order, from the snout emerging from the mouth, ears coming off the head, the hands transform into vicious looking claws and the rest of the body transforms into the creature. It looks really great and completely realistic, making it a real highlight. The film also has a really creepy location, as the castle is quite suspenseful. The large interior rooms, the long hallways, mysterious sculptures and paintings and the secret rooms allow for plenty of nice, creepy images whenever focus is in the castle. It's a really impressively designed place that gets a lot out of it when it's on it. This one really could've been a lot worse.The Bad News: This film still has some problems with it. Aside from the impressive special effects, there wasn't much else to it. The film takes forever to get going, and the actual pretense of the plot, having the characters knocked off during the scavenger hunt, is started in the last half hour of the film. The introduction to the characters in the beginning takes far too long and really could've been trimmed down. The film's other big problem is in pacing. The main point of the film doesn't occur until it's almost over, and that is a really huge mislead. That almost has the film really losing it's momentum, as it takes forever to get through the set-ups. They rob the film and it's attempts at suspense and that's a real shame. Beyond these, though, the film doesn't really have many things wrong with it.The Final Verdict: This was pretty good when it wanted to be, and there is a lot to like about this one. This one is not without it's problems, though, so give it a chance if you enjoy cheesy films just like this, but seek caution if you want a little more seriousness in films.Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence, Brief Nudity and an attempted rape

sknisley-1 there are a lot of opportunities for female nudity wasted in this one. It would have scored much higher if they had taken the opportunities available. The storyline, while somewhat implausible, was not beyond suspension of disbelief. The blond girl who has constant trouble with her shower, keeps bringing guys up to fix it and never put out made me almost as frustrated as the guys "fixing" the shower. Realistically, if the film maker wanted people to actually watch this drivel they would have included the nudity that the film could have presented. The multiple shower/bath scenes where the girls were titillating the male characters would have played much better if they titillated the viewer as well.

FieCrier A brother and sister working as dishwashers win a Rock TV channel contest to participate in a reality TV show. They will be two of seven people joining a pop music video star and a VJ in an Italian castle, to search for a million dollar check. (Finding a check in a house, or even a room might be pretty challenging, but in a castle...?)When they arrive, the camerawoman sends the only two other people from her crew to Rome to get an HD camera. After they've left on their journey, an unseen man in front of a crystal ball causes their car to stop and explode in flames.The video star is stuck up and an alcoholic, and she makes some kind of deal with the VJ whereby he doesn't even hide the check, but gives it to her. Besides the aforementioned team of siblings, there's also a sex-mad stiletto-wielding Italian car thief, a snooty upper- class English huntress, a vain blonde vegetarian cocktease, a sexy French girl, and a fat food-obsessed New Jersey guy.The camera-work is pretty unimaginative, and the lighting uniform throughout, so every scene looks pretty much the same. The exteriors of the castle are nice, and the props within are pretty good, particularly a chair that comes to life, but it really is let down by the direction.Adam Ant eventually shows up towards the end (it's no secret that he's Diabolo, the man behind the crystal ball). Unfortunately, he did not do any of the soundtrack work.I'm surprised this was rated R! The most skin on display were a couple of bare backs, and the worst word "bitch." There's very little violence, and it's pretty brief and cartoonish. I'd have rated it PG.Definitely not one of Full Moon/Empire Pictures/Charles Band's better ones. Pretty mediocre and unimaginative.