Superstition (1982)

There is a scene in Superstition where an attractive brunette, Cheryl, hears a noise coming from the attic and, against her better judgment, separates from the rest of group so she can investigate it. This scene is completely bewildering as it occurs just as  Cheryl is about to leave the house with her sister, Ann. Cheryl has witnessed all kinds of spooky shit throughout the movie, and is all for leaving the house, yet instead of bolting out the front door (towards safety) she inexplicably decides that checking out the creepy attic, solo and without a flash light, is the better plan. She is practically begging to be killed.  Now, you are probably asking, “Isn’t this true of most horror movies?” Yes! The characters in horror movies often behave in an irrational manner as it helps the filmmakers set up a scare, but this rampant stupidity is practically an epidemic in Superstition – every ten minutes a character wanders into a dark, creepy room to investigate a noise and gets murdered for their effort.  The movie is more concerned with getting its horror set pieces right that, as a result, very little effort is put into telling a coherent story. 

This wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if the movie had likable, or compelling, characters, but everyone in this movie is a cardboard cut out. Take the Leahy family for example – the only character with a distinguishable trait is the father George, who is an alcoholic. The mother, Melinda, is kind of just there; the only thing that distinguishes the two daughters, Sheryl and Ann, from one another is the color of their hair (Sheryl is an attractive brunette and Ann is an attractive blonde); and the son, Justin, is the only one in the family that wears glasses. That’s it! The family is not even the main focus of the movie - the main story centers on a young clergyman, Reverend David Thompson, and his investigation of a supposed haunted property that is owned by the church.  George Leahy, a struggling reverend, temporarily moves his family into a house on the property until he can land back on his feet. Also thrown into the mix is Inspector Sturgess, who is (surprise) skeptical of the supernatural. Albert Salmi, as the Inspector, is the only cast member that gives a convincing performance. 

The script itself is extremely lazy and muddled – often the filmmakers will introduce a story line and then completely abandon it.  Early on, there are two scenes that establish that David is attracted to the older daughter Sheryl – he is chatting her up while carrying boxes for her and is later shown checking her out as she struts past him wearing a bikini – yet nothing becomes of this. I initially thought that his attraction to Sheryl might lead to some friction between him and George, especially after Inspector Sturgess chides David about his “inappropriate” behavior. NOPE! George remains oblivious to David ogling his daughter.  Or, maybe the ghost of the witch, Elondra, would try to trick David by taking the form of Sheryl.  NOPE!   There is an awkward scene in which it is revealed that Sheryl absolutely resents her father. This scene happens towards the end of the movie and comes completely out of nowhere.  Up until this moment, Sheryl has had about five minutes of screen time,

and two lines of dialogue, therefore there is not even the slightest hint that she detests her father - but then, all of a sudden, she starts ranting at how incompetent he is. However, this display of anger (and personality) is short lived and she goes back to being a complete flat line. 

However, despite the nonsensical screenplay and the boring characters, the movie isn’t a complete waste of time. The scare scenes are fairly effective – the audience is never giving a good look at the witch's ghost, it is either kept in the shadows, or the movie will switch to its point of view. The only parts of the ghost that is kept in focus are its talon-like hands - it has a tendency to grab its victims and pull them out  of frame. There is also a fairly clever opening: a young couple are making out in a car on the haunted property, and we assume that they will come to a grisly end, then all of a sudden a ghoul bumps against the driver's window of the car. The guy drives off in a panic and it is revealed that it was all the work of a couple of pranksters. The young, horny couple make it out unscathed, while the pranksters get their comeuppance.  Superstition is not a particularly good movie, and is fairly dull at times, therefore, I recommend you watch in online and skip through all the filler (there's a death scene every five to ten minutes). 

Credits

Cast: James Houghton (Rev. David Thompson), Albert Salmi (Inspector Sturgess), Larry Pennell (George Leahy), Lynn Carlin(Melinda Leahy), Maylo McCaslin (Sheryl Leahy), Heidi Bohay (Ann Leahy), Billy Jayne (Justin Leahy), Jacquelyn Hyde(Elvira Sharack), Robert Symonds (Pike), Carole Goodman (Elondra), Stacy Keach, Sr. (Rev. Maier), Kim Marie (Mary), Johnny Doran (Charlie), Bennett Liss (Arty), Joshua Cadman (Romberg), Casey King (Hollister).

Director: James W. Roberson
Screenplay:  Galen Thompson
Running Time: 81 minutes