Superstition (1982)

Back in 1985 or 1986 when I was 11 or 12 a friend and I managed to persuade his mom to let us rent Peter Medaks wonderful ghost story The Changeling, an event that clearly set events in motion when it came to me being a horrormoviefan. I loved the movie and was totally freaked out by it but before it was a trailer of another movie that seemed totally awesome: Superstition. My friends mom was persuaded once more and she called the video store to make sure that we were allowed to rent the movie which we did. A bad (and very good) decision.

Superstition made me so scared that halfway through the movie I "suddenly realized" that I had to go home, I had promised to be home for dinner. I didn't sleep well that night but I was so intrigued by this horror movie that I came crawling back next day to finish it. an even worse decision. This meant that I was so scared that for the next two weeks I dragged my mattress to my parents room to be able to sleep at all.

And since then I have not looked back, horror movies became my life. This means that I cannot watch Superstition without eyes tinted by nostalgia, I still remember some of that awesome fear I felt even though I don't feel it now. I recognize that some of the acting is not so good and that several scenes are pretty damn cheesy, especially the flashback where we see the witch being drowned in the pond where all the evil emanates from in the present day. But I still fell to this day that the final thirty minutes when all hell breaks loose are more intense than a shitload of more recent movies. This movie takes no prisoners, even kids aren't safe here. The jump scares are efficient, the score good enough to have on a record and the house an excellent location for a bloody tale of revenge from the grave. Superstition is a superb example of 1980s horror, a little cheese served up with gallons of suspense and theatrical blood.

But like I said, I cannot watch this movie properly. It is too big a part of who I am, it played its part in shaping me into the person I am today. For better or for worse.

I have this original poster, someday I'll put it on my wall. Someday.

I just realized that this wasn't much of a review, more of a journey down memory lane so I'll add some stuff here. This is a movie about a family that moves into an old house with a dark past and start to die one by one. And it's pretty good. And gory. You should watch it if you haven't already.