Spellbinder

Year: 1988

Director: Janet Greek

Written by: Tracy Tormé

Threat: Devil Worshippers

Weapon of Choice: Dagger

IMDb page: IMDb link

       Spellbinder

Rish Outfield's reviews
First of all, I can recommend Spellbinder with only two words: Kelly Preston. If she is not the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world, then my name isn't Rish Outfield. Apart from her, there is still a lot to endorse this non-slasher horror film. It is well-told (by Star Trek scribe Tracy Tormé), with interesting characters, and some really creepy moments. Timothy Daly (later of "Wings" fame)(does the word fame apply to "Wings"?) plays the Everyman, the nice guy (even if he is a lawyer) who gets swept up in something bigger than he understands. Mrs. John Travolta is the maiden fair, speaking enigmatically, and on the run from a coven of witchcraft-happy yuppies. The ending is not what I expected, but made sense in an awful way. My only complaint is that it doesn't hold up as well with repeated viewings.
Best Scare: A group of spectres appears in Tim Daly's windows, staring in with pale, blank faces. Eerie.
I'd Recommend It To: Fans of occult horror. And you-know-who.

The tyranist's thoughts
This is a very well made little movie. It is genuinely creepy and keeps you guessing for a long time. The ending is horribly evil. It is hard to watch more than once simply because all of the tension is gone from the movie, but seeing it once is more than worth it. This is probably the finest "the Devil Worshippers are after me" movie I have ever seen.

Sequel
Owes everything to/rips off earlier film
Sequel setup
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
MTV Editing
OTS skull
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex skull
Death associated with sex
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location skull
Power is cut skull
Phone lines are cut skull
Someone investigates a strange noise skull
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer skull
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Toilet stall scene
Victim locks self in with killer
Killer is in car with victim
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Blood hits camera
Beheading
Killer doesn't stay dead
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence skull
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
No one believes only witness skull
Blood fountain
Poor death effect
Excessive gore skull
Music detracts from scene
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
No one dies at all
Death in first five minutes
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
What the hell?

Total Skulls: 10

Other movies in this series:
None