‘Centuries of evil have just been awakened’
Mausoleum is a 1983 American supernatural horror film directed by Michael Dugan from a screenplay by producers Robert Barich and Robert Madero.
Susan Nomed (Bobbie Bresee) was ten when her mother died. Now thirty, blonde and beautiful, she is heiress to the family fortune. But for the women of the Nomed family there is another legacy that no-one wants to remember, an ancient and evil curse.
Possessed by powers that overtake her, Susan’s life becomes a nightmare of lust, terror and murder until even her husband finds himself confronting the face of evil. Only one person can help her cast away the evil, but he will have to face the prince of darkness to free Susan from the grip of Satan…
Main cast:
Marjoe Gortner (Hellhole; Starcrash; The Food of the Gods), former Playboy model Bobbie Bresee (Evil Spawn; Star Slammer; Ghoulies), Norman Burton (Deep Space; Fade to Black; The Reincarnation of Peter Proud), Maurice Sherbanee, LaWanda Page, Laura Hippe, Sheri Mann, Julie Christy Murray.
Reviews:
“If you’re looking for a really bad B-movie, though, Mausoleum excels. There are a lot of laughs to be had, most of them at the filmmakers’ expense. The demon makeup reminds of some of the better monster movies of the ‘80s, and there are gory moments that almost make sitting through 90 minutes of stiff acting worth it.” Ryne Barber, HorrorNews.net
“The effects are foamy rubber and poster paint. The gore is gooey but it is amateurish and repeatedly shot in a poor manner so that the effects are obscured or unseen. Every character is written to be so dim that the notion that Nomed = Demon is lost on them …The final scene involves a hooded man laughing directly at the viewer as if mocking the waste of time that this film has been.” Blood Soaked Horror Reviews
“The monster makeup is clearly the only reason the movie exists, and it’s pretty good stuff. Bobbie Bresee also wears a number of demonic contact lenses and makeup appliances, and then there’s a full inhuman creature that appears (the one with the killer breasts). There is some great cheesy lighting throughout the film, and you always know when there’s some demon stuff happening because usually it is accompanied by a green and purple light show, along with lots of fog where no fog should be.” Groovy Doom
“The story itself is nonsense and, of course, there’s a weird ending (as is usually the case with ’80s horror films) but there are enough scares and tension to make it uncomfortable viewing without being too exploitative. It doesn’t explain itself very well (what does the demon want? How did the curse start? Why does it wait until you are thirty?) but really who cares? An attractive lady kills everyone around her and that’s all you really need to know about Mausoleum.” The 80s Movie Club
“Minor supernatural tale with hokey effects … John Buechler’s makeup and fright masks are only fair.” John Stanley, Creature Features
Release:
The film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by Motion Picture Marketing (MPM) in 1983. It was subsequently released on VHS by Embassy Home Entertainment. In the UK, it was released on VHS by Satanica.
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The film was released on DVD by BCI Entertainment as part of their Exploitation Cinema double feature line alongside the film Blood Song.
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Filming locations:
Los Angeles and Ventura, California, USA
Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Blood Soaked Horror Reviews | Groovy Doom
