Review of Witchery

Persecuted witch Hildegard Knef traps a group of people in an isolated seaside hotel and picks them off one by one in twisted, disgusting ways. I thought I'd seen it all until one unfortunate man here is crucified and then set on fire. Hildy is quite the prankster, too: she takes a nagging harpy and has her lips sewn shut...then hangs her upside down in the chimney just in time for a roaring fire! "Witchery" is an uninspired gore-fest that is (surprisingly) well-produced on an obviously tight budget, yet is seriously lacking in all other departments. Most of the acting is stiff and dull, although I must admit I loved the finale. It involves two people searching the hotel for a little boy and his toy tape-recorder, all cornered by Linda Blair looking fantastically possessed (in films, whenever Blair is allowed to drop the 'good girl' routine and take the spotlight, she instinctively knows how to grab the camera). The sequence only lasts for a few minutes, but you know the old saying: If you've got a great ending, people will forgive you for just about anything. *1/2 from ****