Plans to turn a haunted house into a bed and breakfast turn deadly when a magician is pushed or is straight up flung out of a third story window to his death by an unseen presence. A ragtag (read as: shitty) group of parapsychologists and a trio of private security dudes show up to exorcise the evil spirit. What the group doesn’t count on is that this particular ghost is all that remains of Avery Lauter, a part-time warlock, part-time serial killer, and full-time meanie. Whitney (Kathleen Bailey) the medium has the strongest psychic powers of the group, but this also makes her more susceptible to Avery’s demonic influence. The fight to stay alive in the house becomes a fight for her very soul. Probably, I don’t remember if this was a plot point, I just thought it sounded like a good end to this paragraph.

Kevin Tenney directed Night of the Demons (1988), a film that is easily in my top 10 favorite horror films of all time, and so, he carries a wheelbarrow-full of good will from me when he’s behind the camera. Witchtrap (1989) is supposedly not a sequel to Tenney’s own Witchboard (1986), but I feel like it is, but maybe it’s like actually not? Either way, this is a cheesed out 1980s supernatural horror film that features a man attempting to iron a shirt while he’s wearing it. And not because a ghost made him do it or anything. That was all on his own. The music score by Dennis Michael Tenney straight up rips you a new synth-hole. Few things make me happier than when composers couldn’t afford an orchestra back in the day and they had to rely on the technology of the time to get the job done.

Would you believe me if I said the acting in this film is wooden? As evidence, I offer this: a character says, “Hardy har har”, and it might be the most sincerely delivered line in the film. The cast is almost uniformly clunky and awkward, and the film is all the better for it, if you’re into that and trust me, I am into that. My favorite character is Tony Vincente, the sarcastic ex-cop who got fired because of his attitude problem. That completely makes sense because even as a private eye, he’s so frickin’ sardonic that he’s damn near unemployable! Of course, my other favorite character is the spunky video tech named Ginger, played by America’s treasure, Linnea Quigley. She leaves the film way too early, damn it!

While some of the jokes in Witchtrap actually land (something that surprised the heck out of me), it’s the excellently gory deaths and the spooky shenanigans that pack the real punch here. My only issue with the film is that the pacing goes a little awry, but I’m only talking like 5 or 10 minutes of slack in the whole thing. The characters are obnoxious in a fun way and the film delivers on its promise of both a witch (or warlock) and also a house. That’s truth in advertising. Set your expectations appropriately low and you’ll very likely have a good time. And that’s just great life advice. You’re welcome.

MVD Rewind’s Blu-ray of Witchtrap is rather similar to the 2017 Vinegar Syndrome release, though it is in 1.78:1 as opposed to VS’s 1.85:1. I’m not a huge stickler about these things, so I can’t honestly say which I prefer. Either way, the picture looks great to these tired old eyes. The mono audio sounds nice as well. No complaints there. As far as extras go, everything on the Vinegar Syndrome disc is here including interviews with Kevin Tenney, Linnea Quigley, cinematographer Tom Jewett, and special effects supervisor Tassilo Baur. There’s also a photo gallery, trailers for this and other MVD releases, as well as the VHS version of Witchtrap to scratch your nostalgia itch. This also an audio commentary with Tenney, producer Dan Duncan, Jewett, and actor Hal Havin. This version comes with a poster and retro VHS-like cover!