No one going into a low budget film like this should expect a masterpiece, but reading the reviews, I was prepared for something far less competent than this movie about an intergenerational curse as the product of a witch burning (think Mario Bava's Black Sunday but set in modern day - well, 1971 - Staten Island).
You sort of expect barely-good-enough performances and barely competent direction with something like this, but several things really threw me for a loop:
First is the performance of the smoking hot Shelby Leverington, the revengeful protagonist of the movie. Her performance here exceeds expectations which adds to the surreal quality of the film generally.
I should also mention, in particular, the performance of Norman Parker as Jake, who matches her excellently and believably.
The other thing is the unsettling yet appealing left-field prog-psych soundtrack which was notable enough that it kept drawing my attention.
There are no big twists here and the plot is hardly original, but the direction is competent and it exceeds a lot of other films with this sort of subject matter from that time period.
I don't agree with the negative reviews of this film. Compared to all of the other occult horror of the period, this one stands up a lot better than most of the rest, avoiding exploitation elements in favor of something a little more subtle. There's some blood and some sex, but it is muted and serves the plot.
This is not Citizen Kane. You have to suspend a few critical faculties for this.
But for what it is, you can do a whole lot worse.
Also: if any woman ever starts telling you a story about the Southern Tribes, my suggestion is to head for the exit immediately.
