This House Possessed (1981)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Instant Favorite.

Brilliant and touching

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

First off, I DID actually enjoy this film. The suspense was definitely there, the cast was pretty darn good, and the action was fairly constant, which is more than I can say for a lot of similar films of this period. The worst grievance I have really is that I felt a bit was lacking in the explanation of why the house was possessed in the first place. While I understand that it loved 'Margaret' and wanted her to stay, there was no real explanation of just where the house acquired this personality of it's own. Two other little (really silly)annoyances: One, why did they continually drive around with that bloody back window open on the SUV all the time? And two, what was up with all the bloody singing? I understand he was supposed to be a rock singer (more like lounge singer, but I digress), but why on earth was I subjected to so much of that cheesiness? OK, OK, so it is the ever so slightly endearing cheesiness of an early '80s film, so it's kind of cute...but at one point, I was waiting for the house to hurry up and do him in already so he'd shut up! But all in all, I must admit that I didn't feel as though I'd waisted my time on This House Is Possessed. Actually, I kind of enjoyed it! Worth a viewing.

Ya know, generally speaking I have quite a lot of time for US made for TV horrors. They may never have gone in for tits, gore or the sort of boggling weirdness that I tend to appreciate most in my horror cinema but they usually made up for it in sincerity and desire to get the job done. This House Possessed just about gets the job done, but its actually kinda weak, despite what other posters here indicate. Part of the problem though by no means the biggest issue is that it doesn't really make sense, or at least doesn't explain itself to an acceptable level. Right from the start we see a melding of technological and supernatural horror, but the two never fuse to any interesting effect, they are simply applied willy nilly whenever one or the other might advance the plot and it leaves the situation rather less than compelling and more obviously contrived. The main problem though is that it simply runs too long. It has enough substance to run perhaps 80 minutes at best but instead is drawn out a tiresome 10 or so beyond that and the characters and situation just don't warrant the extended length. Story wise things are pretty basic, a music star of sorts has a breakdown and decamps along with a personal nurse to an opulent house run by electronics, but there finds that dark forces are afoot. Its a decent set up, but the scares are scant and altogether too much time is spent on the burgeoning romance between the two leads, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I didn't really buy that the (admittedly lovely) Nurse Sheila would fall so easily for her patient, nor did I find much interest in their romance. Parker Stevenson is fairly likable as the ailing star while Lisa Eilbacher is wholly charming as Sheila but their relationship is thinly written and clichéd, making all too much of the film kinda uninteresting. Joan Bennett holds up some measure of suspense as a bag lady who knows what's going on though, and Slim Pickens has a good turn as a manager, both keep things moving. The house itself is a pretty cool place as well, maintaining watch-ability between shocks. The score is quite good as well, theremin and suchlike it gives a reasonable ambiance. All in all this is never completely boring and some of the jolts do work, moreover there's an overall charm to the piece that keeps it going, but its still pretty forgettable. Possibly worth tapping if you really dig made for TV horrors, but otherwise not a film I'd especially recommend, sadly.

A nice 1981 b-horror movie starring the late Joan Bennett and Slim Pickens about a burnt-out pop singer moving with a nurse to a high-tech-house to find out that his new building has an evil intelligence and no regrets to kill its habitants.This TV production is a b-movie flick with a good horror atmosphere, similar to the late Hammer Horror TV shows and several Twilight Zone episodes, and an eerie Theremin-like mystery sound track. Unfortunately the film lacks of good actors, thrills and good special effects.In fact, this movie was just made twelve years before "Jurassic Park" but shows primitive special effects like suddenly opening doors or some flame overdubs to suggest a heavy fire that were even better produced in the 1933 version of "King Kong"."This House Possessed" is not good enough to become a horror classic and also not weird enough to become a classic entry in Michael Weldon's "Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film". At least it's thrilling and great fun to watch after midnight with a bag of crisps and a can of lager beer.

This movie set me up to be terrified by becoming too set on computers to live on. It's a nice little movie, but is it supposed to be possessed by the computer running the estate, a ghost or by both. It's never really becomes clear. The house's closed-circuit cameras somehow predict that Parker Stevenson's rock star persona will be coming to the house on a sabbatical and will be bringing a nurse with him. The nurse is played by his "Hardy Boys" co-star Lisa Eilbacher apparently to cash in on their chemistry and looks. The house then goes on to kill in some very innovative ways anyone that it deems a threat. It even kills Slim Pickens, Parker's manager, over long distance ! The rest of the story runs smoothly revealing secrets in the forgotten history of Lisa's character and showcases Joan Bennett of "Dark Shadows" fame as the bag lady with all the secrets. This a top notch thriller and mystery for true horror fans who don't want a lot of needless gore.