House of the Witchdoctor

Director - Devon Mikolas (Salvation by Blood)
Starring - Allan Kayser (Mama's Family, Night of the Creeps), Callie Stephens (Drinking Buddies), and David Willis (Stalked: Someone's Watching)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The horror genre often goes through trends where big budget, and indie films, get stuck in a rut and we see a surplus of films released that follow similar stories or situations. Lately, we have seen more paranormal flicks than I care to count along with a metric shit ton of torture porn flicks.  Some of these can be fun but for the most part they end up being recycled garbage.  After I watched Lords of Salem last year I realized that we do not have near enough flicks involving witchcraft and voodoo.  A few months back I received a press release for House of the Witchdoctor which was said to star Bill Moseley.  I was excited to see how this film was handled and if Moseley was in it for more than just a cameo.  I reached out to them and they were kind enough to send me a screener.
     The film follows a man who was just released from prison as he and his friend head out to get fucked up and do a little fucking.  His first night out he rapes a drug dealer's woman before killing her and the drug dealer. The following day they head out for more havoc and cross paths with a group of college students as they travel to the parents of one of the young girls.  They try to force themselves on the college girls while their boyfriends watch but a police enters the room and they disband.  The group goes on to their destination while the young girl's parents leave for the night.  The two men head out into the woods looking to get fucked up again and find the car the group of college kids were driving and decide to break in for a little co-ed ass.  The two break in and tie up the men before raping the women.  They force themselves on two of the women while the third hides out in the basement until her parents arrive.  However, once they arrive things don't fair so well for the two gentlemen.  The man and woman of the house is harboring a dark secret and a mystical power that will make them think twice before breaking into another home for a good time.
     This was a film that I was extremely excited to see.  It had Bill Moseley, Brad from Night of the Creeps, and a fucking witchdoctor.  However, when I started watching the film I quickly realized it was nothing like what I thought it would be. In fact, the film was nothing like I hoped it would be.  The acting in this one is fucking top notch by the entire cast but I want to personally recognize Allan Kayser and his performance.  He really made the film what it is and without him the film would not be as good as it was.  After seeing him as Brad in Night of the Creeps and Bubba in Mama's Family I have to say he pulled a 180 and gave us a completely different character than what we are used to seeing him do. The story for this one is strong but wasn't quite what I was expecting the film was more home invasion that it was a flick involving voodoo.  The home invasion portion of the film was truly disturbing but the post artwork made me think I would see more of the sack-head character and that really let me down.  However, this House of 1000 Corpses meets Home Alone story was fun just not what I was expecting.  Finally, the film has a slew of on screen special effects.  Sadly, they are not that gory until the very end of the film and even then we don't really get enough that one would expect when looking at artwork above.  Overall, House of the Witchdoctor is one truly unnerving film that is filled with rape, voodoo, blood, and drugs.  It is definitely worth a watch.