THE HAUNTING OF MORELLA
Respectable Wynorski? Gimme a break!
Jim Wynorski is a director probably best known for T&A cheese epics such as Hard To Die and Sins of Desire. Here, even though its fair share of cheese (and indeed, T&A) is present, Wynorski seems to be trying to craft a genuinely good film, one that he won't have to be ashamed to tell people about when he gets to his high school reunion.
It's an adaptation of the Poe story "Morella", using said story as a springboard for a more expansive tale. Morella is blinded and crucified (life's rough) for trying to sacrifice her baby daughter, Lenora, in an occult ritual. Seventeen years later, Lenora's all grown up (played by "Baywatch"'s Nicole Eggert), and is having a bit of an identity crisis, because mommy keeps trying to possess her.
What follows is a good effort but doesn't add up to much. Production values are pretty good considering the movie's likely scant budget. The actors all do their best, and there's even some really good moments (like a simultaneously amusing and creepy scene where a skull with very little flesh attempts to grin).
But it doesn't add up to a very good film. Lots of hot girl-on-girl action is promised, but alas, none is delivered. The best-looking girl in the movie (the redhead) is killed for no apparent reason. And if you're hoping to see Ms. Eggert naked, you'll be disappointed - not only do you get to see very little of her, but what you see is obviously a (much more blonde) body double. In fact, in one shot in a "nude" scene, Eggert can be seen to be wearing what appears to be a towel.
It all comes to a good conclusion, with final moments which would have endeared the film to me further had Wynorski elected not to include the three words flashed across the screen in the final frames, which are at once hilariously out of place and completely unneccessary.
Good try, Jim, but no cigar for you today. This was not a trend that he tried to continue - his next fourteen or so movies (he directed FIVE in 1994!) lay firmly in the "T&A cheese epic" category, with the possible exception of Little Miss Millions...but even then, that one featured Jennifer Love Hewitt.