Vacaciones de terror

Vacaciones de terror believes it's the Mexican answer to Amityville Horror and Poltergeist, but it ends up feeling more like a mash up of Superstition and Cathy's Curse. Occasionally, the film musters up a tiny bit of atmosphere and there are a few images that conjure up more dread than they should, but for an 80 minute film, it feels endless.

It all deals with a family (husband, wife, two boys, one little girl, and the husband's teenage niece who lives with them for some unknown reason) inheriting a vacation home from his dead aunt. Little do they know this was the sight of a witch execution years ago and her spirit still lingers and has possessed a creepy doll their youngest daughter takes to and, pretty soon, eggs are smashing, the walls are dripping with blood, and knives start flying out of the drawers and attacking people.

It all seems like a solid recipe for fun (albeit a bit "been there, done that" fun), but nothing really happens until the last 20 minutes so we're stuck listening to the shrill shrieks of the two little boys in the film who feel like they must scream every line to hit the back of a theater somewhere. The thrills are strictly of the PG rated variety besides one attack via flying knives that recalls Piper Laurie's death in Carrie. It's too light weight to ever really scare or thrill and it's not quite cheesy or poorly made enough to be taken as a piece of camp.