My review was written in October 1990 after watching the movie on RCA/Columbia video cassette.
Lensed in South Africa, this horror pic runs through several themes fro Edgar Allan Poe (his name misspelled in the credits) stories with dull results.
As with three other Harry Alan Towers productions ina Poe vein, it's a direct-to-video release in the U.s. (Item should not be confused with last year's USA Network pic "Buried Alive", starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Matheson and William Atherton).
Though of historical footnote as John Carradine's final assignment, film disappoints because there's only a few seconds of blurry Carradine footage. He plays evil doctor Robert Vaughn's dad, holed up in his mansion/asylum for wayward girls.
Carradine supposedly experimented on his son, resulting in the nutcase who now preys on the young women who live in at his asylum Ravens Croft.
Karen Witter narrated the tale as the beautiful new teacher who suffers from hallucinations. Psychological horror mixes elements from Poe's "Cask of Amontillado" and "The Black Cat" among other tales. Overall, pic resembles an earlier South African effort "The Stay Awake", especially when the girls have an after-hours party in the basement with some boys.
Witter's fans will probably be disappointed because she remains clothed throughout this one, unlike "Midnight", a pic she also made in 1988. Former porn star Ginger Lynn Allen has one of her best mainstream jobs as a tough-talking inmate who proves to be an excellent screamer.
There's plenty of gore on display. Former porn director Gerard Kikoine keeps the sex content down, even having the gals' requisite shower scene stage with their bikini bottoms on.
