Delusion

My review was written in February 1984 after a screening at 42nd St. Times Square theater.

"The House Where Death Lives" is a painfully slow-paced and old-fashioned gothic horror film, made in 1980 and originally titled "Delusion". Once-planned for release by the since-defunct The International Picture Show Co., picture has had territorial release over the past two years via Gotham-based New American Films as well as pay-tv exposure, ahead of its current Manhattan debut.

Trite tale unfolds in flashback (bookended by the heroine writing this story to her dad), concerning a young man, introverted nurse Meredith (Patricia Pearcy) arriving at a mansion to take care of crippled Ivar Langrock (Joseph Cotten). Another newcomer to the Fairlawn estate is Gabriel (John Dukakis), Langrock's suspicious-looking 16-year-old grandson who has been living in a commune.

Overly expository opening reels introduce (with a straight face) many cliches of the gothic format: a face seen at an upstairs window of a room that is always kept locked, a heroine prone to wandering inquisitively about the house and grounds, etc. One b one, cast members are dispatched by a sudden bonk on the head from a blunt instrument (it turns out to be a leg from a table) until the final reel reveals who the crazy is. Wedged into the package for the umpteenth time is a case of incest as a long-ago incident and plot motivator.

Director Alan Beattie fails to generate suspense or atmosphere in a picture that remains low-key even during violent scenes. Acting is more than competent, with red-headed, fair-complexioned Patricia Pearcy making a distinctive impression in the rather limited central role and Cotten (in his most recent screen appearance) thoroughly professional in support. Despite its release title linking the film with the overworked "blame it on the house" horror genre, pic's locale is neutrally plain and there are no supernatural overtones.

I'm glad some local and old video stores still own VHS titles such as "Delusion". I remember watching it on a cheap video store located on a horrible social security living area. That was in the early 90's. Now, years later, to my surprise, I found the VHS of this tape.

I regret I didn't watch it before. This is the typical slasher flick with the "whodunit?" premise. The plot is very simple and easy to follow. A young cute nurse arrives to a creepy mansion to take care of an invalid and creepy old man. But it's the family of the old man who gives really the creeps to our heroine; including the mysterious butler. Why? Because each of them has weird activities and personalities. Then, "strange" killings start to happen and it's only Meredith who can discover who is behind them.

Well this is a standard slasher with a few decent death scenes and some bizarre sequences including nightmares and suspense.

Watch it only if you are hungry of slasher flicks. I could've enjoyed it more back when the slasher craziness was at it's peek. To these days, it looks dated and cheap. Oh and the VHS copy I found was horrible in all the sense of the word.

An attractive nurse named Meredith moves to the Langrock estate to take care of her patient:a crippled old man.She falls in love with sixteen year old grandson of Langrock named Gabriel,who returned from some kind of desert commune.A series of brutal murders in the gloom of the night is set in motion...Slow-moving but well-made and competent psycho slasher that often drags.The death scenes mostly involve head bashings and are pretty bloodless.I liked the main performance of Patricia Pearcy as I remembered her from Jeff Lieberman's "Squirm"."Delusion" is worth checking out for completists of 80's US independent horror.6 out of 10.

"Delusion" is a slasher film...and I rarely choose this sort of movie to watch. It's not totally mindless, keeps you guessing and isn't altogether awful!

When the film begins, Meredith (Patricia Pearcy) arrives at a mansion to become the new nurse for an elderly invalid (Joseph Cotten). The job seems pretty easy and she fits in well. However, when the old man's weird grandson arrives, things start dying...starting with the family dog but not stopping there! Who's behind all this...and are the confusing plot elements going to make sense by the end of the picture?

The film suffers a bit from Pearcy's zombie-like performance during much of the film. It also occasionally makes little sense...such as why the police aren't more alarmed with all these deaths. But it does offer plenty of false leads, dead ends and twists and so if you like this sort of film, it will fit the bill. I respect what they did with this picture, though I wasn't especially thrilled with seeing it.

Meredith moves to the Langrock estate to take care of Langrock himself, an ailing man whose legs no longer work. Langrock has a son who is disturbed in some way, as well as his orphaned teenage grandson Gabriel who returns from a desert commune (or something) to live with the family. Langrock's butler has been working his way through the wine cellar for years, and the cook is proud of her granola...mmm.

Gabriel is a strange young man who likes lurking in shadows, saying or reacting in peculiar ways and generally making people uneasy. Meredith is fascinated by him, but also fears he's behind the brutal death of the guard dog and the other deaths that follow.

A fair amount of the movie also has voice-over by Meredith.

The Embassy Home Entertainment VHS is not the best print; nighttime scenes or those in the cellar are dark and lack definition. The end credits are fairly unreadable.