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Witchouse 3: Demon Fire
Tempe Entertainment // Unrated // January 22, 2002
List Price: $24.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
"I just wanted to prove something."
"What? That you need Zoloft?"
The liner notes to Witchouse 3: Demon Fire, by micro-budget auteur J.R. Bookwalter, reveal that Charles Band was originally going to acquire the rights to a film directed by Brad Sykes (of Camp Blood infamy) for the third installment of Full Moon's Witchouse series. After learning how much it would cost to grab that movie and spiff it up for home video release, Bookwalter suggested that an entirely new film could be produced for right around the same price. Five e-mails later, Bookwalter had his cast lined up, with a $26,000 budget. (For the curious, that other movie, which coincidentally also starred Tanya Dempsey, is apparently available in rental outlets under the title The Coven.)
Just as there wasn't much to interconnect the first two Witchouse movies, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire pretty much stands on its own. Annie (Tanya Dempsey), following a flashback that shows her boyfriend Burke (Paul Darrigo) smacking her around after a late night out, turns to her old friends Stevie and Rose (Debbie Rochon and Tina Krause, respectively). Her buddies are in the middle of shooting a documentary on witchcraft, trying to learn what motivates people to turn to that sort of lifestyle. On a lark, the three of them hold a séance. Thankfully, nothing comes from their dabbling in the dark arts, and the movie ends after twenty minutes. Fade to black, roll credits. Actually, they inadvertently revive Lilith (Brinke Stevens, reprising Ariauna Albright's role from the previous two entries), who swears revenge on those who brought her back to this plane of existence.
Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is not a movie horror fans should turn to for any chills. Though there are a few mildly suspenseful moments, it doesn't come close to approaching what I'd consider to be 'scary'. At the same time, I don't think that's really the goal that the movie sets out to accomplish. Witchouse 3: Demon Fire doesn't try to be overly ambitious, keeping its cast small and its scale limited, having just a fraction of the $120,000 budget devoted to its 35mm predecessor. Odd for a movie with 'witch' in the title, Lilith is essentially a supporting character. Up until its climax, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is primarily centered around the relationship between the three women, which is tested with Lilith's arrival and their suspicion that the wackiness that ensues isn't entirely supernatural in nature.
Despite having a microscopic budget, the film masks it well, free of cheesy effects or shoddy sets. The only blatant indicator that so little money was at its disposal is Lilith's make-up, which has an inescapable dime-store Halloween costume feel to it. The cast all puts in respectable performances, particularly the always-reliable Debbie Rochon and supercute Shrieker-alum Tanya Dempsey. With a runtime that barely exceeds an hour and fifteen minutes, there's no filler, and the film moves along at a brisk, but not rushed, pace. There are a couple of really great sequences, particularly Rose and Stevie's individual encounters with Lilith, along with the climax, where the claws really come out. Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is an enjoyable romp, and I'm still floored by the overall quality, considering the limited resources at Bookwalter's disposal. Though not as memorable as other works from its cast and crew, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is still required viewing for devotees of low-budget horror in the Full Moon vein.
Video: Witchouse 3: Demon Fire was shot on digital video, and the Filmlook process was applied afterwards to, as the name suggests, give it more of a film-like appearance. The end result is an image that doesn't really live up to either DV or film. There's a small amount of video noise that, when exacerbated by Filmlook, gives Witchouse 3: Demon Fire a moderately grainy appearance at times. Some of the day-for-night shots overlooking the beach are overly soft, though that can almost certainly be traced back to film...errr...taping. As Witchouse 3: Demon Fire bypassed the film stage, flaws like dust and tears in any source material are obviously not present. Detail is difficult to distinguish at times, especially in the muddy, dimly-lit scenes. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation overall is fine, all things considered. Even given my distaste for the shot-on-video look, though, I think the movie would've looked better without the introduction of Filmlook.
Audio: The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is really well done. The keyboard-driven score sounds amazingly rich and full, and particularly when it plays over the opening credits, as do the songs contributed by Phantom Blue. Especially during the opening credits, the mix has a feel of a respectably-budgeted studio feature film, belying Witchouse 3: Demon Fire's tiny budget. There's some very nice use of the multiple channels at its disposal, though the mix doesn't try to be artificially bombastic. Lilith's voice bounces from speaker to speaker, creating an effectively disturbing presence that her make-up doesn't quite live up to. There's some nice stereo separation, such as the panning when a car zooms by at one point. Also, I'm not sure why the placement of the sound of Tina Krause's fingers clacking against a keyboard in the right channels made such an impression on me, but it certainly achieved the desired effect. It's often the subtleties that contribute the greatest to a soundtrack, and the DD 5.1 audio on this DVD release of Witchouse 3: Demon Fire has quite a few of these sorts of moments.
Supplements: Wow. Where to begin?
There are an astonishing three commentary tracks. The first includes writer/director/editor J.R. Bookwalter and star Debbie Rochon. It's one of the better commentary tracks I've listened to in quite a while, offering that perfect blend of humor and information. Among the many highlights are the story of Tammi Sutton schmoozing with a sheriff when the guerilla production faced a shut-down and Debbie's reminder of J.R.'s statement on the Witchouse 2 DVD that he'd never make a sequel. Both Debbie (who apparently was unfamiliar with Travelodge motels before this shoot) and J.R. have a lot of fun with the discussion, which is infectious.
The second brings actors Tanya Dempsey, Paul Derrigo, and Brinke Stevens together. Though only Tanya appears for any length of time in the movie, there's still a very constant flow of discussion among the three of them, who provide a decidedly different perspective from that of the first track. There's a surprising lack of severe overlap between these first two commentaries, and tidbits such as where Stevens was hiding during the shower scene are tossed out. My favorite admission from the track was Brinke Stevens' concern that the chant might actually conjure demons and open a gateway to hell.
The third and final track includes comments from producer Tammi Sutton, director of photography Danny Draven, and all-purpose crewmember Jeffrey "Spud" Scaduto. Although watching Witchouse 3: Demon Fire for a fourth time in one day wore me down a bit, this discussion is still worth a listen. Though I regretfully did not keep notes throughout and am writing all of this from my notoriously awful memory, there was still a fair amount of information that had not been treat, including the fact that the head of the tripod was broken throughout the course of the entire shoot. There's also an obvious but still funny penis gag that's made after Tammi chats about the 24" candles. The 'production' commentary isn't quite as talkative as the two before it and hearing some of the stories for a third time can get a little tiresome, but its inclusion is still very much appreciated.
There are two sets of interviews. The first, with Debbie Rochon, runs 23 minutes and is probably the most comprehensive look at the prolific actress' career that has been produced to date. Rochon speaks at length about Witchouse 3: Demon Fire and Tempe Video, but also spends quite a bit of time covering the industry and the horror genre as a whole. She even mentions her three weeks as a featured extra in Ladies And Gentlemen - The Fabulous Stains!, a near-legendary movie that Paramount desperately needs to release on DVD as soon as humanly possible. The other three leads are interviewed in a 10 minute segment -- sorry gents, no Brinke Stevens -- though the discussions aren't nearly as wide in scope as Rochon's. Tanya Dempsey, Paul Darrigo, and Tina Krause basically just chat about how they got their parts, their characters, the movie, and, of course, each other.
The 34 minute segment titled 'Home Movies' is aptly named and offers a far more substantial peek behind the scenes of production than any of the worthless EPK featurettes that litter so many DVDs from the major studios. The footage is broken down by day and includes production notes at the end of each bit. Though the majority of the home videos were taken from standard camcorders, there's a smidgen of 16x9 material interspersed throughout. The entire segment is in anamorphic widescreen, and the 4x3 portions are windowboxed.
The bloopers and outtakes reel runs just under 20 minutes. It too is enhanced for widescreen televisions and, interestingly enough, looks better than the feature itself. This footage looks as if a hefty portion of it (if not the entire kit and kaboodle) was not subjected to the Filmlook process. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a fan of the way video-based material looks in general, and perhaps J.R. Bookwalter could save a few thousand bucks the next go-around and bypass that sort of post-production tweaking.
"The Eyes of Debbie Rochon" is a collection of around 10 minutes of on-set footage shot by Rochon, following a very creepy segment where she shows off her Steve Forbes-like ability to avoid blinking for extended periods of time. A few seconds of windowboxed 4x3 footage is included among the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen material.
Also included is Burning of the Salem Witches, a brief short film that Bookwalter directed back in 1979 at the tender age of 13. Bookwalter provides commentary, half-joking at the end that prospective filmmakers should take care of their home movies should they pop up again like this.
Rounding out the supplements are still galleries, cast/crew filmographies and bios, and trailers for Vengeance of the Dead, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire, Skinned Alive, Eddie Presley, and Bloodletting.
Conclusion: If the names 'Debbie Rochon' and 'Tina Krause' mean nothing to you, don't bother. Go ahead and close your web browser right now, and consider clicking over the G. Noel Gross' Cineschlock-O-Rama in the hopes of being shown the light. If, on the other hand, the very mention of those two women or J.R. Bookwalter brings a smile to your face, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is indispensable. Though not the most phenomenal entry in the genre to ever grace video store shelves, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is a solid effort that trumps the vast majority of its direct-to-video brethren. Tempe Video may just now be dipping its toes into DVD, but I can't recall a company of any size roaring out of the gates with a disc comparable to this. Regardless of what you may about the film (assuming you think about it at all), there's no denying that Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is easily among the most impressive special editions ever assembled for a horror movie. Available from Tempe Video's site for under $20, biting the bullet on a sight-unseen purchase isn't a terribly costly proposition. This is not a movie for everyone, though a quick peek at Tempe's catalog would indicate that pandering to mainstream tastes isn't an integral part of their mission statement. Witchouse 3 may only appeal to a certain subset of horror fans, but as I'm among them, I'd have to give this DVD a strong recommendation.
"What? That you need Zoloft?"
The liner notes to Witchouse 3: Demon Fire, by micro-budget auteur J.R. Bookwalter, reveal that Charles Band was originally going to acquire the rights to a film directed by Brad Sykes (of Camp Blood infamy) for the third installment of Full Moon's Witchouse series. After learning how much it would cost to grab that movie and spiff it up for home video release, Bookwalter suggested that an entirely new film could be produced for right around the same price. Five e-mails later, Bookwalter had his cast lined up, with a $26,000 budget. (For the curious, that other movie, which coincidentally also starred Tanya Dempsey, is apparently available in rental outlets under the title The Coven.)
Just as there wasn't much to interconnect the first two Witchouse movies, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire pretty much stands on its own. Annie (Tanya Dempsey), following a flashback that shows her boyfriend Burke (Paul Darrigo) smacking her around after a late night out, turns to her old friends Stevie and Rose (Debbie Rochon and Tina Krause, respectively). Her buddies are in the middle of shooting a documentary on witchcraft, trying to learn what motivates people to turn to that sort of lifestyle. On a lark, the three of them hold a séance. Thankfully, nothing comes from their dabbling in the dark arts, and the movie ends after twenty minutes. Fade to black, roll credits. Actually, they inadvertently revive Lilith (Brinke Stevens, reprising Ariauna Albright's role from the previous two entries), who swears revenge on those who brought her back to this plane of existence.
Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is not a movie horror fans should turn to for any chills. Though there are a few mildly suspenseful moments, it doesn't come close to approaching what I'd consider to be 'scary'. At the same time, I don't think that's really the goal that the movie sets out to accomplish. Witchouse 3: Demon Fire doesn't try to be overly ambitious, keeping its cast small and its scale limited, having just a fraction of the $120,000 budget devoted to its 35mm predecessor. Odd for a movie with 'witch' in the title, Lilith is essentially a supporting character. Up until its climax, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is primarily centered around the relationship between the three women, which is tested with Lilith's arrival and their suspicion that the wackiness that ensues isn't entirely supernatural in nature.
Despite having a microscopic budget, the film masks it well, free of cheesy effects or shoddy sets. The only blatant indicator that so little money was at its disposal is Lilith's make-up, which has an inescapable dime-store Halloween costume feel to it. The cast all puts in respectable performances, particularly the always-reliable Debbie Rochon and supercute Shrieker-alum Tanya Dempsey. With a runtime that barely exceeds an hour and fifteen minutes, there's no filler, and the film moves along at a brisk, but not rushed, pace. There are a couple of really great sequences, particularly Rose and Stevie's individual encounters with Lilith, along with the climax, where the claws really come out. Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is an enjoyable romp, and I'm still floored by the overall quality, considering the limited resources at Bookwalter's disposal. Though not as memorable as other works from its cast and crew, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is still required viewing for devotees of low-budget horror in the Full Moon vein.
Video: Witchouse 3: Demon Fire was shot on digital video, and the Filmlook process was applied afterwards to, as the name suggests, give it more of a film-like appearance. The end result is an image that doesn't really live up to either DV or film. There's a small amount of video noise that, when exacerbated by Filmlook, gives Witchouse 3: Demon Fire a moderately grainy appearance at times. Some of the day-for-night shots overlooking the beach are overly soft, though that can almost certainly be traced back to film...errr...taping. As Witchouse 3: Demon Fire bypassed the film stage, flaws like dust and tears in any source material are obviously not present. Detail is difficult to distinguish at times, especially in the muddy, dimly-lit scenes. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation overall is fine, all things considered. Even given my distaste for the shot-on-video look, though, I think the movie would've looked better without the introduction of Filmlook.
Audio: The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is really well done. The keyboard-driven score sounds amazingly rich and full, and particularly when it plays over the opening credits, as do the songs contributed by Phantom Blue. Especially during the opening credits, the mix has a feel of a respectably-budgeted studio feature film, belying Witchouse 3: Demon Fire's tiny budget. There's some very nice use of the multiple channels at its disposal, though the mix doesn't try to be artificially bombastic. Lilith's voice bounces from speaker to speaker, creating an effectively disturbing presence that her make-up doesn't quite live up to. There's some nice stereo separation, such as the panning when a car zooms by at one point. Also, I'm not sure why the placement of the sound of Tina Krause's fingers clacking against a keyboard in the right channels made such an impression on me, but it certainly achieved the desired effect. It's often the subtleties that contribute the greatest to a soundtrack, and the DD 5.1 audio on this DVD release of Witchouse 3: Demon Fire has quite a few of these sorts of moments.
Supplements: Wow. Where to begin?
There are an astonishing three commentary tracks. The first includes writer/director/editor J.R. Bookwalter and star Debbie Rochon. It's one of the better commentary tracks I've listened to in quite a while, offering that perfect blend of humor and information. Among the many highlights are the story of Tammi Sutton schmoozing with a sheriff when the guerilla production faced a shut-down and Debbie's reminder of J.R.'s statement on the Witchouse 2 DVD that he'd never make a sequel. Both Debbie (who apparently was unfamiliar with Travelodge motels before this shoot) and J.R. have a lot of fun with the discussion, which is infectious.
The second brings actors Tanya Dempsey, Paul Derrigo, and Brinke Stevens together. Though only Tanya appears for any length of time in the movie, there's still a very constant flow of discussion among the three of them, who provide a decidedly different perspective from that of the first track. There's a surprising lack of severe overlap between these first two commentaries, and tidbits such as where Stevens was hiding during the shower scene are tossed out. My favorite admission from the track was Brinke Stevens' concern that the chant might actually conjure demons and open a gateway to hell.
The third and final track includes comments from producer Tammi Sutton, director of photography Danny Draven, and all-purpose crewmember Jeffrey "Spud" Scaduto. Although watching Witchouse 3: Demon Fire for a fourth time in one day wore me down a bit, this discussion is still worth a listen. Though I regretfully did not keep notes throughout and am writing all of this from my notoriously awful memory, there was still a fair amount of information that had not been treat, including the fact that the head of the tripod was broken throughout the course of the entire shoot. There's also an obvious but still funny penis gag that's made after Tammi chats about the 24" candles. The 'production' commentary isn't quite as talkative as the two before it and hearing some of the stories for a third time can get a little tiresome, but its inclusion is still very much appreciated.
There are two sets of interviews. The first, with Debbie Rochon, runs 23 minutes and is probably the most comprehensive look at the prolific actress' career that has been produced to date. Rochon speaks at length about Witchouse 3: Demon Fire and Tempe Video, but also spends quite a bit of time covering the industry and the horror genre as a whole. She even mentions her three weeks as a featured extra in Ladies And Gentlemen - The Fabulous Stains!, a near-legendary movie that Paramount desperately needs to release on DVD as soon as humanly possible. The other three leads are interviewed in a 10 minute segment -- sorry gents, no Brinke Stevens -- though the discussions aren't nearly as wide in scope as Rochon's. Tanya Dempsey, Paul Darrigo, and Tina Krause basically just chat about how they got their parts, their characters, the movie, and, of course, each other.
The 34 minute segment titled 'Home Movies' is aptly named and offers a far more substantial peek behind the scenes of production than any of the worthless EPK featurettes that litter so many DVDs from the major studios. The footage is broken down by day and includes production notes at the end of each bit. Though the majority of the home videos were taken from standard camcorders, there's a smidgen of 16x9 material interspersed throughout. The entire segment is in anamorphic widescreen, and the 4x3 portions are windowboxed.
The bloopers and outtakes reel runs just under 20 minutes. It too is enhanced for widescreen televisions and, interestingly enough, looks better than the feature itself. This footage looks as if a hefty portion of it (if not the entire kit and kaboodle) was not subjected to the Filmlook process. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a fan of the way video-based material looks in general, and perhaps J.R. Bookwalter could save a few thousand bucks the next go-around and bypass that sort of post-production tweaking.
"The Eyes of Debbie Rochon" is a collection of around 10 minutes of on-set footage shot by Rochon, following a very creepy segment where she shows off her Steve Forbes-like ability to avoid blinking for extended periods of time. A few seconds of windowboxed 4x3 footage is included among the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen material.
Also included is Burning of the Salem Witches, a brief short film that Bookwalter directed back in 1979 at the tender age of 13. Bookwalter provides commentary, half-joking at the end that prospective filmmakers should take care of their home movies should they pop up again like this.
Rounding out the supplements are still galleries, cast/crew filmographies and bios, and trailers for Vengeance of the Dead, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire, Skinned Alive, Eddie Presley, and Bloodletting.
Conclusion: If the names 'Debbie Rochon' and 'Tina Krause' mean nothing to you, don't bother. Go ahead and close your web browser right now, and consider clicking over the G. Noel Gross' Cineschlock-O-Rama in the hopes of being shown the light. If, on the other hand, the very mention of those two women or J.R. Bookwalter brings a smile to your face, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is indispensable. Though not the most phenomenal entry in the genre to ever grace video store shelves, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is a solid effort that trumps the vast majority of its direct-to-video brethren. Tempe Video may just now be dipping its toes into DVD, but I can't recall a company of any size roaring out of the gates with a disc comparable to this. Regardless of what you may about the film (assuming you think about it at all), there's no denying that Witchouse 3: Demon Fire is easily among the most impressive special editions ever assembled for a horror movie. Available from Tempe Video's site for under $20, biting the bullet on a sight-unseen purchase isn't a terribly costly proposition. This is not a movie for everyone, though a quick peek at Tempe's catalog would indicate that pandering to mainstream tastes isn't an integral part of their mission statement. Witchouse 3 may only appeal to a certain subset of horror fans, but as I'm among them, I'd have to give this DVD a strong recommendation.
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