MAUSOLEUM tells the story of a woman who, under a centuries-old family curse, is possessed by a demon which has an abode in said mausoleum.
The movie has a few effective gore scenes, but overall, the silly plot and especially the schlocky creature effects drag it down. Given how bad those effects are, it is hard to believe that this was made 10 years after THE EXORCIST(1973), of which it is faintly reminiscent.
Another point of criticism is a brief comedic interlude with vaguely racist undertones which would likely not be acceptable today.
What saves this film from going to the bottom of the trash heap are a reasonably coherent story (though not always, e.g. What happened to the truck of the delivery driver?), a nice atmosphere, the willingness of the main actress to give 100% in her performance, and the film's willingness to kill off characters one might not have expected to die. One such character, whose chest is ripped out by demon-faced breasts, provides a particularly original, if unintentionally funny scene.
The film is interesting for another reason: it provides in one scene a nice contrast between the practical effects of yore and CGI of today. Early in the movie, a character dies by partial head explosion. The effect is done well, and for that reason unsettling. Today, this would have been done with CGI, but I don't think that CGI could achieve the same visceral impact on the audience, no matter how graphic.
Overall, this is mainly for fans of 80s horror.
The movie has a few effective gore scenes, but overall, the silly plot and especially the schlocky creature effects drag it down. Given how bad those effects are, it is hard to believe that this was made 10 years after THE EXORCIST(1973), of which it is faintly reminiscent.
Another point of criticism is a brief comedic interlude with vaguely racist undertones which would likely not be acceptable today.
What saves this film from going to the bottom of the trash heap are a reasonably coherent story (though not always, e.g. What happened to the truck of the delivery driver?), a nice atmosphere, the willingness of the main actress to give 100% in her performance, and the film's willingness to kill off characters one might not have expected to die. One such character, whose chest is ripped out by demon-faced breasts, provides a particularly original, if unintentionally funny scene.
The film is interesting for another reason: it provides in one scene a nice contrast between the practical effects of yore and CGI of today. Early in the movie, a character dies by partial head explosion. The effect is done well, and for that reason unsettling. Today, this would have been done with CGI, but I don't think that CGI could achieve the same visceral impact on the audience, no matter how graphic.
Overall, this is mainly for fans of 80s horror.