Murder Mansion

What could be better than a big house full of people that could turn out to be either murderers or victims or maybe even both? If the movie is The Murder Mansion a lot could be better than that. (By the way the original title is “La Mansion de la Niebla,” and it sometimes goes by “Maniac Mansion”).

A dense sudden fog causes several motorists to get lost in the middle of nowhere as if by supernatural forces. Some are terrorized by a ghostly Rolls Royce and its zombie-like driver. The motorists all take refuge in an old mansion near a decrepit cemetery.

When they meet the owner of the place she tells them of legends involving a vampire killer and a witch who supposedly lived in the mansion. Is it the witch's driver that is stalking the visitors? Throughout the gloomy night the monsters quietly invade the house and people start dropping dead. But the monsters are not what they seem. Something strange beyond the ghostly tales is going on.

The plot twists and turns a lot as the story wears on. Once we think we know what's going on we find out that maybe we don't know as much as we thought we did. This might have been fine, even enjoyable if the movie makers hadn't been so intent on keeping the viewer in the dark that they fail to give us enough information about what is happening. As a result we sometimes find ourselves in the middle of a situation without a clear trail on how we got from point A to point B (which could be in part due to the really bad audio quality making it hard to hear what's going on).

We also get people doing odd things for no apparent reason as well as things that don't seem like realistic responses to situations. In that regard the characters aren't all that good which drags the plot down. On the other hand, I can say that the characters are distinct enough that despite dropping into a house full of similar people it's not difficult to know who is who for the most part.

The acting is weak which doesn't help the characterization issues. This also hurts the attempts made at relationship conflicts. They should have stuck with terror and suspense which is one thing they do decently in this movie.

There's an OK dark and creepy ambiance. I like most of the foggy forest and graveyard scenes, and some of the hidden passageway moments are good. The zombie driver moments are probably the best in the whole production, but that's not saying much.

MORALITY:

We get some sexual situations (some of them adulterous) but little sex and no nudity.

There is some strong language but not a whole lot.

There is some violence with people getting shot and stung up, but with maybe one potential exception it's nothing graphic or gory.

SPIRITUALITY:

Besides the hints of the undead there's... no, actually, I guess that's about it.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I guess I wouldn't call this one awful, it's just not as good a story as it needs to be to pull off the attempts at a twisting plot. Check it out only if it doesn't require a lot of effort to do so.

#MurderMansion