Never heard of Death Spa before? That could be because
it was also released under the name Witch
Blade, or it could just be the fact that slasher gorefests like this 1987
lost camp classic were too common in the 80s to know them all. This only allows
new fans to discover the grindhouse greatness of Death Spa for the first time, along with fans who will appreciate
the unrated cut on the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Rarely do the drawn posters from
80s horror provide a film that lives up to the first-impression expectations
brought on by the art; everything you see on the cover for Death Spa is exactly what you get, for better or worse.
Few horror
movies are as dated as this one, but that just adds to the campy charm. The
wardrobes and soundtrack alone provide plenty of unintentional laughs to keep
the film entertaining between violent death scenes and female shower scenes.
Something of a ghost story with a Psycho/Sleepover Massacre rip-off of a plot
twist, it is actually shocking how gory the death scenes are. Creatively
making use of the health spa’s juice bar and sushi cuisine, there are several
creative deaths by the hand of unconventional weapons, not to mention the
danger of the computer-run exercise equipment, as featured on the cover.
The gym is owned
by Michael Evans (William Bumiller), who is haunted by the ghost of his jealous
deceased wife through the gym’s state-of-the-art computer program. It probably
doesn’t help that Michael uses the gym’s clientele and staff as his dating
pool, and soon every nude woman appears to be a target. The plot doesn’t need
to develop much more than this in order for Death Spa to work, and it doesn’t
offer any more.
The interesting
thing about the Starbody Health Spa is that it doesn’t seem to have a male
locker room or shower, at least as far as the filmmakers were concerned. There
are countless scenes which take place in the female locker room, shower, and
steam room, however, and it seems that all of the gym’s members go au naturale.
This definitely fed into the mentality of the genre by the late 1980s, all
horror films existing for nude scenes and gory deaths. Death Spa has both of
these in high doses.
The combo pack
Blu-ray/DVD release includes a new 2K high definition transfer from the
original uncut and uncensored camera negative. The special features include
only a handful of extras, but they are the best that fans could ask for. There
is a commentary track with director Michael Fischa, roducer Jamie Beardsley,
and editor Michael Kewley, as well as a making-of featurette. Also included are
a few obligatory vintage trailers nearly as amusing as the film itself.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4/10
Historical
Significance: 2/10
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