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The Haunting of Morella (1990) - Blu-ray Review

3 beersWomen! Witchcraft! And b-movie maestro Jim Wynorski!  This tightlipped tale has it all.

Producer Roger Corman always has been a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe.  Even before he made bank with his Poe pictures featuring Vincent Price, he was often returning to Poe’s prose for inspiration for other titles.  After moving on from the author’s morbid dance with death in one of his final pictures for AIP, he figured he was done with the gothic world.  He was wrong.

Returning back to that deep and dark well for 1990’s The Haunting of Morella, Corman and one of his talented directors teamed-up again to deliver a rather naughty retelling of one of Poe’s most ethereal tales, with plenty of new complications thanks to the amount of money Lenora is about to inherit thanks to her upcoming 18th birthday. 

Directed by exploitation guru Jim Wynorski (Chopping Mall, The Return of Swamp Thing) and most definitely a product of its time, The Haunting of Morella was released toward to beginning of the end of the VHS revolution.  With Blockbuster video stores taking over, it was only a matter of time before choice would become a thing of the past.   Mindless oversaturation was beginning to rule the roost and a lot of previously available titles would find themselves competing with multiple offerings of the same Hollywood title.  No shelf space for you!!!

The Haunting of Morella is a rather cheap and dirty release, with plenty of boobs and butts and lots and lots of pre-Baywatch Nicole Eggert, but it winds up being memorable for more than that.  Thanks to an eye-burning opening in which a woman is brutally put to death for being a witch, leaving behind a baby daughter and a husband (David McCallum from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and NCIS), the film takes its cue and turns up the bloodshed throughout this 82-minute textured yarn as mommy returns from the great beyond to enjoy the sensual all over again.

The film did well enough at the box office and, as sad as it sounds, is probably the final Poe film Corman will ever produce again.  Times have changed and people move on.  The Haunting of Morella is no stranger to these situations either, as it is permanently linked to a bygone era in which B-movie regulars Maria Ford, Gail Harris, Debbie Dutch, and the late Lana Clarkson (of Barbarian Queen fame) all benefit from with the dropping of their gowns.  Who am I kidding?  WE are the beneficiaries of such naughty niceties.

Wynorski might be an absolute wild man behind the camera but, throughout much of this rich-looking production, he keeps his cool in check to deliver something that feels more like an updated Corman classic than one of his own B-movie mad flicks.  That’s saying something too as I appreciate both ends of the spectrum. 

The Haunting of Morella is outrageous and explicit in its tempting manners.  It is more than worthy of its blu-ray handling thanks to Code Red.

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The Haunting of Morella (1990) - Blu-ray Review

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime:
82 mins
Director
: Jim Wynorski
Writer:
R.J. Robertson
Cast:
Nicole Eggert, David McCallum, Christopher Halsted
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
Crucified, blinded and buried. Now she's back.
Memorable Movie Quote: "My flesh needs sustenance, and your life shall fill that need."
Theatrical Distributor:

Official Site:
Release Date:

DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
May 6, 2016
Synopsis: A witch is put to death in Colonial America, leaving her husband and infant daughter behind. Seventeen years later, the daughter has grown up and stands to inherit money set up by her mother's family. Now that the stage is set, the mother wants to return to life by taking over her daughter's body.

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The Haunting of Morella (1990) - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Scorpion Releasing
Available on Blu-ray
- May 6, 2016
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: None
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Region-free playback

Code Red presents The Haunting of Morella on 1080p with a colorful and crisp transfer that looks scrumptious and feels soft in all the right places.  Flames look bright and flicker between the shadows, offering explicit colors and lots of vibrancy.  While not as crackling with fine edges as you might suspect, the film – complete with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 – doesn’t disappoint with this its 1080p debut.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  •  Director Jim Wynorksi and second unit director Steve Mitchell rap about the making of the movie during its running time.

Special Features:

We get a 5-minute interview with Roger Corman about the movie.  Fans also get a peek at some deleted scenes that were used for the DVD cut but wound up on the cutting room floor here.  Katarina Leigh Waters returns with her fun nightmare theater mode to share some IMDB trivia nods about the movie.

  • Roger Corman Interview (5 min)
  • Deleted Clips (2 min)
  • Nightmare Theater Mode (5 min)
  • Theatrical Trailer

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The Haunting of Morella (1990) - Blu-ray Review

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