Two-line summary : a group of people spends the night in this mansion near an old cemetery and encounter all sorts of strange, horrific beings. There are zombies resurrecting outside, demons arise from an ouija-board and all these creatures are ruled and controlled by an old Frankenstein-like fella in the attic. Other than these we have an authentic red-eyed Grim Reaper, mummies, giant spiders, little gremlins and huge monsters. Don't be fooled, however, because this 'Spookies' is a lot less silly than it actually seems. It contains several very efficient shock-effects and the make-up achievements easily outshine 90% of all the other low-budget 80's horror movies. I'd even go further and claim that this is a very underrated little flick and it deserves more praising (and a DVD-release!!). "Spookies" received the Delirium-award for best Special Effects at the international SF and Fantasy films festival, so you see I'm not the only one who likes it. If it only had a little more plot, it would enjoy the same status as films like 'The Evil Dead', 'Demons' or 'Re-Animator'. No plot, no depth, no logic nothing but tremendous fun! That's the best way to describe this film. Check it out, horror fans, and unleash your most monstrous appetite!!

In a film deeply reminiscent of the myriad 1930s old dark house horror flicks – in which a group of diverse characters found themselves collected in a haunted mansion, only to die mysteriously one by one – but with the up-to-date addition of special effects and bloodshed, SPOOKIES is a surprisingly enjoyable movie that is difficult to criticise. Sure, it is a low brow film, with lots of annoying '80s style humour and overacting leads, but nevertheless the fast pacing of the movie and the plethora of weird and wonderful creations and effects is what makes it worthwhile. As part of an unfinished film was also edited into the proceedings, this is in addition a confusing watch in which the plotting is sometimes all over the place; no matter, because there are guaranteed chills and monsters just around the corner, so don't focus too much on the storyline.

Production values are invariably low (with the exception of the super-quality effects work) whilst the acting leaves a lot to be desired – just the typical badly-dressed '80s crowd you always see in horror movies like this. The scripting is basic in the extreme, and, rather annoyingly, it rips off THE EVIL DEAD no end, including one female possession who looks just like a character in Raimi's film. The music is almost classic and weirdly suits the film – to much greater effect than the usual '80s pop/rock that you usually here in this sort of thing. Anyway, the best thing in this is the diverse range of monsters, ranging from squelchy muck-men in the basement to a real-life Grim Reaper, complete with sharp scythe; possessed people; an Asian spider-woman; little GREMLINS-style critters; and, at the frenetic, effective climax, a whole graveyard full of zombies. Mix in blood and lots of corpses (and, on one sour note, an exceptionally annoying demon henchman with a hook for a hand, who doesn't do a thing the whole movie except creep around) and you have the perfect ingredients for a chilled night's viewing.

The obscure "Spookies" is very fun to watch. It's the typical '80s slasher flick in which some young people stop at a house that contains an evil entity. The evil entity here is a sorcerer who wants to resurrect his bride. There are some really neat makeup effects, and the spider scene was probably the best. I will say that the flatulent monsters were kind of silly, but the movie as a whole was really fun. Despite what the cover implies, the movie is not about monsters attacking naked women. The soundtrack is about what I expected.

OK, so the characters have no depth. Who watches these movies for character development? We watch these flicks to have fun, and there's no shortage of that in "Spookies". It's entertainment for the ages!

So just be careful the next time that you play with a Ouija board.