I also found this one on that AV Club's list of "great horror movies never releases in theaters." The production ran out of money and Spellcaster only surfaced on video in 1992; it's on Youtube now. I enjoyed it but how this little movie made any sort of "great" movies list is beyond me. It ain't good, y'all.
We open with a Goth music video vixen, Cassandra Castle (played by A-ha!'s "Take On Me" girl), lip-syncing and fluttering around a damn impressive castle (any budget they had must have been spent on the location shots at that castle, in Bracciano, Italy). This is all part of a "Rock TV" (stand-in for MTV) contest where contestants win a trip to the castle to hang out with Ms Castle and search for a hidden $1,000,000 check. There are seven contestants: a British woman who likes to hunt; Yvette, French girl; Tony, smarmy Italian; Tara from California (who likes to run around in leotards and leg warmers); a chunky guy; and our heroes, a brother and sister from Cleveland, Tom and Jackie (Gail O'Grady). The castle is owned by the mysterious Signor Diaboli: the contestants have the run of the place but are admonished not to damage any of the priceless antiques.
Well, you know how it goes. Bodies start piling up immediately. Yvette petulantly breaks some glassware and then, when she sits down in a wooden chair/throne ornately carved with lions, she gets eaten alive when the lion carvings come to life. When a drunk Cassandra stumbles into a dungeon, she gets chased out when reanimated corpses come after her. Tony slashes a painting with his switchblade and ends up "falling" off the highest tower. The chunky guy gets turned into a pig (this movie is not subtle) and the pig-man suit is amazing. There are demons popping out of paintings, an aggressive suit of armor, a winged and toothed worm and some sort of tiger/wolf thing.
When it's down to Jackie, Tom and Cassandra, Jackie makes her way to Signor Diaboli's chamber. As it turns out, he's actually the Devil - Diablo - and he's PLAYED BY ADAM ANT. He's handsome and charming and hopes they've been enjoying the contest, although really all of them have deserved what they got. It's a gruesomer Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory!
This is an ultra-low budget film and the effects are primitive, especially since it was filmed in 1988. That said, I adored the practical effects: the lion chair gnawing on Yvette, the pig-man; the reanimated corpses were all fantastic. I am willing to forgive a LOT for practical effects. I do stand by my previous statement, however: this is not a particularly good movie.
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