Maria's B-Movie Mayhem: Haunted [Import]

In 1865, an Indian woman is accused of witchcraft and sent topless into the desert to die. The film then cuts to the present, and we're soon introduced to the films setting which is a desolate ghost town that was also used as a movie ranch. The only people who live there are a small family, and the town consists of some strange statues and a small cemetery that's having a phone booth installed. The entire town is surrounded by a barren desert, mountains, and there's a lake nearby. One night the phone rings in the cemetery; the uncle answers it and apparently hears the voice of the Indian woman. At this point, the film starts to become confusing as to whether he's going insane or if the ghost of the Indian woman is returning. There's talk of stuff like reincarnation, and the viewer is basically left to decide if the movie is about insanity or something supernatural.

This film is extremely slow moving, and it gets talky at times. Almost the entire film takes place in this deserted town or film ranch. This location provides good scenery and creepy atmosphere. I personally really like the place where they filmed this; the town combined with the desert, mountains and lake give the film a nice midnight viewing type feel. However, I don't think most horror fans will like it because it's too slow and lacks action. If you're looking for violence and gore, you won't find it here. Some old woman in a cave gets strangled, and there's a bit of blood near the end from a stabbing and that's it. There's some topless nudity in the film, but there's no explicit sex or full nudity. Some of the music is good and the directing is acceptable, but not much happens during most of the film; people walk around, talk, and you get a good look at the scenery. It's got a great 70s feel, but most horror fans might consider it to be extremely boring; I really liked it, but many will hate it.

The DVD quality looks great for such an obscure and cheap film. The picture is sharp, and it has excellent color and contrast. It doesn't look perfect, but they did a good job considering its rarity. There's a good interview with one of the actors on the DVD. He talks about how Aldo Ray was an alcoholic and drunk during a lot of the film, as well as discussing the movie and that he was one of the only straight people on set because he says everyone was gay.

A bit slow, especially near the end, but I like it. Nonsensical plot about an "In-di-an woooomann!" wrongly executed (topless and with hands tied, she's sent into the desert on a wandering horse) being reincarnated and years later getting revenge on the town and its also apparently reincarnated folks. Some cheesy music, a nice desert setting and weird atmosphere, and the bizarre choice of installing a payphone in the middle of a desert cemetery. Aldo Ray is frequently amusing, his voice sounding more gravelly than ever and perfectly capturing the vibe of a grouchy old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn. And check out that car crash flashback- blind woman recounts her brush with death but the car becomes a fireball flying off a cliff, which obviously nobody could have survived!

If you're up for something different and you think Aldo Ray is amusing, I'd say check it out.

This seems like it would be a horror film with a title like Haunted, doesn't it? I'm really not sure what it is. It begins in the mid-1800's with some soldiers sending some topless Indian woman out into the desert on a horse, after she was accused of witchcraft, which I guess was really a cover-up to get rid of her because she knew too much about the exploits of some priest & a soldier who stole a bunch of gold from her tribe (or something). Fast forward to the present when a dysfunctional family is living in an AZ ghost town & are visited by some woman (a lost traveler with a broken-down car) that Aldo Ray just KNOWS is the reincarnation of the Indian woman, mainly because I guess he's supposed to be the reincarnation of the theiving soldier. I guess you can maybe figure that part out because both roles are Aldo Ray. There are no scares, no thrills, no mystery, no nothing, except a couple of squabbling brothers, a loony blind woman, and a cranky Aldo Ray (who in one scene has his shirt off, did I say this wasn't scary? Well, there IS that...)

And what is the point of this film? I'm not sure it has one, but it has lots of really syrupy music and plenty of terrible acting. To think of all the other films I would like to have on DVD and I was suckered in by this one. To date I have liked pretty much everything I've gotten on the Code Red label but this one, oh my...no, no, no. Recommended...that you give this one a miss.