ThiefHott Too much of everything

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

happyendingrocks This incomprehensible offering squanders a decent premise by bogging it down with so many inconsistencies that the end result is an incoherent mess. Taken a bit more seriously, the basic plot line of Mausoleum could have been shaped into a real gem, but as it stands, only the most forgiving genre fan will find much of interest here.The story revolves around a woman named Susan who inherits a family curse and becomes possessed by a demonic spirit with the ability to summon psychedelic lighting and dry ice wherever it appears. When both her husband and her psychiatrist begin to suspect that something is amiss, they embark on a race against time to defeat the evil invader, while Susan keeps herself busy by getting naked and killing off any man who hits on her.Though John Carl Buechler is on board for this ride, the special effects are a decidedly mixed bag, ranging from a handful of nicely executed gore gags to one dreadfully sloppy sequence in which demon-mode Susan forces a victim to float through the air, during which the harness used to suspend the ersatz Mary Poppins from the ceiling is not only clearly visible on screen, but remains in the frame for the entire stunt so that we can see the apparatus moving along its track as the doomed woman levitates. The various stages of Susan's transformations are likewise disjointed. The more subtle touches work best; a scene in which our hexed heroine sits silently in a rocking chair with her disfigured face obscured by shadows is one of the few genuinely creepy images in the film. However, when the demon is on full display, the mounds of latex on Susan's face make her look like she's ready to audition for GWAR.Ex-Playboy bunny Bobbie Bresee offers a decent performance, but it's made abundantly clear throughout the movie that the film-makers' primary emphasis is on her multiple nude scenes. Bresee is certainly easy on the eyes, but her rather ambiguous and prototypically banal brand of attractiveness ensures that she shifts throughout the film looking alternately beautiful and bland, depending on the lighting.The biggest problem with Mausoleum is that so little of the film adheres to its own flimsy logic. The crux of Susan's monstrous manifestations seems to be her anger at being a viewed as a sex object, since she wreaks violent vengeance upon multiple men whose crass advances mark them as near future victims. Yet, she actively seduces two of her casualties, and has sex with one of them before dispatching him. Her motives become even more dicey with the random killing of a female character, whose only sin is stopping by the house to drop off some paperwork.The set-ups for the murders are so transparent that they play out like scenes from a porno script, particularly the arrival of a delivery driver who Susan invites in to "use the phone". I kept waiting for a pizza man to show up and ask Bresee, "who ordered the extra sausage?" A comic relief monologue by a sassy African-American maid ends up being one of the most memorable moments in the movie, but since this is the only time the film actively courts intentional humor, this portion ends up being perplexing and out of place. Still, it's a genuinely funny sequence, so we have to at least give Mausoleum credit for succeeding on that front.The scene in which Susan's breasts morph into snaggle-toothed, blood-thirsty mammary monsters pretty much defies critical analysis, so I'll let that dubious plot point speak for itself.Despite a few strong touches along the way, the film completely falls apart during the last reel, and once we discover that the secret weapon needed to defeat the demon is a crown of thorns (?), any chance of Mausoleum finding a steady footing is erased immediately. The final scene attempts to insert a game-changing twist, but since said twist makes absolutely zero sense, the effectiveness of this fade to black is debatable. The incessant maniacal chuckling which concludes the film seems to suggest that Mausoleum has descended into such heady depths of idiocy that all you can really do is laugh about it. Of course it goes without saying that the song that plays over the closing credits is atrocious beyond belief.There are a few inspired moments here, but only the most ardent early '80s horror completist will glean much satisfaction from this thoroughly baffling exercise. Rest assured, the "so bad it's good" label can be readily applied to Mausoleum, so if your tolerance for that school of film-making is high, I can recommend this to you a bit more enthusiastically.

slayrrr666 "Mausoleum" is a fairly entertaining and enjoyable supernatural horror.**SPOILERS**Following a traumatic childhood, Susan Farrell, (Bobbie Bresee) is having a perfectly normal life, according to her aunt Cora Nomed, (Laura Hippe) psychologist, Dr. Simon Andrews, (Norman Burton) and should be left alone. Despite her growing concerns that she's falling into a trap that the family is cursed to become involved in, her husband Oliver, (Marjoe Gortner) isn't too worried. When they start to notice that those around them are becoming involved in strange accidents, he finds something wrong with her cavalier attitude towards the mysterious events. Eventually realizing that it's something to do with her and their unique family history, he discovers that the mausoleum where her mother is buried led to her being possessed by a strange demon as a child, and is now out to destroy all those who anger her. Getting a handle on the situation, they try to put an end to her rampage before more people disappear.The Good News: This here isn't all that bad, and has some really great points about it. The film's at it's best when it goes for the cheesy 80s creature feature tactics. It's obvious that there's a rubber creature here for the possession, and while it's obvious, it still looks really great. With the glowing eyes, distorted features and much more in here that comes from the demonic facial features leave a great impression in viewers. There's also a lot of cheese to come from the film's deaths, which here are packed with several really cheesy sequences here which come from that sense of cheese. The makeup effects are good, with a scene involving the girl's breasts turning into snarling faces really standing out. During the early parts where the demonic happenings are confined to the different showings of that power. The attack on the house-guest, which comes complete with flowing fog, glowing lights and much more give it a really nice, cheesy feel. Aside from the cheese, it's also pretty creepy, as the beginning is one of the creepiest Gothic sequences around, and is backed up with a reprisal at the end which works wonders. The film also has a couple of really fun sequences, such as the aforementioned attack on the house-guest, as well as a couple of other attacks throughout the film which work incredibly well. The first one in the cemetery's mausoleum is pretty great, as is the set-up to the gardener one and the film's highlight, the showdown in the mall which is just superb. That one is fun, high action and much more in here which makes it seem really enjoyable. That also helps out the film's gore quotient, which here is pretty high. There's a lot more than expected for this kind of film, and there's some good stuff in this. There's a face scratched up with claws, an impaling through the chest with an umbrella, a garden trowel repeatedly stabbed in the head, being forced to scratch eyes out and having their chest bitten open and ribs separated, among other facets of gore. There's also the film's high amount of nudity, which is well-covered by those who are well-prepared to deliver it, and in some cases is fully utilized to it's best potential. These here are all apart of what makes the film work.The Bad News: There really isn't a whole lot to this one, and what little flaws there is aren't that bad. The biggest issue is the highly-unbelievable story that says that nearly all the family members are unable to understand the curse, and that it's persisted for so long without anything being done about it is a little hard to believe. That it's the subject of a diary entry that anyone in the family can access makes it all the more ridiculous, and with it being a fairly important part in the utterly ridiculous plot, that one stands up as the film's biggest issue. The cheese level could be something that won't sit well with some, and it's not entirely free of pretty lame scenes that aren't even in the slightest realistic, but picking apart the plot is what's going to be the biggest issue with this one.The Final Verdict: With a lot going for it and only a few problems, this is a pretty entertaining entry that is really enjoyable. Give it a chance if you enjoy these kinds of entries or find it interesting, while those who aren't really into these kinds of films should heed caution, as the flaws can be accentuated greatly in that case.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity and a mild sex scene

The_Void The eighties was responsible for some of the worst (and some of the best) horror films ever made, and this is not one of the best! The film has a number of problems; the biggest being the fact that the story is stupid, and barely makes any whisper of sense. Some people may just be able to sit back and enjoy this twaddle for what it is; but personally, I do like to have at least a foggy idea of what is going on in a film to properly enjoy it. Apparently there is a plot, and it has something to do with a family that has a history of demonic possession and a young girl who may be the next in line to become possessed. This story is brought to the screen along with a bunch of tacky looking special effects and clumsy dialogue. The film has not aged well at all either; although I will give director Michael Dugan some plaudits for the lighting used in some scenes - the film is quite colourful. There's not a great deal of interest other than that, and to be honest I was completely bored for most of the duration. Overall, Mausoleum is a stupid waste of time and I can't really think of a single good reason for anyone to waste their time on it!

wkduffy A film like this puts everything in perspective. Allow me to elaborate.Plaintiff's Exhibit A: Consider, if you will, films like "The Children" (kids on a school-bus ride through a radioactive cloud, become zombies, and hug their parents to death), or "The Dark" (William Devane and Cathy Lee Crosby circle Los Angeles trying to find a monster who can't decide if he's a mentally retarded caveman or an alien from outer space). Before watching "Mausoleum," I always considered these flicks to be kitschy, low budget, suitable time wasters. However after watching "Mausoleum," I can confidently say films like "The Children" and "The Dark" are top-notch, creative, creepy, mind-blowing classics.That's an indirect way of letting you know that "Mausoleum" is dreck. Junk, plain and simple. I'm a forgiving soul when it comes to horror movies of all kinds (revisit Exhibit A if you have any doubts)—I'll give just about any "filmic art" the time of day. But 25 minutes into this empty "Mausoleum," and my attention was already wandering to the fridge. FLAT is probably the best descriptive adjective. The characters, the cinematography, the plot, the setting, the music—the whole package is as flat as an 80s pancake. Even the "Oogily Googily!" mutterings of LaWanda Page as the black maid who "exits stage left" in a "comedy" moment when things turn ugly—even that is FLAT. It's not funny or entertaining; Page's portrayal and delivery is so flat, it's not even a racial stereotype. Even Bobbie Bresee's "demon breasts" that come alive and chew through Marjoe Gortner during a sexy embrace are FLAT.Well, her breasts aren't flat by any means, but the drooling Muppet-like toothy puppets that her breasts become—the whole thing is inexcusably dumb. And worse, even forgiving the limitations of 80s technology, her puppet boobs look dumb.Word to the wise: Skip it. You won't be missing a thing.Defense Exhibit B: Allow me to offer one counterargument. There's a potentially revelatory moment in the film that almost makes it rise to the level of "worth mentioning"—-not "worth watching," but worth mentioning. At the end of the film, as Psychologist Simon and Protag Bobbie stumble out of the titular mausoleum having apparently defeated the evil, Simon turns to a mysteriously hooded grounds-keeper sitting near the gate and says: "You've known about this your whole life and have lived with the secret. For God's sake, don't ever let anyone enter the mausoleum!" As the two speed away, the camera centers on the grounds-keeper who is cutting some flowers. He looks directly at the camera and begins to cackle and cackle and CACKLE and CACKLE and---suddenly, just before the end crawl started, just for one freaking microsecond, I could've sworn this dude was LAUGHING AT ME for having just whittled away an hour and half of my life watching this dreck. I even rewound it and watched again, trying desperately to infer the intentions of the actor, the director, the cameraman. Was that their intention? WAS I BEING LAUGHED AT? If true, this might very well be the coolest horror flick on the planet. Even if it were an accident, that kind of self-referential humor (pointed keenly at the audience) is a mark of genius—a genius I only wish the rest of the film bore out. But ultimately it doesn't.Anyway, just one last gem of dialog before I go (and I won't make any inappropriate "fish" jokes here—I'll leave that up to you):Oliver (husband): "What's for dinner?" Susan (wife): "Poached Salmon...and me."