Deadly Manor

source: Deadly Manor

Heading out to a friends' house, a group of friends decide to spend the night camping until they reach their destination and arrive at a secluded mansion out in the middle of the countryside, and upon learning that someone might be in the house with them try to find a way of stopping the malevolent force with them. This one wasn't all too bad of an effort. Among the more intriguing elements of the film are the engrossing atmosphere and suspense present that generates some enjoyable elements. The entire layout of the house, with the modest Gothic decorations, dozens of cobwebs and dirt strewn around an area of disuse for what looks like several decades is a serviceable state to provide for a haunted house film. The continuous decorations of the strange woman in the erotic photos adorning the walls and the decorative human remains found in the jars hidden in the secret room creates a full-on immersion into the haunting atmosphere present in the house that sets a chilling tone throughout here. As well, the film gets a lot to like once it finally gets going and delivers on the expectation setup from the atmosphere. The series of stalking scenes taking place in inside the house, where the cast are picked off one-by-one by the shadowy figure emerging out of the darkness offers some chilling moments despite the relative blandness of stabbings that result from their encounters, and they manage to take full advantage of being out in the hallways and various buildings inside the darkened house which adds a lot to the film by ramping up the excitement at the finale. The gore is also at least plentiful to make up for that repetitive state of stabbings, and with some solid eroticism to go along with it, there are some enjoyable aspects that holds it up. There are some issues to be had here. The main problem is the decided lack of action here, managing to feature hardly anything happening for long periods that it becomes quite dull simply watching the group wander through one creepy room to the next. The build-up is admittedly successful in creating a strong atmosphere but hardly ever is that atmosphere ever given any significant boost that would propel itself along as the generally tepid pacing where nothing is going on. It takes until nearly the hour mark before they discover that something's wrong and when it does it's incredibly underwhelming with a lame reasoning and ridiculous payoff due to the backstory that sets up what's going on that it nearly becomes worthless to have done so. These here are what holds the film back. Rated Unrated/R: Full Male and Female Nudity, a strong sex scene

Absolutely rubbish slasher flick! Poor writing & poor acting. Most definitely an one time watch. 1/10

This came out when slasher genre has already been dead. Even in around mid 80s you couldn't be taken seriously if you made a slasher movie. So how does this little Spanish movie holds up? While it's one of your "group of teens go into abandoned house then get killed off one by one", it does not strictly follows it's American slasher counterparts. The European, more specifically Spanish school is presented there, so movie itself plays out more like a mystery then slasher movie. There's old car husk setup as shrine, coffins in the basement and pictures\photos of some girl all over the house. For about first hour of the movie, you are really not given anything, it's just characters walking around the "old doom mansion". It's the stuff we learned to endure during 80s movies, but at least they had some shock or jump scares (or few kills in between), but "Deadly Manor" simply does not have any of those. It's just characters (literally!) walking around the manor to pad out running time. While some might argue that movie is trying to setup atmosphere (which in fact does more or less), scenes are too dark to see anything. In some scenes, movie goes pitch-black dark which is quite a problem, which is a shame, since location isn't too terrible. Once movie finally get's it's "game", when the killing starts, they aren't too impressive: with some minor cuts it could easily play on late night TV. In fact, movies plays almost like TV movie. Another problem is that if you somehow "survive" first hour of the movie, you probably want be too interested in last 20 minutes and you'll just want it to be over. Acting is quite campy (it looks like it was post-production dub even tho movie was filmed in English to save few bucks). When the killer is finally revealed, it's one of those moments when over the top acting hits in. One or two sex scenes, otherwise, no other nudity. It's not too bad, final 20 minutes of the movie kinda made it more enjoyable, location is quite good and there's some atmosphere thanks to that, but it's really a movie about people walking around dark manor for first hour of the movie (and half of the time you'll have no idea who's where and what's going on on screen due to bad lightning). Characters are not annoying, which is kinda refreshing.

Something about this movie makes it highly watchable, although it's totally unoriginal and probably came in 5 years too late at best for the whole slasher movie phase. The plot: six friends and a hitchhiker end up stranded at a remote mansion while a mystery killer prowls around the group and slashes their throats one by one. If you can make it past the opening, where clues like an altar on the front porch, coffins in the basement and scalps on the mantle fail to warn these idiots to leave, then you can make it all the way through, and some surprising plot twists and shocks toward the end are what I'm recommending.

"Deadly Manor" was José Ramón Larraz's final stab at the slasher movie following 1988's "Edge of the Axe," and this offering has a different flavor to it, and is perhaps more bizarre. It follows a group of young people who, for no legitimate reason, decide to stay the night at an abandoned mansion in the woods. Outside is a wrecked car converted into a shrine, and photos of a beautiful woman are pasted on the walls throughout the house. Of course, they start to die one by one as the night rolls on. As is the case with most Larraz's films, "Deadly Manor" is more an exercise in atmosphere than it is anything else. The bare bones of the plot are standard and fairly unremarkable, though the finer details of it all--including the killer and motives--are a bit offbeat. The film is at its most effective when it lingers on these details, and the recurrent shots of the woman's photographs that adorn the walls are off-putting and at times notably creepy; while she is not onscreen, it instills a menacing presence. Where the film is a bit weak is in its pacing; the film seems to lag in the middle, and works its way toward setting up a red herring that proves meaningless before the kids are hacked and slashed in a rapid-fire succession. The film does surprise in that it subverts expectation of who the hero or heroes are going to be, but the last 10 minutes ultimately feel a bit anticlimactic. Overall, "Deadly Manor" makes for an enjoyable watch due to its atmospheric backdrop, accentuated by some very good cinematography. The film is fairly run-of-the-mill in most regards, and much less offbeat than "Edge of the Axe," but just weird enough to keep you on your toes. Especially worthwhile for fans of late '80s aesthetics. 6/10.

A bunch of idiots break down and decide to break into a mansion they don't own that's in the middle of the woods. Obviously, someone who lives there isn't thrilled and kills them in uninspired ways. Deadly Manor is one of the worst movies I've ever been unfortunate enough to view. The plot is non-existent, the characters are idiotic, and the kills aren't gory or interesting enough to make up for it. It does have a great central location, but that's about all I can recommend about it.

There is no lust of savage proportions on display here! Six couples and a hitchhiker seek refuge in a creepy old house because, well, they just don't feel like driving for two more hours. Obviously, since it is a creepy old house, there are lots of bizarre things like a room plastered with photos of a beautiful young girl and a shrine complete with smashed up Oldsmoblie (!) in the front yard. Of course, one by one our hapless teens get killed. Filmed in upstate New York, this Jose Ramon Larraz slasher flick is another bust. The film takes an hour to get the killing going with loads of boring talk. The only surprise is who ends up being "The Final Girl" because she is the actress shown the least. Well, that and the deformed killer actually getting arrested instead of blown away by the cops. Take that homicidal maniac!

"Deadly Manor" is an odd little entry that came out during the end of the slasher craze, and while it is a fun throwback to the 80's heyday and plus mixed in with something quite perverse, but sadly it's mostly a misfire. The plot a group of 20 something teens travel across the open road and get stranded at an old mansion, which turns to be a funeral home, seemingly on their own they start to get picked off one by one by someone in a white mask. While it does start out quite well, we get an interesting bunch of characters and the mansion is very creepy looking and when they start looking round the house and finding various clues to the original owner, was quite interesting, but sadly this soon runs out of steam very quickly and then we get endless strange scenes of talking and freaky dream sequences to pad out the running time. Then when we finally get to the murders, they aren't exactly exciting and due to the poor lighting, it's hard to tell what exactly is happening. The one saving grace is the final climax when the killer is revealed, which actually is quite funny and over the top and the burned face makeup was actually quite fun, but very unrealistic and bad. The killer(s) do chew the scenery perfectly though each more hammy than the other. All in all an odd entry in the genre and only see if you're a big fan of slasher movies.

Three young couples and a hitch-hiker being sought by police seek refuge from a storm at a seemingly abandoned house.A wrecked car on a cemetery-like shrine in the yard signals that all is not well,and the youths are murdered one by one.A crazed,disfigured woman and her doting,equally psychotic husband are responsible,as they blame all young people for the car accident which stole her beauty."Deadly Manor" was actually shot in New York with a mostly unknown cast.There is only a little bit of gore and the pace is quite slow,but there are some atmospheric moments.The scene where Peter,an overweight motorcycle-rider with a sick sense of humor,has his throat slashed is actually the goriest bit.So if you enjoyed Larraz's "Edge of the Axe" give this slasher a look.However fans of the director's strikingly moody films of the 1970's will be disappointed.7 out of 10.