THE
HAUNTING OF MORELLA
Crucified, blinded and buried... now she's back
WHAT'S
THE STORY?
WHO ARE THE
CHARACTERS?
HOW DO I RATE
IT?
HOW IS NICOLE IN
THE MOVIE?
TAKE A LOOK AT THE
PICTURES
SEE THE
TRAILER
DETAILS
WHAT'S
THE STORY?
Genre: Horror
A witch is put to death in
Colonial America, leaving her husband and infant daughter behind.
Seventeen years later, the daughter has grown up and stands to
inherit money set up by her mother's family. Now that the stage is
set, the mother wants to return to life by taking over her daughter's
body.
from the Internet Movie
Database
Loosely based upon the Edgar
Allan Poe story of the same name, THE HAUNTING OF MORELLA becomes
nothing more than an excuse for its female characters to take off
their clothes and kill each other. As the story begins, Morella
(Nicole Eggert, playing both Morella and her daughter, Lenora) is
crucified by the local priest and townspeople for practicing
witchcraft. Prior to having her eyes put out, she pledges to return
to haunt the body of her newborn. Her husband, Gideon (David
McCallum), hides behind a tree, meekly watching the crucifixion with
baby Lenora in his arms. Seventeen years later, we find him living as
a recluse, and blind. Lenora has grown into a striking young woman,
but is kept at home, where she is instructed by the mysterious Miss
Deveroux (Lana Clarkson). Miss Deveroux and the serving girl (who are
having an affair) place Gideon's diary on Lenora's bed, leading to an
inevitable flashback in which it is revealed that shortly after
Lenora's birth Morella discovered witchcraft and began to seek
immortality, helped by an unknown accomplice. She had killed a
serving girl and was about to kill Lenora when Gideon stopped her and
the townspeople took their revenge. It's not hard to guess that Miss
Deveroux was Morella's accomplice, especially since her every line is
accompanied by a sidelong glance, quick exit, and burst of foreboding
music. She spends most of the film using her witchcraft to bring
Morella back to life; meanwhile, Guy Chapman (Christopher Halsted), a
young lawyer from a nearby town, arrives to inform Gideon that
Morella's family has set up a trust for Lenora, to be handed over on
her 18th birthday. He is dismissed by Gideon, but the sinister
governess sets up a meeting between the lawyer and her charge. The
young couple fall in love, but Chapman's presence is nothing more
than an excuse to stage an energetic love scene between him and
Lenora, who has been possessed by Morella. A dramatic lightning bolt
flashes throughout the film whenever witchcraft is being practiced,
and it appears to be a tenet that witchcraft must be practiced
without clothing.
from TV Guide
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WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS?
David McCallum (I) ....
Gideon
Nicole Eggert .... Morella/Lenora
Christopher Halsted .... Guy
Lana Clarkson .... Coel
Maria Ford .... Diane
Jonathan Farwell .... Dr. Gault
John O'Leary .... Quintis
Brewster Gould (I) .... Miles Archer
Gail Harris (I) .... Ilsa
Clement von Franckenstein .... Judge Brock
R.J. Robertson (I) .... Reverend Ward
Deborah Dutch .... Serving Girl
Sandra Knight
The informations are frome
The Internet Movie Database
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HAUNTING OF MORELLA index
HOW DO
I RATE IT?
Death Scenes: 9,5/10
Overall: 9,5/10
NOW HERE IS A REAL WINNER FROM
ROGER CORMAN (Producer) and JIM WYNORSKI (Director)!!!
Two of the best people in the business team up and give you what we
should expect in a exploitation movie and more!!! Yes, this film has
it all, sexy and evil women (Lana Clarkson and Nicole Eggert) who get
their just deserts, femme fatales, (Maria Ford, Gail Harris and
Sandra Knight), and of course a variety sexy death scenes!!! There is
a burning at the stake, two knifings, a throat slashing and one
shooting!The movie is based on the Edgar Allen Poe tale, Morella
(Nicole Eggert) is a woman burned at the cross for practicing
witchcraft; before she dies, she vows that her spirit will return to
take over her infant daughter's person. Roger Corman directed his own
version of this movie in "Tales of Terror" (1961).Lana Clarkson plays
a great part of the sexy evil woman who terminates three babes before
she herself gets terminated (shot).
This video is a definite must see!!! You can buy it ($14.99) or rent
it at most large video shops.The over all death scenes and movie gets
no less then a 9+ from the "G" Man.
from
necrobabes.org
Respectable Wynorski? Gimme a break!
Jim Wynorski is a director
probably best known for T&A cheese epics such as Hard To Die and
Sins of Desire. Here, even though its fair share of cheese (and
indeed, T&A) is present, Wynorski seems to be trying to craft a
genuinely good film, one that he won't have to be ashamed to tell
people about when he gets to his high school reunion.
It's an adaptation of the Poe story "Morella", using said story as a
springboard for a more expansive tale. Morella is blinded and
crucified (life's rough) for trying to sacrifice her baby daughter,
Lenora, in an occult ritual. Seventeen years later, Lenora's all
grown up (played by "Baywatch"'s Nicole Eggert), and is having a bit
of an identity crisis, because mommy keeps trying to possess her.
What follows is a good effort but doesn't add up to much. Production
values are pretty good considering the movie's likely scant budget.
The actors all do their best, and there's even some really good
moments (like a simultaneously amusing and creepy scene where a skull
with very little flesh attempts to grin).
But it doesn't add up to a very good film. Lots of hot girl-on-girl
action is promised, but alas, none is delivered. The best-looking
girl in the movie (the redhead) is killed for no apparent reason. And
if you're hoping to see Ms. Eggert naked, you'll be disappointed -
not only do you get to see very little of her, but what you see is
obviously a (much more blonde) body double. In fact, in one shot in a
"nude" scene, Eggert can be seen to be wearing what appears to be a
towel.
It all comes to a good conclusion, with final moments which would
have endeared the film to me further had Wynorski elected not to
include the three words flashed across the screen in the final
frames, which are at once hilariously out of place and completely
unneccessary.
Good try, Jim, but no cigar for you today. This was not a trend that
he tried to continue - his next fourteen or so movies (he directed
FIVE in 1994!) lay firmly in the "T&A cheese epic" category, with
the possible exception of Little Miss Millions...but even then, that
one featured Jennifer Love Hewitt.
The Cavalcade Of Schlock
Rated
R, but apparently designed to pique the interest of high schoolers by
displaying plenty of flesh and hinting at a number of lesbian
relationships, THE HAUNTING OF MORELLA contains the important message
that healthy people should stay away from corpses that seem to be
coming back to life. It seems that women would particularly benefit
from this moral, since, although one young man is killed in the
effort to bring Morella back to life, women are the victims
throughout THE HAUNTING OF MORELLA. Eggert shows some depth in her
portrayal of the wholly innocent Lenora and the equally wicked
Morella, and one wonders how she got herself into this softcore
horror film to begin with. The brightest star in the film's ensemble,
however, is the ubiquitous lightning bolt, which not only appears
throughout the film but also dramatically concludes it. Sadly, this
dreck was produced by Roger Corman, whose Poe adaptations of the
1960s (especially THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and THE TOMB OF LIGEIA,
both from 1964) are horror classics. But Poe is less than ill-served
here, and while the thought of Poe's rolling over in his grave is an
intriguing one and fittingly macabre, it's disturbing to think that a
film as poor as this might elicit even that much interest. (Violence,
nudity, sexual situations.)
from TV Guide
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HOW IS
NICOLE IN THE MOVIE?
NICOLE'S LOOK:
Nicole is only 18 in the
movie and it is quite visible, she's long and blond haired, bad
clothes style... she's not at her best, but still good for a first
leading role, my rating:
NICOLE'S NUMBER OF
APPEARANCES:
in one word, if
you're a Nicole Eggert's fan, you can't complain because we see her
everytime and even twice at the same time in the final scenes, my
rating:
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HAUNTING OF MORELLA index
TAKE A
LOOK AT THE PICTURES
Here are some pictures taken
from the web. Enjoy...
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HAUNTING OF MORELLA index
TRAILER
Here's the trailer of that
movie, thanks to BIGSTAR
You need Windows Media Player to see the trailer
Just click on the logo to see the trailer
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HAUNTING OF MORELLA index
DETAILS
The role of Morella/Lenora was
first dedicated to Traci Lords.
NUDITY:
There is plenty of nudity in this movie from every female
character... Nicole's one was really controversed, we can see some
nudity of her only in the unrated version but it is said to be a body
double from Gail Harris as Nicole was too young to appear naked. To
my mind, I don't think so because it is obvious that Gail Harris has
got an important breast whereas the one visible as Nicole's is
smaller as we can see too in Blown Away.
More details about The Haunting Of Morella nudity at The Celebrity Nudity Database.
The unrated version is really
hard to find, but when I ordered the R Rated version on Amazon,
because I hadn't found the unrated, they sent me the unrated
(thanks).
buy the VHS version at:
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HAUNTING OF MORELLA index
NICOLE EGGERT
INTERACTIVE by Tosh
