Spookies (1986)

Interesting facts

Spookies is a 1986 American independent horror film directed by Brendan Faulkner and Thomas Doran, with additional footage directed by Eugenie Joseph. It stars Felix Ward, Dan Scott, Alec Nemser, and Maria Pechukas, and follows a group of partying adults who find an abandoned mansion and become trapped inside as a warlock tries to sacrifice the group with the intention of using their vitality to keep his wife alive.

Production

Spookies started out as a feature film entitled Twisted Souls, written and produced by Frank Farel, Brendan Faulkner, and Thomas Doran and directed by Faulkner and Doran. Principal photography for the film began at the Jay Estate in Rye, New York in late summer of 1984 and finished in October of that same year.

The original Twisted Souls footage directed by Faulkner and Doran consists of all the travelers who arrive in two cars and all the monsters and effects they encounter within the house. The monsters include: the demon Ouija girl, the muck men, the spider woman, the snake demons, the hallway demon, the Grim Reaper, and the first set of zombies seen outside earlier on in the film.

In 1985, Lee hired Eugenie Joseph to direct more footage, which was pieced together with the finished footage from Twisted Souls to create Spookies. The added scenes, written by Ann Burgund (under the name Joseph Burgund), feature an entirely different cast of characters, including Billy, the drifter, the werecat, Kreon, Isabelle, zombies (at the end of the film), the witch in the basement/cave and Korda.

The creature and makeup effects were created by Gabe Bartalos, Arnold Gargulio, Jennifer Aspinall, Al Magliochetti, John Dods, Vincent Guastini, and others helping in various capacities. Richard Corben painted the cover art for the film.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.