Director Umberto Lenzi proves that he was a one-hit wonder in the horror genre (CANNIBAL FEROX) with this pathetic attempt at a haunted house story. Released in Italy as HOUSE 3 (sort of like THE HORROR SHOW was released here as HOUSE 3), GHOSTHOUSE is not even worthy of a free rental.
A radio junkie and his girlfriend investigate transmissions from a mysterious house and are helped by four campers spending the weekend on the estate. Take away logical plot, inventive camerawork, good acting, and intelligent dialogue and you have GHOSTHOUSE. Noteworthy for featuring Eurocult favorite Donald O'Brien as a psychotic caretaker (he is horrible here), there is nothing else to recommend. It's like Lenzi watched a bunch of better horror films and injected elements from Fulci's HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (the house even looks the same!), FRIDAY THE 13TH, POLTERGEIST, and THE HAUNTING. None of the attempted scares work, despite one good sequence of blood coming out of a faucet. Some good gore effects are highlights, but are too few and far between. The musical score is horrendous and is the perfect excuse for using the mute button.
GHOSTHOUSE is not even fun for diehard Lenzi fans. Instead, seek out CANNIBAL FEROX for an excellent horror film or one of Lenzi's many awesome cop thrillers. In my opinion, GHOSTHOUSE isn't even good enough to be used as toilet paper for the world's fattest woman. It should be burned, along with a small select group of thoroughly unwatchable films, and its ashes dumped into the deepest ocean never to be seen again.