“Deadly Manor”, made in 1990, is a horror film about a group of young people (including a hitchhiker who may be more than he seems), who enter a mysterious mansion in the middle of a forest. As you might predict, one by one they are killed off.

Being that I would’ve been around the same age at that date, I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t have a predilection for exploring scary mansions.

This is one of those movies where it’s hard to tell whether it’s the acting or the dialogue that’s bad. But whatever it was, it was really bad.

At one point, the characters are ruminating on haunted houses and cursed locations, and someone offers an interesting theory that the magnetic resonance of these places gets corrupted somehow. It would’ve been very interesting if the movie followed up on this, or tried to integrate the idea more into the story, but it did not.

Despite all the limitations, there’s an interesting sequence about halfway in that impressively builds tension and mystery.

The kill scenes were a little lackluster though one particular slow motion throat slash was nicely done.

There’s some pretty sexy sex at times. I might even call it sexilicious.

The movie does a decent job of leaving little clues as to what the final explanation would be. I’m always worried that these will all be red herrings—that no such explanation will be forthcoming. There is a backstory that finally arrives, but I didn’t find it particularly satisfying.

So, nothing spectacular here, but “Deadly Manor” was enjoyable in a stupid sort of way.