Knocking on Death's Door (1999)

Newlyweds Brad (Bloom) & Danielle (Rowe) are both parapsychologists who are given a honeymoon assignment of moving into a haunted house and investigating it. Danielle quickly makes contact with a spirit named Samuel who reacts in a jealous fashion towards Brad. The back story unfolds highlighted by some spooky scenes in the cellar with ghosts at play and some scary imagery. Carefully directed by Mitch Marcus with attention to pacing, he sprinkles in a few jumps along with the haunting stuff. The obvious Ireland location is passed off as being in America but the location actually helps the atmosphere. Just check out the amazing looking graveyard Brad walks through. An unnecessary sub-plot is introduced about Danielle's past affair with their boss (Doe) that does nothing but chew up running time. There is nothing groundbreaking here, but this film maintains a level of fun and should please fans of supernatural horror.

Knocking on Death's Door starts on a dark & stormy night as a policeman (Philip Sweeney) & Dr. Hadley (Colm O'Maonlai) break into the large isolated house belonging to Elizabeth Cartwright (Stella Feehilly) only to discover her dead body, her having apparently committed suicide with an OD. A violent force sweeps through the house & the cop has an axe embedded in his chest, Hadley manages to escape... Jump 'Twenty Years Later' & newly married parapsychologists Brad (Brian Bloom) & Danielle Gallagher (Kimberly Rowe) are told by their boss professor Paul Ballard (John Doe) that he wants them to investigate the ghostly goings on in the notorious Sunset House. They head straight there & set all their scientific equipment up in preparation, Brad is the brains & Danielle is the psychic one who can contact the 'other side'. It quickly turns out that the house is indeed haunted, from flying red hot pokers to killer Grandfather clocks & ghostly reflections in mirrors. Brad & Danielle feel there is more here than a simple haunting, the name Samuel is written in chalk on the basement floor & as they research Sunset House's history they find a dark & sinister past that still remains unresolved to this day...Directed by Mitch Marcus I actually thought Knocking on Death's Door was a decent film, surprisingly enough since it comes from king of the low-budget cheapies Roger Corman & his New Concorde production company. The script by Craig J. Nevius takes itself extremely seriously, it moves along at a fair pace & has most of the traditional haunted house clichés. Knocking on Death's Door concentrates on character's, story & atmosphere rather than cheap scares or gore. The ghost isn't overly hostile & certainly isn't scary as it tries to relay a message & settle old scores using Brad & Danielle. There is a fair amount of soap opera type drama but it sits quite well along side the supernatural happenings. One unusual aspect is that this ghost doesn't like anyone having sex & that's when it attacks people, in my opinion all this plot thread facilitates is to have brad & Danielle have sex & there's one bit when Danielle slips her hand down the front of her jeans & starts to masturbate at which our ghost is not best pleased... As one would expect it all rounds off with a twist climax & final revelation that to be honest is a little bit too obvious although is more than passable.Director Marcus manages to create a nice atmosphere overall although there's a lack of decent scares or jump out of your seat type moments. While Knocking on Death's Door doesn't have much in the way of visual style or flair it's well made & isn't as cheap looking as a lot of Corman productions. Apart from a gory axe killing at the start, a cut & some skeletal remains there is no blood or gore whatsoever although there is a fair amount of mild sex.Technically the film is fine & generally well made, it was shot in Ireland & for some reason takes no advantage of the location at all. The acting was decent enough & it's always nice to see David Carradine although bear in mind that even though he gets top billing in the opening credits he gets about 5 minutes of screen time, maybe he took the role because he wanted a free holiday in Ireland?Knocking on Death's Door is an alright little haunted house horror, I sub-genre that I don't usually like that much. I mean it's not brilliant or anything but you could do a lot worse. Worth a watch.

My wife and I stumbled across "Knocking on Death's Door" last night while flipping the channels, but we found it captivating enough that we stayed with the film right up to the closing credits. We missed the first few minutes, so some establishing facts and character development were probably lost, but the story goes like this. Brian Bloom and Kimberly Rowe play newlywed parapsychologists whom move into a well-known "haunted house". Various ghostly phenomena begins to occur, such as a piano playing "London Bridge is Falling Down" by itself (and it's NOT a player piano), chalk slowly scrapes on the basement floor to gradually reveal more and more information on the ghost's history, camera lenses ice over, and so on. The spectral activity becomes focused on the moments when the young couple make love, as if the ghost (or ghosts) have developed a crush on Rowe's character. What follows is a tense thriller with anything from fair and campy special effects at times to excellent and chilling visuals in others that will leave you at the edge of your seat. (Luckily for the viewer, there are much more of the latter than the former.)David Carradine and Kimberly Rowe play their roles quite well, emoting an uneasy sleaziness (in the case of Carradine), or a gentle inquisitiveness (Rowe) that lend credibility to the storyline. Brian Bloom, playing Rowe's husband, and the recipient of much of the ghostly violence (he is thrown against a wall by unseen forces when he hugs his wife...) seems to be the weak link as the actors go. Sometimes Bloom appears disinterested, other times he seems to be somewhat "medicated", but that doesn't detract from the overall enjoyability of the film.Also notable is the eroticism displayed early on. The intimate scene between Bloom and Rowe is playful and loving, and Rowe truly has a breathtakingly beautiful body. A later scene wherein the two newlyweds are in separate rooms and Rowe pleasures herself as she watches her husband disrobe on camera is at once lovely and wildly erotic.I have a feeling that had this movie been released in the early to mid 80's, it probably would've become one of the early "Amityville Horror" sequels, but even without a movie franchise tie in, "Knocking on Death's Door" is clever horror with good twists and a tense atmosphere that slowly builds throughout the whole film. Strongly recommended.

Being an admitted "haunted-house" movie nut, I'm always on the lookout for horror movies with more than just a maniac with a sharp object killing teenagers. Thanks to Roger Corman & Co. for coming through!The story follows a just-married husband and wife team of paranormal investigators who buy "Sunset House" and honeymoon there because of the ghost-rich history of the old place. Once inside, they don't have to wait long before not one but two ghosts take an interest in the wife (Kimberly Rowe). There are at least a few scenes with nudity and/or sex, and Rowe - who looks like Charlize Theron's slightly less beautiful sister - carries them well. Although there isn't much star-power here (just good ol' Corman-guy David Carradine, who looks more like his old-man in every film), I think it works for the film rather than against it. Having unfamiliar faces in the leads, and complete unknowns in the supporting roles (this one was filmed at Roger's new studio over in Ireland, but takes place in a New England town) - especially in horror movies - makes the suspension of disbelief happen easier. There are a couple of truly scary and disturbing images here, and the production values are really high considering the fact that it's from Roger Corman -King of Low Budgets. The story was solid, and holds up all the way to the end. No scratching of the head afterwards - no loose ends. All in all, I LIKED it! Reminded me of another Corman flick of a few years back - Spectre. Anyone who liked Burnt Offerings, Legend of Hell House, or even Poltergeist should rent this one when it hits home video this summer.