I have this memory of a haunted house movie from the late 70s/early 80s where the man of the house gets obsessed with an area of the basement and he starts busting through the wall with a sledgehammer or something like that. That part of the memory may be corrupted, but the distinct thing I remember is that one night this ghost drummer boy in military uniform (maybe Revolutionary or Civil War era) comes through the wall wandering through the house while the family is asleep.
For decades I thought this was one of the Amityville movies, but I recently rewatched the first two and it wasn’t there (I’ve seen the third but not recently, so maybe that’s the one).
While I’m at it, here’s another one (I don’t know if it’s horror): I have a memory of like a game show where contestants are placed in an iron maiden held open by a rope that’s being burned by a candle. The contestant is tied up or something and must escape before the the rope burns through, allowing the iron maiden to shut on them and kill them. My memory presents it as a real contest, though I know that can’t be true, I’m guessing it was part of some movie. Pretty sure I saw this as a kid in the 70s. I have a very vague memory of seeing some Houdini movie (made for TV?) around this time and I wonder if that could be it; a scene like that would certainly be consistent with a Houdini movie, but it’s only a dim memory.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help identifying either movie!
Thanks for the responses! There’s no way I’ll recognize the movie by title alone, but I searched around and found Horror Castle on Amazon and The Great Houdini on Youtube. I plan on watching those soon and reporting back here when I do.
It’s entirely possible I’m conflating things. In particular, I have a memory of seeing a parody of the drummer boy scene (on SNL or similar) which makes me think it was a well known scene at the time. On the other hand, it’s possible this was merely a skit I saw somewhere and never a movie to begin with.
And thanks for the extra link, CalMeacham! I live in VA and that looks like a place worth checking out one day.
Oh, and it’s definitely not Stir of Echoes; I actually watched that fairly recently.
It could be “Deep Red” (1975), or “House by the Cemetery” (1981). Both had a pivotal little boy character (though not a ghost), and both had the breaking down of a blocked up house area as the climactic scene.
Does anyone remember a 70’s horror movie, pretty sure it was a foreign film, where a woman gets raped by Satan in the form of a goat? I don’t want that in my search history, and I didn’t want to start a thread with rape in the title. Thanks.
It’s definitely not Deep Red or House by the Cemetery, both of which I’ve seen as an adult (the one in question is a somewhat faded childhood memory).
Never heard of Sapphire and Steel, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be it. Any place you know that I can find that particular episode?
I’ve loved ghost stories all my life and I’m sure I’ve told several (in my youth as well as adulthood).
Thanks again for all of the responses! I haven’t been able to watch the two movies; I’ve been busy finishing up grades for the school year. I should be able to get around to watching them in a week or so; I’ll report back then, whether they are the movies in question or not.
The first movie that popped in my head was Incubus (with William Shatner and in Esperanto). It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen it; I thought I remembered a goat and I was right:
[spoiler]Kia defies him and makes the sign of the cross, surprising even herself. The incubus transforms into a goat and wrestles her to the ground.
After the struggle she claims, “I belong to the God of Light,” and crawls toward Marc, who immediately embraces her. The final scene shows the couple staring in disbelief at the boundary of the cathedral, with the goat gazing back at them. [/spoiler]
There may not be a particular episode, it’s just the kind of thing the series dealt with - apparitions of historical ghosts were a major theme. It fits the atmosphere of your description, and the timeline, but not necessarily the specifics. Here’s a YouTube playlist that might jog a memory.
Thanks Cabbage! I guess I forgot to mention a woman eats a frog, or frog’s head, during their satanic ritual/orgy. Funny thing, when I was looking up Incubus, I found the movie. It’s this one…
The Antichrist (1974) L’anticristo (original title)
“The House That Would Not Die” had a scene with one of the main characters smashing the basement floor with a sledgehammer. I’m not sure about the drummer boy, though the movie is about a haunting from the Revolutionary War. (The book this movie was based on is one of my favorites…Ammie, Come Home by Barbara Michaels (a.k.a. Elizabeth Peters.)
I finally got around to watching “The House that Would not Die”, “The Great Houdini”, and “Horror Castle”. None of them were the movie I was looking for (“Horror Castle” had an iron maiden in it, but it wasn’t the iron maiden scene I remember).
It might be a stretch but House II from 1987 had a few similarities to your description. I have not seen it in 30 years but I do recall that they broke through a wall in the house and a bunch of weird people/creatures came out. As a bonus the cast includes John Ratzenberger.