Death Spa (1989) [Unrated] – Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack
Witch Bitch
**/**** Image B+ Sound B- Extras B+
starring William Bumiller, Brenda Bakke, Robert Lipton, Merritt Butrick
screenplay by James Bartruff and Mitch Paradise
directed by Michael Fischa
by Bryant Frazer The title sounds awkward in a not-ironic way and the 1987 copyright date suggests a cheap direct-to-video cheesefest. But director Michael Fischa is swinging for the B-movie fences from the very first shot–a Steadicam number that pans across its view of Sunset Boulevard, animated lightning bolts flashing over the Hollywood Hills, before craning down into the parking lot in front of the Starbody Health Spa. Dreamy, Tangerine Dream-esque synths well up on the soundtrack. Upon touchdown, the Steadicam glides forward towards the building as another lightning strike knocks out most of the figures on the whimsically-lettered neon sign up front, so that only eight letters remain lit: DEATH SPA.