This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I was so pleased to find a copy of this film in the bargain bin at Walmart last weekend. I'd been watching my old VHS copy I'd purchased from my local movie rental place in the early 1990s for the last couple of decades. This film was underrated in my opinion. It makes me wonder if it was just never properly marketed in a way that it could find it's audience? Everyone that I've ever shown it to has loved it. The film is the perfect amount of voodoo mysticism, great gore effects, and an entertaining plot all in a beautiful but eerie setting. It contains an extremely talented cast and director. The plot line is very well written. I always hope there is really a place like Tonk's out there and I'll stumble upon it someday.

I guess I'm the lone dissenter here because I really enjoyed this film. Perhaps my enjoyment of it has something to do with having just seen, a few days before, Kate Bush perform live and turn into a bird at the end of the concert. Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed this film which really came off as more of a retelling of a legend, fairy tale, or bit of folklore than what I presume others expected coming from the director of TOURIST TRAP (another favorite.) Have to say that this might be a case where, having only seen one other work by the director of this film, I really had no expectations of this piece; and, I feel I was able to watch it unencumbered.I watch a lot of horror films from all decades--or, I should say, I'm catching up on a lot of them--while working; but, this one actually made me pause in my work and watch it because I was enjoying it and wanted to be engaged with it.What didn't I like? Well, I wish Anjanette Comer had more screen time. Fell in love with her in THE LOVED ONE and adored her in THE BABY, so I wanted more Comer on screen (And didn't her character in NETHERWORLD say, at one point, "I want to save my son?" or something like that, regarding Corey?) Also, I wanted to know more of the background story of, for lack of a better term, the Bird People. Same is true of the flying Hand with one finger having a viper's head and the palm marked with an eye drawn after those found on representations of the human head from ancient Egypt.But, have to say, it's the fact that I didn't have a back story on the Bird People that added to the mystery of this film. I like movies that make me pause and wonder; and, this one made me pause and wonder quite a bit. I'll end by saying that I would recommend this film; and, though no masterpiece, it flew above and beyond my expectations.

Handsome young Corey Thornton (a solid performance by Michael Bendetti) inherits his father's opulent mansion in Louisiana. Corey discovers a sinister secret cult that uses winged creatures to resurrect the dead in order to do their bidding. Writer/director David Schmoeller offers a tasty evocation of the flavorsome bayou setting and makes good use of the palatial mansion main location, but the sluggish pacing, talky script, and uneventful meandering narrative make this film a rather tedious chore to watch. Moreover, this film crucially lacks the essential tension and spooky atmosphere it needs to cook the way that it should. The rushed ending likewise fails to satisfy. Fortunately, there's just enough gore, nudity, and sizzling sex to keep the picture watchable. Moreover, the cast do their best with the so-so material, with especially sound contributions from Denise Gentile as alluring witch Delores, Anjanette Comer as the melancholy and protective Mrs. Palmer, Holly Floria as enticing jail bait Diane Palmer, Robert Sampson as Corey's father, Robert Burr as distinguished lawyer Beauregard Yates, and George Kelly as menacing loon Bijou. Adolfo Bartoli's slick cinematography provides a pleasing lush look. A merely passable time-waster.

I actually thought I was in for something interesting during the first few minutes of this film, the section I'll call "the prologue". It was atmospheric and strange enough to hold some promise. Unfortunately, I kept waiting for something to happen for the rest of the movie, and very little does, except for the last 10 minutes when I finally learned what the title really means, and that I had been had, big time. This isn't scary, suspenseful or even erotic as the trailer suggested, the only positive thing I can say about it is that it's well photographed. I certainly expected more from the director of Tourist Trap and the original Puppet Master. Netherworld is an infuriating disappointment.