Mausoleum

We take ChatGPT’s recommendation and dive into the bizarre supernatural horror film Mausoleum (1983), a movie with a strange backstory that includes alleged mob funding and later rights disputes.

We talk about how hard it is to find, why it feels more like late-’70s TV horror than an ’80s theatrical release, and how its “so bad it’s funny” charm makes it perfect for a group watch. Along the way we highlight the recognizable cast, the goofy demon-possession plot, the constant green-glowing mausoleum, and the over-the-top practical effects that go from silly to outrageous.

Between awkward editing, absurd kill scenes, and tonal whiplash comedy moments, we end up with mixed feelings—but plenty to laugh about.

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Mausoleum (1983)

Episode 490, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw Horror Movie Review Poscast

Todd: Hello and welcome to another episode of Two Guys and a Chainsaw I’m Todd.

Craig: And I’m Craig.

Todd: For this week’s, uh, episode, I went to ChatGPT, and I was going between two movies. I- gosh, I don’t remember what the other one was off the top of my head, but it was a slasher from the ’80s, ’cause I’m just in this mood for these early ’80s slashers.

We’ve done quite a few of them in a row here. And this one, which I knew was more supernatural, and I thought, “Well, we could shake it up,” but I, I would really kinda like to see the better one. And ChatGPT recommended we go with Mausoleum from 1983 instead of the slasher that I had because it said, “Honestly, I think this one’s gonna be way, way more fun for you to talk about in your podcast because it’s it’s pretty nuts.”

Craig: Fair.

Todd: And, uh, I have to say, sometimes ChatGPT is right on the money.

Craig: Sometimes.

Todd: Yeah. This is gonna be a blast to chat about. This is, uh, Mausoleum from 1983. It’s just been on my list for a very long time. Glad to finally tick it off, and I can’t wait to talk about it.

Craig: I’m glad you’re excited.

Todd: How about you, uh, Craig?

Do you have any history with this at all?

Craig: Absolutely not. Had never heard of it. Can’t imagine. I, I mean, I guess. I mean, it was really early ’80s, so I would’ve been, like, four, uh- Yeah, of course … when it came out. So when it was on video, it probably seemed old to me. I don’t know. And, and it’s not super easy to find.

No. I found it on the Roku Channel. Hmm. So you can find it. I didn’t even check YouTube. It’s pr- it may be on YouTube as well. It wouldn’t surprise me. But it’s interesting.

Todd: Interesting it is. It has some interesting history behind it too. Apparently, this was, um, partially, at least partially mob funded. One of the most famous, uh, mobsters actually.

He’s out there. He, he was in prison for a while. He found Jesus, like, in the early ’90s, and then when he got out of prison, he started, basically, he wrote a book about how bad it is to be a mobster and how awful the mafia is. He went out on, on speaking engagements and talking and the faith circuit and all this stuff.

And now he actually has a pretty cool, actually, YouTube channel that’s very active right now and talking about the, the underworld, the mob, the mafia, that kind of thing. And, uh, this guy’s name is Michael Franzese. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him. Former mobster who was a capo regime in the Colombo crime family in New York City, and this was one of his earlier efforts to legitimize some of his businesses, but a lot of it was la- money laundering as well.

Interestingly, then there turned out to be, I think, after that, probably because of this, a number of legal disputes over who originally owned the rights to the story, who owns the rights to the film production. I don’t know how those were all settled, but there, quite a few people involved went in to try to take, take a piece of this.

And yeah, it made, like, $1.3 million. Really? Yeah, it wasn’t huge, but it had a very limited theatrical release and then of course it went to laser disc and VHS and DVD eventually. It got a Vinegar Syndrome cleanup and re-release that apparently sold out in 24 hours.

Craig: Oh my gosh.

Todd: Yeah. So this movie’s got its fans, and I can see why.

This movie is one of those so bad it’s funny movies. Honestly, I think it’s right there smack dab in the middle of that spectrum. If you watch this with your friends, you will just laugh at the absurdity of most of it.

Craig: Yeah, it’s silly and I, you know, uh, there are certainly parts of it that could never air on TV, but it, it felt very much kind of like a movie of the week.

Todd: Yeah.

Craig: You know? Like a scary movie of the week. There was something about it, I was kind of surprised to see that it came out in 1983 because it has a really late ’70s feel to me. Mm. At one point they even go to, like, what I would only describe as a disco.

Todd: Yeah.

Craig: And the, the fashion kind of looks ’70s and I don’t know, it just had kind of a TV q- the, the effects had kind of a TV quality or maybe even, like, those early Disney movies like-

Clip: Mm-hmm

Craig: Watcher In The Woods or Lady In White or whatever. Like, those types of effects that at the time I’m sure looked great but, you know, these days look very dated. But I agree with you that I can kind of see why this movie would have its fans, because I think if I had seen it when I was a kid, I would have a lot of nostalgia for it.

‘Cause it is weird and goofy, and there’s boobs in it, and like crazy stuff going on. So I get it. But I, I, I bet a large part of that audience is people who grew up with it, would be my bet.

Todd: Yeah. I almost liken it to some of the Richard Tenney movies, like, um, in the ’90s. So this is early ’80s, but in the early ’90s he was doing like Night of the Demons and Witchboard.

Witchboard in particular-

Craig: Okay. Yeah …

Todd: with just like really bad acting and really silly supernatural nonsense.

Craig: I can see that.

Todd: Corny, you know, in many ways and, and very basic and simple, but they have a charm that we kinda like, you know? I think we’re big fans of Witchboard, even though we would not say it’s a-

Craig: Yeah

Todd: it’s a good movie by any stretch of the imagination.

Craig: No, it’s a bad movie, but I grew up with it and I, yeah. Yeah.

Todd: Yeah. This, this seems like just an earlier one of those along those lines, and you can tell they probably had a lot of fun making it. And, uh- I can see

Craig: that …

Todd: and so for that I really enjoyed watching it.

I think I would’ve enjoyed watching it a lot more if you’d been there with me and- Yeah. You know, there’s even some, some stars in here, a couple. The, this one woman, Lawanda Page, was on Sanford and Sons.

Clip: Mm-hmm.

Todd: You know, she was the aunt in Sanford and Sons for the whole run of that, and, uh, in quite a few movies and all over television, so you know, I recognized her.

It was weird seeing her in this because it doesn’t do her much credit. You know? She, the directing is lousy and so her performance doesn’t come off as great, but that’s not her fault.

Craig: I thought she was hilarious. She was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

Todd: Oh, she was.

Craig: She just, she just came in to drop stupid one-liners.

Ugh. We’ll, we’ll get there. We will. She, she was funny though.

Todd: And then Bobby Bressi Who unfortunately, this was just one of the few… She seems to have had promise to be an early s- to, to be a scream queen.

Craig: Uh-huh.

Todd: And she r- apparently really wanted to. She was embracing her role in these horror movies and said, “I, you know, I could be doing this forever.

I wouldn’t mind. If I get old, then I’ll, I’ll be a witch or a villain or something in these. I, I don’t care. I like that about it.” Unfortunately, she r- didn’t end up being in too many. This was one of her first, and aside from, uh, let’s …