How Long Is “Evil Spirits”?

An interesting bit of casting enlivens this psycho-thriller set in a California boarding house run by eccentric Karen Black with a rogue's gallery of bizarre tenants and more dark secrets than the Bates Motel. Tenants have a habit of disappearing rather abruptly from this particular residence -- but not without first signing over their Social Security checks to the landlady, netting her a tidy fortune. This leads to the inevitable visit from a federal agent (Arte Johnson), who begins an investigation into Black's shady affairs, and uncovers the true identity of the killer. Despite presenting Black as a blatant red herring from the outset, the filmmakers manage to provide a few interesting twists, though they eventually stray a bit too deeply into Psycho turf. A cast full of familiar faces (including Virginia Mayo, Martine Beswick and Michael Berryman) tends to counterbalance the occasional moments of sleaziness, but there is little originality to distinguish the film from standard slasher fare.