Villian(s)  Witch, curse

Actor(s):  David McCallum, Nicole Eggert, Christopher Halsted, Lana Clarkson

Brief Description  The Haunting of Morella is a 1990 Gothic horror film produced by the legendary B-movie king Roger Corman and directed by cult filmmaker Jim Wynorski. Loosely based on the 1835 short story "Morella" by Edgar Allan Poe, the film is a quintessential late-80s/early-90s direct-to-video release. It blends authentic, surprisingly high-quality period aesthetics with heavy exploitation elements, including prominent nudity and supernatural schlock.

Plot:
The film opens 17 years in the past, when a wealthy woman named Morella Locke is accused of witchcraft, adultery, and murder. The local townspeople brutally crucify, blind, and burn her at the stake. Before she dies, Morella casts a permanent satanic curse, vowing to return and take over the body of her newborn daughter, Lenore. Devastated, her wealthy husband, Gideon Locke, builds a secured crypt on the execution site and raises Lenore in complete isolation from the nearby village. Seventeen years later, Gideon has succumbed to grief, depression, and physical blindness. Lenore is on the verge of turning 18 and inheriting her mother's massive estate.

A handsome young lawyer named Guy Chapman arrives to have Lenore sign her inheritance papers, but a protective and unstable Gideon forbids him from seeing her. Unbeknownst to Gideon, Lenore’s wicked governess, Coel Deveraux, is secretly a practicing occultist. Coel orchestrates a secret meeting between Lenore and Guy by the estate lake to keep him around. Meanwhile, Coel begins performing blood sacrifices using Gideon's female servants, channeling their life force to resurrect Morella's decayed corpse and forcibly manifest her spirit inside Lenore's body. As the ritual progresses, Lenore is plagued by terrifying, violent visions as her mother's malevolent soul slowly fights to take complete control.