At her mother's funeral, little Susan flees from her aunt Cora to a nearby mausoleum. There, a demon, which has already led to the death of her mother, possesses her. 20 years later, Susan is happily married to Oliver and lives in a large villa. The demon increasingly expands his influence on Susan, who burns a drunken nightclub guest in his car, seduces and kills the gardener, murders her aunt and finally takes on Oliver. Can psychiatrist Dr. Simon Andrews help Susan get rid of the demon?

If you want to see a proper movie about a woman possessed by a demon, you should go watch The Exorcist. For fans of B-movie horror with a penchant for exposed ex-playmates and naïve ex-preachers, Mausoleum could be a fun time. The plot is extremely stupid at times. The family demon takes possession of Susan at a young age because she has entered a mausoleum, but then the plot suddenly jumps 20 years further. What happened in the meantime? Was Susan permanently possessed? Did the demon go into sleep mode? We don't know. The rest of the movie can be summed up by the fact that Susan kills several people. After the drunken bar patron, the lustful gardener has to die. After the gardener follows the stupid aunt. After the aunt follows an equally lustful delivery guy. After the delivery guy follows a stupid salesman until Oliver finally becomes her victim. Poor Oliver.

Actually, it could have dawned on him that something was wrong after the gardener had disappeared and the housekeeper had also been killed off. Another serious mistake was to dismiss Susan's moods as a PMS phase. The only one who has the insight is psychiatrist Simon, who read in an old book that the first-born woman is the victim of the demon, which can only be defeated with a crown of thorns. Although this wisdom is written in a book that is perfectly readable, with black letters on white paper and explained in simple language, Simon first has to ask a colleague for advice on what to do. Reading and understanding are not exactly Simon's strengths. Once you've accepted that the plot is completely disposable, you should concentrate on the movie's actual values. First and foremost, we have ex-playmate Bobbie Bresee, who is allowed to take her clothes off a few times when she's not a monster. Her wooden acting, on the other hand, isn't very convincing. Just as interesting as Bresee’s bra size is the monster make-up by John Carl Buechler that features creative ideas like the monstrous breasts.

The movie is available in both an R-rated and an Unrated version. The differences are limited to two scenes. At the beginning when the man runs out of the mausoleum, the Unrated shows how his head explodes. The R-rated instead cuts to Susan in the mausoleum and even shows an additional shot of her as the man falls to the ground. The second difference between the two versions is when Susan murders gardener Ben. In the Unrated you can see her scratching his face and smashing his skull with a pickaxe. The R-rated version has two alternate shots in which you can see his wriggling legs instead.

The R-rated version was released by BCI on DVD as a double feature with the movie Blood Song. The best version they could find back then was a movie print with some treads and dirt. Unfortunately, this version is zoomed in a bit, so that picture information gets lost at the lower and right edge of the picture. The unnrated version was published by Vinegar Syndrom on Blu-ray/DVD. Qualitatively, this release is highly recommended and eclipses pretty much everything that has been done so far.

On May 19, 1988, the film was shown as part of Commander USA's Groovie Movies on the US pay-TV channel USA Network. The version is basically based on the unrated version, i.e. the exploding head is included, but was stripped of all nude scenes and some violence. Additionally, action scenes are missing, which were probably removed to put the show into a two hour slot. The cuts are a bit of a pity, but the amusing comments by Jim Hendricks let you overlook that.

The US TV version (Commander USA's Groovie Movies) was compared to the Unrated version.

[00:21:58][00:14:36]

Oliver tells Susan that he suspects that Ben likes her. Susan says she's fine, but that she must have had a nightmare. Oliver suggests going to a club in town for dancing. Susan likes the idea. They kiss. Ben can be seen a little earlier as he looks through the window.

Unrated: 25 sec.


[00:22:29][00:15:33]

It is missing how Susan and Oliver leave the house and sit down at a table in the club.

Unrated: 28 sec.


[00:22:40][00:16:13]

The couple starts to fight. The woman leaves.

Man: "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but you're always bitching about the same old shit."
Woman: "That's because it's always the same old shit with you."

Unrated: 7 sec.


[00:24:22][00:18:06]

Oliver tells Susan that the contracts are ready and the clients from New York are there, so unfortunately he has to leave now. Susan doesn't like the club anymore, either.

Unrated: 27 sec.


[00:24:59][00:19:11]

Oliver gives Susan another kiss as they wait for the car.

Unrated: 3 sec.


[00:29:22][00:20:01]

A fade from the burning car to the house.

Susan tells Elsie to get some more guavas. When Elsie wants this spelled out, Susan tells her to get cantaloupes instead. She should also buy some wine for a meeting with friends next week. Ben overhears the dialogue. After Elsie leaves, he knocks on the window.

Unrated: 1:00 min.


[00:30:43][00:22:27]

Ben chops the log, while Susan uses her demonic powers to jiggle the porch doors. When Ben wants to look, Susan opens the door for him. He asks if everything is ok, but Susan sends him back to his work.

Here are some scenes of Ben at work.

Susan throws in the towel.

Unrated: 3:31 min.


[00:31:55][00:27:14]

Susan lets her towel slide further down to seduce Ben.

Unrated: 10 sec.


[00:33:16][00:28:49]

The complete scene in which Susan and Ben slowly undress in the barn and let themselves fall onto the mattress is missing.

Unrated: 1:07 min.


[00:34:23][00:31:05]

Ben gets his face scratched longer. Then the demon hits his skull with his pickaxe.

Unrated: 10 sec.


[00:38:13][00:31:21]

Due to the commercial break, we see the car earlier in the unrated version.

Unrated: 4 sec.


[00:39:20][00:32:36]

The TV version fades over to the house, so the love scene between Susan and Oliver is missing.

Unrated: 56 sec.


[00:44:44][00:39:09]

Film tear: Susan can be seen earlier.

Unrated: 2 sec.


[00:57:13][00:47:34]

After Elsie has fled, a complete scene is missing. Oliver insists that Susan sees a psychiatrist about her nightmares. Oliver wonders where Elsie is. The telephone rings. Martin wonders where his wife Cora has gone. Susan thinks she'll turn up. Oliver then wonders where Ben has gone. Susan thinks he should give him a call. Then she says goodbye.

Unrated: 1:20 min.


[01:07:12][00:54:10]

Simon can be seen earlier as he calls Roni. He congratulates her on her successful tour.

Unrated: 38 sec.


[01:09:39][00:57:21]

The car can be seen earlier driving up to the house.

Unrated: 7 sec.


[01:22:27][01:07:23]

A shot of the impaled salesman is missing.

Unrated: 4 sec.


[01:23:26][01:08:38]

Susan says to Oliver that she doesn't think much of Simon.

Susan: "Fuck Simon."

Oliver puts the picture to the mirror and leaves.

Unrated: 12 sec.


[01:24:29][01:09:56]

One sentence from Oliver is missing.

Oliver: "[What's got into you tonight anyway,] for Christ's sake? I was only trying to help you."

Unrated: 2 sec.

[01:29:14][01:10:54]

Oliver comes to Susan in the bathroom. The two make up again.

Unrated: 1:28 min.


[01:29:52][01:13:01]

Oliver and Susan kiss longer. Oliver suggests taking a vacation.

Unrated: 15 sec.


[01:34:38][01:18:17]

Film tear: The door is visible earlier.

Unrated: 1 sec.


[01:55:13][01:34:48]

The Unrated shows a longer black screen before the credits start.

Unrated: 16 sec.