It took one single clip of the film The Selling (aka: The Selling of Scarry Manor) on cable for me to know I needed to add it to my DVD collection. I had no idea just how crucial an addition it was until after I laughed nonstop through the entire movie.
Star Gabriel Diani, who also wrote the movie, is pretty much a comic genius who deserves some serious recognition…and to make more movies a.s.a.p. His comic brilliance is further enhanced by the casting of adorable, sexy silly Jonathan Klein as his sidekick. What a comic cutie combo they make.
But alas, they are strictly business partners, as Klein’s paranoid character constantly points out in The Selling, in which they play real estate agents who buy an old house, planning to fix and flip it. Problem is, they almost immediately discover it is wickedly haunted because it was once the home of an accused serial killer named the Sleep Stalker.
The ghostly killer and his victims may be scary stuff, but the cast knows just how to handle the haunting: nonstop humor and loads of references to horror classics, including movies like The Shining, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, Elm Street, and House on Haunted Hill.
As if the movie isn’t awesome as it is, Barry Bostwick makes an appearance as an exorcist and veteran comedy actress Nancy Lenehan plays Diani’s lovable mother. Also in the mix is a ghost activist played by Diani’s comedy partner, Etta Devine. I know. Sounds like the name of a drag queen, but she’s not. Check out the comedy team’s site here.
And if you love flicks like Ghostbusters, Haunted Honeymoon, Elvira’s Haunted Hills, Abbott & Costello’s Hold That Ghost and High Spirits, put The Selling of Scarry Manor at the top of your list of haunted house comedies to check out. It fricking rules. And to top it all off, Diani has an impressively round little butt for a thin guy….
YES!!! I love this movie. I also have the DVD, and watch it quite often. A treasured addition to my collection.