Hell Night

What impressed me the most about this "slasher" movie is I honestly cared about the characters and felt bad when they died! That never happens with me & horror movies-- usually the characters are annoyingly lamebrained oversexed fools and I can't wait for them to get axed. HELL NIGHT has much going for it, including an amiable atmosphere, enthusiastic & easy-going performances (especially by the Boom Mic, who I thought deserved an Academy Award for his brief but frequent appearances), decent sets (including the outdoor ones, a bit reminiscent of The Shining), and villains who I swear looked straight out of SCOOBY DOO. (Not that that's a BAD thing, but it's just not too scary.) I honestly thought the script was well-constructed and funny and character exposition was given in an unobtrusive but helpful way (i.e. Linda Blair working as a mechanic.) There is absolutely nothing new or groundbreaking in HELL NIGHT, but it's a sterling example of how to polish up an old apple and make it look appealing and new-- and taste good. (Sorry for that awful metaphor...) Contrary to what others might tell you, Vincent Van Patten really grew on me, and I loved that surfing scene. He's my boy! Rating: 7/10.

"Hell Night" is a fun little 1981 horror film from the producer of "Halloween". The plot is as follows - Twelve years ago, a man savagely murdered his wife and three of their deformed and disabled children, leaving only one son as a survivor, then hanging himself in his family mansion. Now, twelve years after the horrible murders, four college pledges for the Alpha Sigma Ro fraternity/sorority are forced to spend the night in Garth manor for their initiation. All seems to be going well, and the upperclassmen play a few tricks on the newcomers to try and scare them. But the jokes become horrifyingly real when the pranksters and the pledges begin to die. Could it be possible that the fourth son of the Garth family is still lurking somewhere on the grounds?

I'd been wanting to see this for quite some time now, and I finally got my hands on the DVD and I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Is it clichéd? Sure it is, very much so, actually. The plot (while it isn't as original as it could be) is well paced and entertaining all the way. It blends both the slasher and haunted house horror sub-genres, and it does it with style. Sure, the horror clichés are present, but these clichés don't take the film down. The mansion was large, old, and creepy inside, adding to the classic haunted-house horror film feeling. Not to mention the pledges are dressed in period costumes reflecting the olden days. The acting was decent, not perfect but good enough. Linda Blair of "The Exorcist" is our main leading heroine, and her innocent character of Marti is likable. Peter Barton plays Jeff, and Vincent Van Patten plays the tough surfer dude along with Suki Goodwin as the party girl. All of the actors performed well for the most part, no real complaints there.

There are some memorable scenes in the film, especially the rug scene and the chase in the underground tunnels with Marti and Jeff and the old deformed psychopath. Speaking of the villain, he was actually rather creepy and the makeup effects were decent, although we don't really get to see his face until the finale. There are some creative murder scenes that have surprisingly good special effects considering the time the film was made. But the film's overall atmosphere was the best part if you asked me. It kind of reminded me of a Scooby Doo episode with it's style and story, but much more violent than anything you'd ever see on a cartoon show.

Overall, "Hell Night" is one of the most fun '80s horror films out there. The whole film has a fun, festive tone, and there are some pretty spooky scenes and the atmosphere was perfect in a classic, haunted-house horror kind of way. The atmosphere is killer (literally), there are some scary murders, and Linda Blair is the leading lady! What more can you ask for? Definitely check it out if you are a fan of the genre. 9/10.

I love slasher films and this is one of my favorites....it seems one of the biggest complaints about 'Hell Night' is the lack of blood. Am I the only one here who remembers two other horror classics that have little bloodshed....'Halloween' and 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' and before you disagree....watch them again. And notice that all the times that Leatherface smacks heads with the hammer and carves bodies with his chainsaw- very little blood hits the ground.....even 'Prom Night' shows black screen when someone is getting hacked up with an axe... And not all slasher films have to have the 'guess who the killer is' theme....in 'Halloween' we knew it was Michael Meyers and 'Chain Saw Massacre' we knew it was Leatherface and his family.... Back to 'Hell Night'...I thought everybody gave really good performances throughout...Linda Blair and Vincet Van Patten standout the most. I enjoyed the background story about the house's history...the house itself was an excellent setting. Character interaction was interesting...it didn't seem like pointless time filler. The killers were alot more scary than most of the slasher villains...plus the fact that they didn't get a lot of screen time which added to the suspense. A very under-rated slasher film. 'Hell Night' and almost any slasher film post 1979 are called 'Halloween' rip-offs...but, remember 'Black Christmas' came out years before 'Halloween'

Linda Blair and her friends are stranded in a remote mansion with a homicidal maniac, who loves to hack peoples heads off and slash their throats. Sound like a simple, predictable premise? Yeah, it pretty much is. But, the direction is smooth and on target, and the acting is very good. There is a little gore, but not too much, and there is plenty of good suspense. You grow to like the four teens tormented in Garth Manor. A successful, highly watchable slasher movie.

Basic Plot = four pledges must spend the night in Garth Manor, twelve years to the day after the previous resident murdered his entire family. Two of the pledges, Marti (Linda Blair, The Exorcist) and Jeff (Peter Barton), ignore the rumours that the now-deserted mansion is haunted by a crazed killer, until one-by-one, members of their group mysteriously disappear. Could this be part of the fraternity prank or is it a demented former tenant seeking revenge? When the seemingly innocent rite of passage turns deadly, these college students will do anything to survive Hell Night." Hell Night is a fun way to waste a couple of hours, a definite popcorn flick which isn't a bad thing, the cast are clearly having fun with they're roles, Suki Goodwin, as Denise, is a scream; providing the film's main comedy moments without really grating. She sails through the film on a wave of booze, Quaaludes (whatever happened to those?) and double-ententes. Linda Blair is also as effortlessly likable as you'd imagine, as the slightly tomboyish girl (with the handy mechanic skills).

Hell Night never fails to be entertaining,It's the fun early 80's slasher flick - designed for retro thrills, fun scares and popcorn munching. It takes itself seriously enough to stop from descending into self-parody funny to talk about innocence in a film where a bunch of people get carved up in creative ways, but HELL NIGHT is a perfect twilight genre example of the slasher flick before it descended into self parody and rapidly shrinking budgets.