Night Terrors

The Marquis De Sade, Egypt, ancient Gnostic cults, Robert Englund in a dual role, gratuitous sex and nudity, murder and mayhem... on paper Tobe Hopper's Night Terrors sounds like it should be at least a fun, entertaining flick given the ingredients. It's not. It is a plot less, incoherent shambles that brings little entertainment. There is basically no plot beyond some vague stuff about a cult that follows the work of De Sade who for some unclear reason feel the need to seduce the daughter of a local Christian archaeologist and kill her. That is pretty much it- I think it has something to with the Gnostics but who knows what the writers were thinking. Most of the movie is a meandering mess as the heroine is exposed to various weirdness, dream sequences and erotic encounters, intercut with scenes of Englund as the imprisoned De Sade in the 19th century chewing the scenery. It seems like the makers were trying for something serious but whatever their pretensions were they are buried in the cheesiness, bad acting, sleaze and fake looking decapitated heads.

There aren't too many good points. Robert Englund is fun to watch, as always and the lead actress, Zoe Trilling, whilst not very talented, is attractive and in various stages of undress through the movie but watching Night Terrors is a chore. At least I got to see the movie from which the "When you're as criminal as I" bit from the Australian film certification ratings guide that was on the front of so many VHS tapes from the nineties came from.

Tobe Hooper, may he rest in peace, had a well-filled career of hits and misses. The hits are widely considered as bona-fide masterpieces ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Poltergeist", "Lifeforce"), while the misses are seen as total failures even by the most hardened horror fanatics ("Crocodile", "Mortuary", "Djinn"). Personally, I wouldn't dare to refer to Tobe's nineties movies as failures, but they are an acquired taste, for sure. "The Mangler" is such a pleasantly deranged mess, and this "Night Terrors" is even more bonkers!

This flick is a wildly incoherent hodgepodge of crazy half-processed ideas, extravagant characters, gratuitous sex, and even more gratuitous violence. Ravishing teenager Eugenie "Genie" Mattheson visits her archeologist father in Alexandria, Egypt, but quickly gets involved with the local jet set that throws wicked costume parties and orgies. The MC of these parties claims to be a direct descendant of none other than Marquis de Sade himself, and he also believes that Genie is the reincarnation of the Marquis' wife.

It's an intriguing enough plot, but the handling of it is overly hectic and unsatisfying. The film constantly bounces back and forth between the events in present day Egypt and flashbacks of a 18th century prison dungeon in which the Marquis himself is raving madly and yelling to a picture of his muse. It doesn't exactly help that Robert Englund, in a large dual role, gives a god-awful performance and that the gory highlights come too late in the film.

And yet, it doesn't matter how good or bad "Night Terrors" is. The most important thing you need to know is that the one and only Zoe Trilling stars as the female lead. Who? Trilling is one the most gorgeous girls to appear in horror movies during the late 80s and early 90s. She may not be the greatest actress of her generation, but she's unbelievably hot and sexy. "Night Terrors" and - of course - "Night of the Demons 2" were the high points of her career, but then she inexplicably vanished from acting. With a cherubic face and a dreamy body like hers, that decision hurts for almost 30 years already.

Eugenie Matteson (Zoe Trilling) arrives in Alexandria, Egypt to stay with her father while he is on an archaeological dig. Her father, a Christian religious fanatic who often quotes from the Bible, believes his daughter to be little Miss Innocent - but he doesn't realize that he has brought her to the one place that will corrupt her. Walking in the market place dressed like a regular American teenager would in hot weather, Genie is attacked by a group of perverse Egyptian men looking to get lucky, but she is saved in time by Sobina (who apparently has a sexual relationship with Genie's father) who introduces her to the work of the Marquis de Sade, as well as the darker side of life in Alexandria. Sobina takes Genie to a club where the first act of corruption is committed when Genie is given opium. Before long she begins seeing things - sexual things with her father coming in and preaching in the background. (This is arguably representative of her conscious telling her to get out, yet she's fascinated by this crazy world of sex and drugs)The next day she meets Mahmood, a hunky, intelligent and wealthy Egyptian and they quickly strike up a romance. As time wares on, Genie finds herself the target of a cult obsessed with the Marquis de Sade and led by one of his relatives (Robert Englund stars as both the Marquis and his descendant).

I found this film entertaining but disturbing and weird as well. I saw it for Robert Englund (I love his work)and I was pleased with his performance. Zoe Trilling isn't much of an actress, but I've seen worse. There is a lot of erotic sex scenes and nudity in this film, but honestly, it's a horror film about the Marquis de Sade, people, what did you expect? I actually didn't mind the sex - it all relates back to the theme of the corruption and perversion of this one young woman. The snakes are obviously symbols of the serpent in Eden's apple tree; the film takes a jab at religious fanaticism as a whole. (i.e. religious zealot father is into bondage games with the local prostitute...) I do have a problem with the fact that the connection between the de Sade cult and the religious circuit that Genie's father's archaeological dig is based upon. (I think it has something to do with hidden treasure...) This is a huge plothole that has always bothered me.

This is not the perfect movie, and no way is it a classic, but it's not incredibly terrible either. The acting is decent and there is some symbolism littered throughout. I think they tried to make this a deep film, but failed to answer some necessary questions when it came to the end of the story. The scenery and sets are great as well, I just wish they filled in the plot holes before wrapping this.

For people who like to analyze films, you might have fun with the symbolism in this. I did. BEWARE the sexual content - if sex scenes make you uncomfortable you might want to skip this flick because there's a lot of sex and nudity throughout the film. There is also mild torture, drug use, and violence. Worth a watch in my opinion.

I don't know much about Tobe Hooper, or why he gets his name in the title, but maybe he shouldn't have bothered. As another commenter mentioned, there isn't really enough horror or erotica to bring in fans of either genre. The plot is incoherent, the Sade sequences are gratuitous, and most of the acting is so-so. Englund was doing his best with weak material, and Zoe Trilling has a really great bottom, but neither is enough to carry this film. This one's a tape-over. Grade: F

In the Eighteenth Century, the cruel Marquis De Sade (Robert Englund) is tortured by the king's order after being betrayed by his mistress. In the present days (1993), the American Eugenie "Genie" (Zoe Trilling) arrives in Alexandria after her graduation in engineering to visit her father, the pious archeologist Dr. Matteson (William Finley). On the streets, Genie meets the free-spirited Sabina (Alona Kimhi) that introduces her to the Marquis de Sade's novel and to a world of free sex and drugs. After Genie's sexual experience with the local Mahmoud (Juliano Merr), Sabina takes her to a party where she meets Paul Chevalier, who is descendant of the Marquis De Sade and leads a cult of followers. He recognizes Genie as descendant of the mistress that reported the Marquis De Sade to the king, and promises to degrade her.

"Night Terrors" (1993) is a deceptive erotic-horror film directed by Tobe Hooper with a messy screenplay. The movie has good ideas, but many events without explanation. Why Dr. Matteson, Beth, Fatima and other characters are murdered? The crime spree has no explanation. What for is the amulet that Fatima gave to Genie? What is the objective of the sect led by Paul Chevalier? What happens in the end of the movie? What is the meaning of the scale inside the trunk found by Dr. Matteson? Therefore, many unanswered questions raised along the story. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Noites de Terror" ("Nights of Terror")