Recensioni degli utenti

Another day, another long-forgotten 80's slasher that came to my attention because it looked like it had to offer some decent murder sequences, T&A and a handful of clumsy and not-so-convincing red herrings. And yes, "Night Screams" is a more or less enjoyable horror effort, but only just as long as your expectations are kept to a minimum. We follow the usual crowd of stereotypical and irritating high school teenagers as they throw a graduation party in the football jock's house. However, there are two escaped criminals hiding in the basement and the hunky football star David himself suffers from aggressive behavior when he doesn't take his carefully prescribed pills. Soon after the party-goers are killed off in fairly imaginative ways (one girl has an axe planted in her skull, another guy's face is literally barbecued) and director Allen Plone begs us to think the culprit is either David or one of the mad thugs in the cellar. The plot twists don't really work, but I admire Plone for trying and there's at least a little bit of style to find in his film. Although that does not include the tasteless footage of porn movies and another inferior 80's slasher ("Graduation Day") that continuously plays on TV-sets in the background. I guess none of the actual actresses wanted to take her top off, so they needed to steal the padding from other movies. "Night Screams" is a forgettable and truly run-of-the-mill 80's slasher, but we've definitely seen worse already and avid fans of the decade will certainly not regret watching it.

I just saw "Night Screams" as part of an (obscure) slasher double bill with "Graduation Day" (1981). At least "Graduation Day" wanted to be a slasher. This, "Night Screams", I don't know what it wants to be. I do know it wants to be more clever but it ends up being a dumber movie all the same. A couple of escaped convicts find a hiding place in the basement of a house where a teenager on medication decides to have a party with his friends because his parents aren't home. There's bad music, bad sex, bad acting and eventually a few bad killings. On a technical level, it's not better or worse made than "Graduation Day". The latter at least played it by the early 80's slasher textbook and delivers as such a film. "Night Screams" plays it by the late 80's slasher textbook - not that the rules are much different, really - but manages to dumb things down to an almost intolerable level. Even with nada suspense or tension this time and the kills themselves aren't memorable either. The only mildly amusing aspect was the stupid twist at the end. It's such a typical conclusion, not at all original and you can see it coming from a mile away. But at least the filmmakers watched enough slasher flicks to get that thing right. Still, even if you're an avid slasher fan, I don't think you'll get too excited over this flick.

I think this is a really good slasher flick from the 80's that most people have never seen or heard of. There's a lot of 80's music, fashion, puns, etc. The plot is actually not that bad, and the acting is "mostly" very good considering this was filmed in Witchita, Kansas. Some of the killings are quite interesting in their method and approach. The ending was particularly well done in my opinion, it leaves the idea open for a sequel that never came. Not everyone will enjoy this movie, but if you like well executed slasher films from the 80's then you'll most likely be very pleased. On a side note the DVD which was put out by Image is above average, the picture is very clear and the sound is in Dolby 2.0 Surround. Sadly there are no special features besides scene selections and two trailers for other Image DVD releases.

Behind the uninspired title lies an equally uninspired slasher that fails to deliver those essential ingredients of any good trashy horror: gratuitous nudity and gore. Initially, the film shows promise, opening with a girl getting topless in a changing room before being attacked by a masked maniac, but then it becomes apparent that this is actually a scene from 1981 slasher Graduation Day, as watched by two of this movie's characters before they are stabbed to death. Nudity borrowed from another film doesn't count (which also negates some T&A later on, which comes from a porn film being watched at a party), and the subsequent stabbings are lame.

The rest of the film continues in this disappointing fashion as a group of friends at a post-graduation party are bumped off in tame and uninventive ways off by an unseen maniac. Suspects include the escaped lunatics hiding in the basement, and football star David (Joseph Paul Manno), who is prone to outbursts of violence if he stops taking his meds. Of course, these turn out to be red herrings, but the real identity of the killer isn't hard to guess.

Of the numerous murders that occur in the house, we get a guy skewered with a fire poker, poisoning in a sauna, an axe in the head, a guy barbecued on a stove and stabbed in the neck, strangulation, suffocation, electrocution in a hot-tub, and choking with a pool cue, none of which are likely to satisfy gore-hounds. The best part of the film comes earlier on, when the escaped criminals are involved in a shootout with some cops and kill the staff of a diner in cold-blood: it's a surprisingly brutal scene, with some bloody squib-work.

2.5/10, rounded down to 2 for diabolical dance troupe The Sweetheart Dancers, whose terrible moves would get them four 'NOs' on America's Got Talent.

This worthless, bottom-of-the-barrel, stupid slasher film is only for those who have A LOT of free time on their hands, and simply want to see a few gory killings, without any concern for quality. If you don't belong in this category, however, skip it and go watch any of the roughly 3,784 better horror films available in the video stores. (*)

Things in this film you can expect to see: BAD acting, BAD music, BAD hair, BAD gore, BAD dialogue, BAD camera-work... Oh and did I mention, the front cover was BAD?

Things in this film you won't see: Anything vaguely of any interest. Unless you like watching car crashes.

Best part: A totally random moment... A loving couple are doing it in a sauna, and a random girl who we never see again is massaging her breasts in the shower. Since all of the main actresses refused to shed their togs, the director decided to hire an adult film actress to satisfy his nudity quotient. Obviously the chore of writing her into the movie was too much for him.

Worst Part: The gang are in a nightclub before the nights debauchery, we get a cutaway to a bunch of spangily clad dancers jiving to perhaps the MOST HORRIBLE SONG EVER. The spectacle goes on for a painful three minutes, and amazingly no-one walks out of the pub or complains to the manager. Are the clientèle deaf?

Most unwanted bonus: Over the end credits we get every death in the film repeated. If you were stupid enough to stick around that long, you deserve to be tortured by all the crap a second time. AND some outtakes, which are better acted than the rest of the film.

Final Verdict: I bought it for 50p from a rubbish dump sale. I should have left it there. It was the perfect place for it. 0/10

A little too much padding and an uneven story keep Night Screams from joining any list of great horror films from the 80's, but there's still a lot to enjoy. The murder scenes are executed with a little bit of pizazz and the filmmakers at least attempt to give some of the characters a little development.

By the late eighties, it had pretty much all been done before, hadn't it? The slasher film has always been the most blunt and unoriginal sub genre of horror, and I suppose that's what I like about it. Some slashers did get a little big for their britches and tried to be like the big boys, but that didn't quite work out (FADE TO BLACK being a crowning example of an egomaniacal slasher), but I like the ones that are more humble; more honest with themselves, who are comfortable with the familiar mold of the slasher film. Enter NIGHT SCREAMS.

David is the quarterback of his high school football team as well as the class hunk, which angers his steady girl, Joni, since girls are constantly throwing themselves at him. David's parents decide to reward him for getting a four-year athletics scholarship to O.U. by leaving him the house for the weekend, so naturally, David throws a party. However, someone begins bumping off the partygoers one by one. Is it the two escaped convicts hiding out in the basement? Or is it David, who needs medication to control his violent outbursts? Or is it a third-party?

NIGHT SCREAMS may be very straight-forward, but it does have a lot of good ideas in mind that don't fully fill themselves out. For one thing, the thought of two criminals hiding out in the basement wile partygoers are being killed upstairs is a nifty idea, but the two don't really DO anything besides serve as the red herrings. I also sort of liked the preposterous "twist" (it's really, really obvious who the killer is),which featured a nice bit of role reversal, as well as a downbeat ending similar to THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1982).

Really, there are two things you should be going into this to see: the deaths and the beloved cheese. Gorehounds will be more than satisfied with NIGHT SCREAMS, as it features more than twenty kills, and most of them have their fair share of bloodshed. There's a bit of variety with the kills as well, and we get an axe to the head, an electrocution in a hot tub, impalement with a fire poker, suffocation with a plastic bag, and, my personal favorite, one poor sap getting his head shoved on a burger he's grilling then getting neck surgery via fork!

There's definitely a LOT of cheesy moments in NIGHT SCREAMS, and it's fantastic! First off, we have what I like to call, "The Most 80's Opening To Any Slasher Movie", in which a couple (the male sporting amulet and a mustache; the female with huge hair) watching the 1981 slasher GRADUATION DAY and getting killed, followed by the killer playing "Chopsticks" on the piano, then cutting to the credits and very, very cheesy synth-music! We also get a love scene spliced with scenes from some seventies porno, a live band playing crappy music, the "nationally famous" Sweetheart Dancers, the comic-relief fat guy, and more.

The script, however is very weak, even though they did manage to craft some likable characters. I would say the acting is slightly better than average, but it's understandable why not a lot of the cast won any awards. Some of the scenes are fairly dark, but that's a very minor complaint.

I guess the best way to sum up NIGHT SCREAMS is that it could have been a whole lot worse than it ended up being. Like SLAUGHTERHOUSE ROCK (1988), NIGHT SCREAMS is a cheesy classic that gets beat up for little-to-no reason. Yes, it is lacking in plot. Yes, nearly no suspense is generated (there were a couple moments that I could see were at least trying to be suspenseful).

But I can see that Allen Plone put his all into it despite lack of budget, and it's fairly obvious Dillis L. Hart II had faith in it (count how many times his name appears in the credits), and I can see that. It's a humble, unabashed body count flick that exists for the sole purpose of entertainment. It moves at a brisk pace and is nearly never boring, which is more than I can say for some other films I've seen. Did I mention this was made in Wichita, Kansas?

Highly recommended.

Somewhere in Wichita David is a potential college football star who's just won a four year scholarship to a college somewhere in Oklahoma.His mates decide to throw him a serious farewell party whilst his folks are out that night.Unfortunately three uninvited guests secretly gatecrash these nightly celebrations,two are convicts who've fled from lockup,now hiding out somewhere in the homes cellar while our third interloper is a mental patient escapee with a connection to the party guests and notably David himself.Soon the bodies start to pile up...Watchable slasher with gore,nudity and plenty of movie clips from Herb Freed's "Graduation Day"."Night Screams" tries to be a bit different than the rest of its low-budget neighbors.The action is slow and the bodycount includes ten murders or so.7 out of 10.

Trying to fairly evaluate a film this far down the totem pole is a pretty difficult task – it's no secret how poorly-made it'll be and leaves you comparing it to weaker selections in order to justify a viewing of it. Night Screams is a title, like some of the others I've reviewed thus far, that arrived late to the game and was immediately engulfed by the ever-growing Slasher cesspool. Whether it was looked at as an exercise in futility or a point of experimentation directors were forced to introduce something new and shocking to grab audiences or release the same old drivel in order to gain back what was spent. I can boldly say that Night Screams is not a good film; it sucks, to be honest, but somehow the premise isn't all that far-fetched.

The film sets the stage with a married couple watching Graduation Day on television (now you can see why I reviewed these films back-to-back, eh?). While the husband is outside preparing hamburgers on the grill his wife is stabbed to death by an intruder. After he notices the body he immediately calls the authorities; the call is cut short when he is murdered in turn. The story shifts its focus to David, the star of the local high school football team who's pressured by the presence of a scout from Oklahoma University. David and his friends decide to throw a party at his parent's house in celebration of his achievement. Meanwhile, across town, two mental asylum escapees kill a few police officers and after they arrive in town, hide out in David's basement. Added to this complex equation is David's mental state; prone to bouts of anger without his prescribed pills. With the maniacal duo hidden away in the cellar, David's volatile temperament, and the demented knife- wielder, who is responsible for the deaths of the party-goers?

I mentioned a moment ago the inclusion of archival footage of Graduation Day. The initial thing that occurred to me was, "…of all the movies to reference, why that one?" I wish I had an explanation. If you haven't seen the murderous segments from Graduation Day, fear not! Night Screams does a fine job of spoiling them for you – I suppose it's not much of a let-down anyway. After several wasted minutes of this in the opening segment the husband displays the most hysterical reaction to his wife's murder...I don't think it's possible to sound any less shocked. Speaking of less than shocking, the quality of his deliverance doesn't come as much of a surprise since the majority of the cast debut'd their acting talents with this movie.

In the same swift motion, they exited the business – even the director, Allen Plone, would only make three more films after Night Screams (spread out over the span of 12 years). The only actor worth mentioning in this affair is Ron Thomas. Viewers may recognize him as "Bobby Brown" from The Karate Kid parts 1 & 2; certainly not the most prestigious credentials but among the other bit players featured in this film he comes across as a master of the arts.

The audio, specifically the intro music, is laughably bad. I can envision the composer's son sneaking into the recording studio, laying down a few stock tracks, and messing around with the volume dials. It's rickety and experimental sounding; an experiment gone terribly awry. Clearly, the composer's body of work in this feature is an uninspiring, synth-based cling-a-clanged crescendo of awfulness. Whoever had the displeasure of being the first to listen to this monstrosity would have been better off reproducing similar sounds by throwing a few pots and pans into the dryer and walking off the set.

The herrings displayed in Night Screams aren't vividly red; they are dressed up in nice little outfits so you aren't aware of their intended purpose. You may feel that your intelligence is underestimated with the use of obvious over-aged guys and gals to portray high schoolers. It's really that bad. I seem to make this complaint with every Slasher that I review but the creators of Night Screams must've desperately been in search for actors and actresses that appeared age-appropriate. For instance, the football locker room in the beginning of the film looks like a police precinct with all of the bravado, extreme chest hair, and mustaches to go around. Even David, the film's star character, looks as if he's been married with a kid for a few years with another on the way.

Night Screams isn't as bad as I predicted. The production values are bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. The acting is mostly crappy and the use of special effects is limited because of the angles used during the death sequences. While there are many clichés to point and laugh at Night Screams tried its little heart out despite the lack of budget. It's a disgraceful movie for sure but at least they tried. I've chosen to happily accept their sentiment but I'll never watch the movie again.

NIGHT SCREAMS is underrated in the slasher genre. The premise works: Three escaped convicts head to a mansion where a teen party is taking place. These teens start to disappear one by one (ok they are brutally murdered). Later it's revealed that the escaped convicts had little responsability with the murders. Shocking!

The plot is a combination of the SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE and the 1982's classic ALONE IN THE DARK. NIGHT SCREAMS deserves a chance, watch it with low expectations and you'll have a good time!

3/10 -Terrible but tries to stand out of the garbage

"Welcome to Fright Night!...for real"

This film is so incredibly dreadful. That dialogue is, crazy, and mix that with bad acting! Its so, jerky and forced sometimes. I think the women are the worst, they are falling all over their men, really bad image. And oh my god, the killings, they are ridiculous! in the bathroom at the start with the fencing sword, and all shes saying is "what are you doing", she doesn't try and stop him or run or anything, typical. I don't get why in these films, they gotta constantly have topless women. I watched Hellgate on the same night, topless women once again, daft. Its good for a laugh. I watched it at about, 1:30am, cos i was bored and couldn't sleep. Definitely helped that little problem

This MUST be one of the worst films I have seen in my life. I bought it because it was it was so cheap and because i was very curious. It was a bad move.....Everything's horrible about this! No words can describe this movie. Night Screams really shows you how to NOT make a movie. Avoid this one and stick to Friday the 13th. Even Friday the 13th part 5 is a classic compared to night screams. The script was a disaster and i wont even mention the acting. It's not worth it. The ONLY thing thats more or less good about this pick is the corny 80's setting, music and clothing. What fun to see that! I still don't know how these directors manage to get their money to make such crap. I could do better.

Night screams is awsome if you are aware of what you're getting into. It won't be getting a criterion release anytime soon but for those who are looking for a violent slasher with a high kill count you'll wanna pick this up. It is filmed a little too dark in points but it's still a sick lil flick I'm glad I got a vhs copy recently.

Vinegar Syndrome put this out on Blu Ray & 4KUltraHD and it's totally worth the money. Sure it's NO masterpiece or Oscar-Award winning material of the sort but still is an outrageously entertaining, nasty and wildly inventive Slasher that is neither run of the mill or as bad as most of the people on here claim it to be. From reading other reviews, I was expecting something 'totally unwatchable' but instead got a flick that was quite brutal, enjoyably campy as well as trashy all at the same time. Sure it may not be 100% original either but the murder scenes are rather ingenious. Creative for sure but also just plain wicked too despite the low-budget! Good special effects.

The acting is pretty decent, although nothing to write home about but much better compared to some other similar efforts. IMO it seemed there maybe was some inspiration from Alone In The Dark (1982). It's definitely not for everyone but huge fans of Grindhouse Slasher movies and 80's Horror might get a kick out of it. Death Screams (1982) would make a good Double-bill with this long-underseen, obscure, and extremely underrated gem of Slasher cinema.

By the time Night Screams came out, the slasher film had gone past life support and was at death's door. Night Screams doesn't do much to revitalize the genre, but it's competently and professionally made with a few reasons to tune in.

A seemingly unrelated murder kicks off the film as two people are murdered while watching Graduation Day on TV (if you think it's gonna get meta or something, think again). It's years later and a mentally disturbed football player has a party while his parents are away and his friends are brutally murdered one by one. There's also two homicidal bandits on the run who have chosen his basement to hide out in to avoid the law, but they're such obvious red herrings that their subplot doesn't amount to much.

If you're looking for gore, Night Screams actually does deliver in that department. People are stabbed, electrocuted, suffocated, and even burn on a grill like a hamburger. If you're an 80's fashion enthusiast, there's also a whole lot of questionable hairstyles and wardrobes on display.

My review was written in December 1987 after watching the movie on Prism video cassette.

"Night Screams" is a subpar specimen of regional horror filmmaking (shot in Wichita). Slasher pic is loaded with cliches and the running time is padded shamelessly with footage from a porn film and endless end credits (intercut with "highlights" condemning the preceding pic).

A group of graduating high school seniors get together for a party at a remote house and are killed one at a time. Suspects include two vicious escaped criminals prowling nearby, plus the hero, an unbalanced football great who, hint, hint, has left behind his medication. Twist has an unlikely character proving to be the deranged killer, and getting away with it at film's end.

Film was edited by noted film doctor Herbert L. Strock and is spiced up by lengthy excerpts of softcore sex footage from a porn feature starring Seka, Honey Wilder and John Holmes. Acting, gore and tech credits are routine.