Anjo das Trevas

My review was written in August 1989 after watching the film on Orion/Nelson video cassette.

"The Stay Awake" doesn't live up to its title, South African-made horror pic imported to U. S. video stores is a snoozer.

Moniker refers to a Britishism for a slumber party. The young heroines at St. Mary's School for Girls stay up all night in the gym as a stunt to help raise money for the institution. They're terrorized by a demon, calling itself Angel of Darkness, summoned up by a vengeful guy executed in the gas chamber in 1969.

Cast is good-looking but weak in the acting department. (An actor named Ken Marshall is credited, but he's not the U. S. thesp from "Krull" and tv's "Marco Polo".) Picture is so tame that when the requisite shower room scene is presented, one girl is even shown showering with clothing still on.

Monster shows up looking like a green reptile man, mostly limited to closeups emphasizing its orange eyes. Minor special effects are used in the final reel, but disposal of the beastie is unimaginative.

I hated this movie...it was boring, pointless, and stupid. There is no gore, no nudity, nothing fun...just lots of pointless footage of this messed up "demon killer" or something roaming the halls of a girls school in Europe. The girls are a bunch of annoying chicks with big hair and badly dubbed voices. One of them even sounds like she's a she-male her voice sounds so manly. I hated sitting through this film! Yuck! Do not even waste your money on it. I found it for like two dollars at an old flea market up in Northern Michigan. Good thing I didn't spend for than that. Yes, folks, it is that bad!! Avoid this piece of lard at all costs!

You definitely won't want to stay awake for The Stay Awake. While it looks and sounds like a real movie and there's clearly some sort of budget behind this movie (even if it is small), there's not a single interesting character or set piece in the entire film. I just saw this movie last night and I'm already having a hard time remembering anything about it. I believe there was some sort of monster surrounded by fog and glowing eyes (but usually represented via Evil Dead-esque swirly cam), I'm pretty sure there were a bunch of girls staying inside their school for the night, and I believe there's a female gym teacher thrown in there, too. Ask me anything else and I'll be at a loss.

Why anyone felt the need to greenlight this script is a mystery. This one is rough and not even in a fun "so bad, it's good" kind of way. Save your sanity and skip it.

I'm almost sure that this didn't get a theatrical release. It's so bad it's bad; not to laugh about or feel pity for it.

The acting is terrible; it's so bad that even the accent of the main actresses is horrible. The situations are slow and boring. There's little action in the movie but it's so cheesy that you can't tell if it's intended to be funny. The demon is laughable! those red eyes are pathetic. The serial killer ghost suddenly appears and tells things about darkness and it's power.

"The Stay Awake" is a prime example of how low budget horror movies shouldn't be made. Pathetic f/x, horrible acting, terrible direction and worst of all there's no connection between the events.

Please avoid this one at all costs. There's nothing good about it... There aren't even attractive women.

Horrible movie to boot to the trash can! You better rent a direct to video horror flick from the early 2000 rather than watch this. Any Full Moon Pictures movie is way superior.

..... I played the dead nurse at the beginning of this film LOL.

It was a long long time ago but it was fun to be involved in :) I never actually saw the full film until recently, so I don't think I will be recommending it to my kids!

"The acting is terrible; it's so bad that even the accent of the main actresses is horrible. The situations are slow and boring. There's little action in the movie but it's so cheesy that you can't tell if it's intended to be funny. The demon is laughable! those red eyes are pathetic. The serial killer ghost suddenly appears and tells things about darkness and it's power."

I agree with the rest of the reviews too - rubbish!

But it's nice to see yourself on film, even if it's just as a body half buried in the bushes LOL.