IMDb RATING
5.1/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
A family moves to a suburban town only to be coerced into joining a suspicious club.A family moves to a suburban town only to be coerced into joining a suspicious club.A family moves to a suburban town only to be coerced into joining a suspicious club.
- Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 1 nomination total
Patty McCormack
- Mary Peterson
- (as Patricia McCormack)
Anne Marie McEvoy
- Janie
- (as Annemarie McEvoy)
Gino De Mauro
- Jimmy
- (as Gino DeMauro)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Robert Urich was a fine actor, and he makes this TV movie believable. I remember watching this film when I was 15, and when seeing it a second time my opinion stays the same. People lose who they were when enter this exclusive club, in a computer rich Californian town. Urich try's to figure out what is wrong with his family, and I love the Halloween space suit idea, brilliant. This film is about the battle of one's sprit. TV quality, that exceeds, the big budget, Gangs of New York. I wonder if Robert Urich was the compassionate man he portrayed in many of his movie? I hope so! 6 or 7 out of 10.
Ignore negative comments on this film: from the very start when an unsuspecting motorist runs over Lucci and she nukes him, you know who the bad guys are! An interesting investigation of the evil that lurks amid materialist splendor: don't you WANT the biggest, best, most expensive of everything??? You can HAVE it...for a price!! (Note:SCI-FI special-effects highlight the ending...)
When the scientist and family man Matt Winslow (Robert Urich) finally accepts the invitation to work the Micro-Digitech Corporation in a space suit project, he moves with his beloved wife Patricia (Joanna Cassidy) and their son Robbie (Barret Oliver) and daughter Chrissy (Soleil Moon Frye) to a huge modern house in the corporation compound. They meet their friend Tom Peterson (Joe Regalbuto) and his family completely adapted to the new lifestyle, and Tom invites the Winslow family to join the Steaming Springs Country Club. Tom tries to seduce Matt telling him that every member of the club has a meteoric professional ascension in Micro-Digitech, but Matt is not tempted with the offer. Later he is introduced to the director of the club, Jessica Jones (Susan Lucci) that befriends Patricia and convinces her to join the club with her children. Matt feels the changing in the behavior of his family and decides to investigate the club, finding an evil secret about Jessica and the members.
In the 80's, when I saw "Invitation to Hell", I liked this movie that partially recalls "The Stepford Wives", with people changing the behavior in a suburban compound. I have just seen it today, and I found a great metaphoric message against the big corporations, when people literally sell their souls to the devil to climb positions and earn higher salaries. I am not sure whether the author intended to give this interpretation to the story, but I believe it fits perfectly. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Convite Para o Inferno" ("Invitation to Hell")
Note: On 25 May 2024, I saw this film again.
In the 80's, when I saw "Invitation to Hell", I liked this movie that partially recalls "The Stepford Wives", with people changing the behavior in a suburban compound. I have just seen it today, and I found a great metaphoric message against the big corporations, when people literally sell their souls to the devil to climb positions and earn higher salaries. I am not sure whether the author intended to give this interpretation to the story, but I believe it fits perfectly. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Convite Para o Inferno" ("Invitation to Hell")
Note: On 25 May 2024, I saw this film again.
A man (Robert Urich) get a promotion and moves his family to an isolated community. Here there are a different way of doing things, and a local country club dominates the lives of the citizens... with more going on than meets the eye.
Although this film is entertaining to a point, its made-for-TV origins limit the fun Craven could have had with sex and blood... this film is quite tame, and completely bizarre. Don't ask too many questions about how the plot works, or you'll go crazy.
Mike Mayo nails it on the head when he says, "A capable cast can't compete with goofy plot revelations", and laments that the film "lacks the subversive excesses of his early films". It's true. Maybe this is a swipe at exclusive clubs or yuppies, but it's just toothless. And the biggest plot revelation is revealed in the first minute of the film...
Michael Berryman has a small cameo, and Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster) has some memorable lines and moments, including one with a bunny. If you're waiting for a creepy scene, the closest you come is during a sleepover. And Susan Lucci? The DVD box calls her a "sexy director"... I guess "sexy" meant something else in 1984.
This film could be ranked as Wes Craven's oddest film, and makes a good drinking picture for you and some friends. I suspect most people have never heard of it, and I doubt that Craven really tries to get people to notice.
Although this film is entertaining to a point, its made-for-TV origins limit the fun Craven could have had with sex and blood... this film is quite tame, and completely bizarre. Don't ask too many questions about how the plot works, or you'll go crazy.
Mike Mayo nails it on the head when he says, "A capable cast can't compete with goofy plot revelations", and laments that the film "lacks the subversive excesses of his early films". It's true. Maybe this is a swipe at exclusive clubs or yuppies, but it's just toothless. And the biggest plot revelation is revealed in the first minute of the film...
Michael Berryman has a small cameo, and Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster) has some memorable lines and moments, including one with a bunny. If you're waiting for a creepy scene, the closest you come is during a sleepover. And Susan Lucci? The DVD box calls her a "sexy director"... I guess "sexy" meant something else in 1984.
This film could be ranked as Wes Craven's oddest film, and makes a good drinking picture for you and some friends. I suspect most people have never heard of it, and I doubt that Craven really tries to get people to notice.
Better than the typical made-for-TV movie, INVITATION TO HELL is blessed with excellent casting (Urich, Lucci, Cassidy, McCarthy, pre-Murphy Brown Joe Regalbuto, Soleil Moon-Frye) and a high concept update to the familiar Faustian plot. Urich is likable as always and Lucci is particularly fetching and devilishly over the top in the mother of all femme fatale roles. Definitely a product of the 80s from Lucci's occasionally too big hair to the synth-heavy soundtrack to the pre-internet boxy computers. Kind of a hybrid version of STEPFORD WIVES and THEY LIVE, the movie commits early to its apocalyptic Miltonesque vision and horror fans will likely not have many complaints until the soppy, maudlin denouement. 7/10
Did you know
- TriviaMichael Berryman and Nicholas Worth, both employees of the film's villainous location of Steaming Springs, worked with director Wes Craven before. Berryman became iconic in Craven's La colline a des yeux (1977) (and later, the sequel La colline a des yeux n° 2 (1984)) and Worth played a henchman transformed into a monster in La Créature du marais (1982). Billy Beck, who played a mover, also appeared in Craven's L'Été de la peur (1978) as the sheriff.
- GoofsA pull wire is visible when Matt Winslow shoots Tom Peterson with a laser beam, throwing him back.
- Quotes
Matt Winslow: I thought I heard someone crying... for help.
Jessica Jones: It was probably someone crying out in ecstasy. Pleasure can make you feel that good, you know?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Bad Movie Night Podcast: Invitation to Hell (1984) (2020)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Invitation en enfer
- Filming locations
- 5612 Maricopa Drive, Simi Valley, California, USA(Winslow Home)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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