Hell Night
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Movie Reviews of Hell Night
Movie Review: Lets go back into the haunted house about 67 times....
Summary: 4 Stars
"Hell Night" is an irresistible guilty pleasure from the early 80s slasher cycle, and one of the handful that actually still holds up (for instance, "Friday the 13th," "Prom Night" and "Terror Train" now seem about as suspenseful as "My Fair Lady").
Though the story is lame--pledges spending the night in a haunted mansion--the execution (sorry) is smart: "blood-dripped" font in the opening credits, trap doors, secret passageways, a hedge maze, catacombs under the house, a convincing monster, appealing actors, a really creepy "legend" that sets the story in motion, and even a little surprise twist regarding the antagonist. I love that our heroine Linda Blair is in Victorian garb (complete with heaving bosom), being chased around the old Victorian mansion. Nice touch. Ditto the scene of the fraternity arriving with torches, a la the "Frankenstein" villagers (in fact, the monster even looks like a leaner version of DeNiro's take on Shelly's creature).
I was struck, on my first viewing in almost 20 years, by how instense this movie gets. The last 20 minutes are quite nerve-wracking. I remembered the "rising carpet" scene vividly from the original release, and it still gives me chills (you should definitely let smart aleck little kids watch this--it will scare the hell out of them).
I'm also struck by how many shockingly bad decisions people in this movie make--like going BACK in the house 2 and 3 times, fully aware of what is waiting inside. It gets a little ridiculous after a while, though if you are watching with a group it makes for some lively discourse (Of course if they just hid outside in a bush until dawn, like you or I would do, there would be no movie).
There is a fun, light-hearted commentary included on the DVD. Always a pleasure to listen to funny anecdotes and about what a gentleman the guy playing the monster was, while watching people get their heads cut off.
You need this DVD.
Movie Review: Remember HELL NIGHT?
Summary: 4 Stars
From Irwin Yablans, the man behind a certain movie titled HALLOWEEN comes HELL NIGHT. Released in 1981, the film was riding the wave of the popular teen slasher pics so big throughout the 1980s. What many of those films lacked, and HELL NIGHT possessed was a truly scary story. The young coeds in this picture are Academy Award nominee Linda Blair, cute Peter Barton and the frequently lensed Vincent Van Patten. Thrown together in a creepy mansion for intiation, suddenly folks start dropping off like flies. You won't find a great deal of gore in this picture. The director is so great at his craft, its not necessary. What is present is just enough to be effective. The screenwriter and the director work hard at creating an atmosphere that helps support the plot. Overall, they are quite accomplished in this. Of course there are the "usual suspect" moments of dropping the keys, the car not starting and the ever so annoying practice of GOING BACK IN THE HOUSE, but DiSimeone's deft direction makes it all effective. Both the "creepy house" theme and the "killer on the loose" are well balanced elements in this film. This presentation on DVD is superb! The DVD package graphics are lifted from the memorable original film one-sheet, which is replicated fully inside. (If no one remembered what HAPPENED in the movie, this graphic of Linda Blair clutching on to the gate is hard to forget!) The creative menu screen is a surprise and the chapters are carefully selected and succint. The widescreen presentation is impeccable and the sound track has a dimensional feel even in mono. The commentary track with Blair, DiSimeone and Yablans is quite informative, if not always enlightening. Watching HELL NIGHT was remembering that not all films had to be gory like FRIDAY THE 13th to be eerily effective. As the 80s progressed, horror filmmakers lost sight of this. This is definitely a keeper. Just enought fright for a fun Friday night!Movie Review: Get The Hell Out Of My House!
Summary: 4 Stars
"Hell Night" stars adorable, vivacious Linda Blair of "Exorcist" fame. She must spend the night in the abandoned, decrepit Garth manor along with three other sorority and fraternity pledges. Members of Sigma Phi Rho have rigged the house to emit spooky sounds and images. Unknown to them all, Garth Manor is not as abandoned as it appears. A deranged mongoloid remains and is determined to kill all intruders using a number of gruesome weapons. Who will survive this night of hell?
This slasher flick from the eighties is great to watch on Halloween or on any stormy night. In fact, the producer, Irwin Yablans, who brought us "Halloween" also co-produced this fright fest. The gothic Garth manor, huge and creepy, is the perfect setting for murder and mayhem. It is surrounded by a spiked fence with gates that are locked, trapping the pledges within. The chase scenes within the maze of hedges are accentuated by suspenseful music; they reminded me of Elke Sommer being pursued in Mario Bava's "Baron Blood."
Good performances are given by all, especially Blair. Vincent Van Patten, however, grew annoying as the wise cracking surfer dude. I was disappointed that the film didn't have a higher body count since Anchor Bay described it as " . . . an `80s body-count classic." The ending was shocking and violent. The last still frame of a stunned Blair slowly walking away from the manor was memorable.
"Hell Night" is worth seeking out if you enjoy good slasher fare such as "Halloween," "The Last House on Sorority Row," "Prom Night," and "Terror Train." Watching this movie will make you think twice about trespassing on someone else's property at night.
Movie Review: Great as a kid, great as an adult
Summary: 4 Stars
Love, Love, Love this movie. It is the archetypal scary house movie and yes, the characters are stereotypes and look more like they're hitting 40 than college kids, it is a definite must for any old school horror fans. Fortunately, there is no gratuituous T & A, no stupid sex scenes (except one scene which feels like an eternity as the two idiot characters roll around on a bed and do nothing but giggle for like 5 minutes) and just a lot of good,creepy scares that will give you chills. As one reviewer mentioned, this isn't a particularly realistic movie, as the characters act in typical horror movie fashion (going back into the house several times, investigating dark catacombs after they know there's a psycho on the loose, acting pretty calmly after finding out several of their friends are dead, etc.) but the plot twist in this movie could be lost on you as it is somewhat unclear who the killer is. There is a quick revelation by Linda Blair but it is garbled and confused by the monster's banging on the door that it could get missed. SPOILER: so, if you're somewhat confused by the ending, there were actually two "monsters" living in the house (presumably Andrew and Raymond) as we know that only 3 out of 5 bodies were recovered at Garth Manor after the murders. But it is still somewhat unclear to me because we know the guy Seth kills is Raymond, but the monster who throws Jeff out the window and the one that Marty impales on the roof of her car do not look the same at all which leads to me to think that there were actually three psychos in the house? Not sure. But it's those unanswered questions that will leave you intrigued and wanting to see this one again.Movie Review: Good suspense, paper thin characters
Summary: 4 Stars
Fraternity / sorority initiates have to spend the night in a spooky old mansion where some murders took place years ago; nuff said. This movie has oodles of atmosphere. Excellent use is made of the scary old candle lit house. The music is excellent as well, reminding me a lot of Friday the 13th music except without the ki-ki-ki. There are endless scenes of kids slowly walking down dim corridors, anticipating danger around every corner. This thing is a masterpiece of suspense.
On the minus side, the characters are all paper thin cliches. There's no character development at all, heck, there's very little dialog considering how much time is spent silently walking down dim corridors. You've got the surfer dude, the slut, the good girl and the rich, but nice boy. I just summed up the entire depth and breadth of all the characters in a single sentence. They're a fairly likable bunch, but it's certainly not like you'll feel any emotional attachment to any of these folks.
We don't even get any T&A in this one - just one girl in her underwear. She and the surfer dude make out for the first half of the movie.
Overall, I'd recommend it just because of the suspense, but too bad we didn't get better characters. It's a fairly classic slice of '80s slasher cheese.