Customer Reviews

Happy Hell Night

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Now I'm no expert on the subject(never quite made it to college myself), but what the (happy)Hell is so damn cool about fraternities? And even if there are reasons that make them worthwhile... how far would you be willing to go to get into one? More basic initiations can consist of forced alcohol consumption, induced vomiting, sleep deprivation, road trips, public humiliation, paddling and other forms of bodily harm(which for some of my Amazon friends may just be another Saturday night LOL!), and the increasingly popular "eat-digested-corn-out-of-your-own-excrement" test. Happy Hell Night tells the tale of an initiation that far and away exceeds the list above-- using Satanic rituals to raise a demon into the body of a recently deceased priest-- uh fella's, I think I'll just join the Chess Club instead thanks! No surprises here, as things go horribly wrong for the pledges involved and they are mutillated and partially devoured by the demon; the police show up and lock the abomination away... flash forward twenty-five years in the future and to another batch of eager men willing to do whatever it takes to become the newest members of Phi Delta Kappa. This years initiation seems simple enough, break into the local mental institiution and take a picture of the man/myth that committed the murders all those years ago. Again things go wrong, and the demon is set free once more. Happy Hell Night is a frustrating viewing experience, it sports some excellent moments(the first 5 minutes are absolute horror gold!) but can never really capitalize on them because of odd shifts in direction and feel throughout the film(not to mention the absurd... a demon locked away by the police-- yeah right!). It features a truly creepy antagonist in the scrawny, pale, bald priest with completely black eyes, BUT then the director decides to make him talk after every kill(a'la Freddy Krueger) and all tension is intantly dropped. The film also attempts to balance a serious religious/supernatural tilt with that of a campy blood and boobs slasher-- again, failure. The acting and gore are solid though, and the film does have it's moments; although the finale is complete garbage(and even steals a scene from Halloween shot-for-shot) with all reasoning thrown out the window. Basically, if you love slasher films and are scraping the bottom of the barrel for fresh options... this is more then worth a watch. For all others, Happy Hell Night may leave you feeling like you yourself have been the target of a college initiation hazing gone wrong. Tread carefully(2.5 stars).

I have to disagree with the masses on this one.
Happy Hell Night is basically your usual Slasher fare ,it's from 1990 but still has the 80's mentality and formula that we as slasher fans have come to love and basically expect.
but what sets it apart from other slashers is the killer priest "this is not a spoiler" who freaked me out and scared me SO bad I was petrified for weeks..
and I don't scare easily ~!!
There are some very good kills in this movie.. although the story gets bogged down a bit I still watch this on a cold dark night with all the lights off and every time I watch it the first time I see the Killer Priest "Zachery Malius" I get freaked and creeped out to the max.Not only is he visually disturbing but his voice will send chills down your spine.I find him to be one of if not the scariest character I have seen in any slasher movie.
Plus it has some HOT men in it for us ladies..and for the men pretty naked chicks..I hate it when I hear people say oh it was the same old thing "kids getting drunk having sex and getting butchered"..UM YEAH~! Isnt that what a mindless slasher flick is all about ? Lighten up and enjoy the ride ..
Turn off the lights and watch it ..I DARE YOU

HAPPY HELL NIGHT takes you places you've been before and there's nothing really remarkable about this 1992 release. A top billed Darren McGavin has little do in the movie and that's a shame since McGavin starred in the superior NIGHT STALKER series. Sam Rockwell also has a small role as the younger McGavin who opened up a portal of hell when he was a college student and released a deadly spirit priest. The director tried some Freddy Krueger joke gimmicks but they fall flatter than the proverbial pancake. The movie's plot jumps around so much it never makes coherent sense, leaving HAPPY HELL NIGHT just another entry in the countless teen slasher flicks and not that imaginative of one.

I think I am the only one here who actually likes this film. Yes, it is crap. But, like with so many horror films, it is artful crap. Bad movies are sometimes better than mainstream flicks. I really liked it. If you have the same mindset as me (looking to be entertained, not enthralled) then you may enjoy this.

Being of the adventurous sort, I tend to like to try new things now and then. When Happy Hell Night (1992) appeared on my radar, I thought, "What the heck?" I mean, it does list Darrin McGavin and Sam Rockwell in its' credits, and I usually enjoy those two actors. Well, color me a sucker, because that's what I felt like after spending a grueling 87 minutes on this abominable turkey. It's funny, the blurb on the back of the DVD case touts how this `rarely-seen' film was re-mastered from original vault elements and presented totally uncut and uncensored, like the company that released this to DVD found some kind of lost cinematic gem. Well, after watching it, the reason why this movie was rarely seen became painfully apparent...it stinks...

Written and directed by someone named Brian Owens (his only directing credit), this Yugoslavian/Canadian production suffers from a great many problems. The story is mostly set in a frat house, and centers on some kind of competition between the fraternities with regards to who can pull off the greatest Hell Night (Halloween) prank and win whatever honors that entails. The boys at Phi Delta Kappa have come up with an idea based on an event that happened twenty-five years earlier, involving some kind of black ritual that occurred in a graveyard mausoleum which led to the massacre of like seven people, many of them members of the same fraternity. Incorporating the customary hazing ritual for new members into the prank, the frat decide to send a couple of pledges to the state insane asylum to try and get a photograph of the killer who has been locked away for so many years. The pledges manage to break in, but end up releasing an incomprehensible horror in the form of a killer ghoul and the massacre begins anew, with the fraternity being the focal point. What's the big secret behind the atrocities that happened so many years ago?

Okay, so what did I like about this film? Well, some of the scenes shot on location were pretty good...and that's about it...seriously. I came into this thing expecting so little and I couldn't even get that. The film began with a promising start, but the downhill slide was fast and furious. First, the plot made little sense, and even when I knew what was going on, it still made no sense. There were a few flashbacks in the movie, but the time line was seriously screwy as Sam Rockwell (who was 23 when the film came out) appeared briefly in the film, in the flashbacks, which were supposed to be twenty-five years previous, putting the character's age at about 20. Now Darren McGavin (in his late 60's at the time the film was released) played Rockwell's character in the present day, twenty-five years later. This is about the right amount of suspension of disbelief the makers of this film expect from the audience, a nearly 70 year old man is supposed to represent a 20 year old man after 25 years have past? I didn't even realize the two characters were supposed to be the same guy until the film beat me over the head with the concept.

The killer started out kind of creepy, a small, bald-headed man with lots of white make-up, but any creepiness derived from his appearance was quickly shot as he was given really lame dialogue to speak after each time he murdered someone. The scripter was obviously trying to emulate Freddy Kreuger, and his tongue in cheek quips, but failed miserably. The actual killings themselves were pathetic to say the least, the main weapon being a specialized pick ax climbers use to climb ice. How do you, with surgical accuracy, remove someone's head with a pick ax? And have absolutely no blood whatsoever? And the blood there was looked extremely cheap and was splattered around with no eye for effect, just gratuitous gore. Also, the killer moved around like the laws of physics didn't apply. One minute he'd be in a closet, and then the next scene he is in the basement...it doesn't figure. Something else I found very annoying...characters we met early on would consistently pop up in other scenes already dead. When were they killed? How? There is some nekkidness in the film, but it seems very pointless and apparently present because the director liked looking at nekkid girlies.

The acting ranged from very poor to somewhat capable, but given the garbage script, they all came off looking like morons. And the complete lack of continuity between scenes certainly didn't help, along with one of the more convoluted plots I've seen in a long time. The whole movie seemed like someone filmed a bunch of scenes, and then crammed them together, expecting them to fit. If you can comprehend more than ten minutes of this movie at a time, I'd be surprised. The influences on the director were very obvious, as he completely copied scenes from much better movies, including Halloween (see the scene where the killer gets knocked out a 2nd floor window with a spear gun, seems dead, and then disappears shortly afterwards...Dr. Loomis is rolling over in his grave), Friday the 13th, Phantasm, and Nightmare on Elm Street, to name a few. I am sure if you backed the director in a corner, he'd claim this thievery to be homage, but I just call it complete laziness and lack of originality.

I don't normally like to trash a movie as much as I did here (okay, maybe a little), but when it offers so little (remember, my expectations were low to begin with) and wastes my time in the manner this film did, I feel I have no choice. Anchor Bay does provide a nice looking wide screen anamorphic print, along with an original theatrical trailer for the film, but that's it...if you feel you have to see this film, get it used...I'll sell you my copy.

Cookieman108

This film can't really compete with some of the best slashers, but it's still a pretty good film. The kills don't display over the top gore, but they're still pretty bloody and the body count is pretty good. The maniac is sort of creepy and the film moves at a fairly fast pace. The film tries to be a little comedic with the killers idiotic one liners after each kill. I thought this was kind of stupid and eliminating this could've improved the film, but it's still recommended if you're a big slasher film fan.

As one reviewer has pointed out; this starts off looking promising, then takes a quick downslide into movie hell. There were some good performances for what they had. The cinemaphotography is good and the special effects are very good. What a damn shame to waste good talent with no story (find it if you think I am kidding) and inept directing. This was directed, and I believe written, by Brian Owens (since this is his only directing credit, it could be a pseudonym). This film started off okay and appeared to be trying to develop a plot. The film then takes a turn and seriously appears as though they were making it up as they were shooting. Of note in this film is the appearance of Darren McGavin in about 5 or 6 scenes (although he does get top billing in the credits) and an early appearance in 3 scenes by Jorja Fox from the TV show CSI. Jorja Fox is not the name she uses in this film (she has acted under other names) and I do not know what name she uses in this film since her character is not named. Other than those asides I can find nothing to recommend this movie- Bob

Hello,
I don't agree with critics. I first saw this movie when I was a kid at about 14 or 15.Them guys sneeking in the bottom of that assylum and unleashing that preist was terrifying for me. That Priest was so scary to me then and now. Yes it was another slasher movie, but the priest going around with that pickax was so terrfying. Great movie, glad I finally found the DVD on it. I was so scared after watching this movie, I had nitemares for a couple of weeks.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't expect a masterpiece. But, it is heavy in atmosphere and creepiness. The time line is a little off kilter. People say one thing, but do another type stuff. Or should be in one place going to another, but whet seems like several hours later, they are still in the original place. Some of the editing is a little goofy too, like when Liz runs and screams down a hall, the same scene is used for a different killing.

But, it is the atmosphere and the priest that make the movie. He is creepy as all get out. In the dorm rooms, there are manequins....bald like the priest. And when the power goes out, the manequins and the priest and mixed up.

Don't expect top notch acting, but you will get memorable scenes that stick in your mind because they are so creepy!

The year was about 2004 my mom and i were at the mall i told her to buy hell night which stars linda blair so i go out to the car and wait about 30 minutes later she returns with happy hell night and the best of nwa florida wrestling like what the hell is this i had the mind to slap her, but anyway im glad she slipped up and brought it. Happy hell night is a pretty good film for true horror fans of the 80's and early 90's the killer is cool, the mood is right, you get a feel for the characters. You know what im not a good reviewer just buy the movie it's not bad im actually happy to own it. I wouldn't waste my time typing this if i didn't feel it was worth watching. Don't listen to the other critics, they're probally not true horror fans because if they were they would enjoy this film.