26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
entertaining slasher film, April 20, 2006
This review is from: Hell Night (DVD)
Yet another slasher film, but a good one.
Well, they're ALL good. But this is even better than most, mainly because Linda Blair and Peter Barton lend depth and sympathy to their characters despite some hokey dialogue.
It's initiation time on fraternity/sorority row. Four pledges must prove themselves worthy by spending the night at Garth Mansion, a huge abandoned estate. Years ago, Daddy Garth killed his wife and three mutant kids. The fourth mutant kid was never found. Legend has it he still stalks the mansion ...
Here's something odd. There are only four pledges: two guys (Barton and Van Patten) and two gals (Blair and Goodwin). Since when do fraternities and sororities hold joint initiations? And they are bid farewell on their initiation by a HUGE party. This implies a great many brothers and sisters. Yet at the rate of two pledges per year, the fraternity and sorority would each be down to eight members each within four years.
I guess director de Simone simply wanted lots of people at the party, but only two couples at Garth Mansion. I guess it's spookier (and cheaper) with just four pledges, never mind making sense.
Okay, I don't mind.
What's important is that the four kids are locked behind the tall iron gates of Garth Mansion, three upperclassman sneak in to scare them ... and the body count mounts!
The script and lead performances are a bit better than standard slasher fare. Barton portrays a sensitive rich boy. Blair is the poor girl with a heart of gold. She's also virginal, at first keeping Barton to his own bed, later cuddling and sleeping with him ... but just sleeping. Both keep their clothes on. Meanwhile, Van Patten and Goodwin fornicate like rabbits in the next room.
Guess which couple is killed first? And guess who survives the night?
Blair and Barton perform well, but Van Patten and Goodwin also add some dimension to their clich?d supporting roles: the [...] cutup and the sleazy party girl. Brophy, Neumann, and Sturtevant play the jerky upperclassman who sneak in to scare the pledges. They also provide much needed slasher-fodder. I liked Jenny Neumann in Stage Fright (aka Nightmares, Australian 1980), but she's under-utilized here.
Hell Night strikes tried-and-true horror psycho notes like a well-tuned instrument. One girl is pulled screaming down into a hole (although my favorite hole-dragging is in The Unseen, 1980). The psycho seems indestructible. They shoot him, but he keeps on going ...
But there are also some surprises, which is no small feat in this tradition-bound subgenre.
Cinematography and lighting are used to good effect. Shapes emerge from the dark, slowly, indistinct. Creeping up behind our unsuspecting heroes. Makeup is also simple but noteworthy. When we finally see him, the mutant resembles Nosferatu's Max Schreck.
The final scenes are visceral, even brutally poetic. 1981 was a good year for horror psychos, and Hell Night is prime vintage.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Horror at it's best !, September 5, 2002
This review is from: Hell Night (DVD)
This movie should be up there with the likes of "Halloween" as a classic of the genre. Unlike most of the slasher flicks of the eighties, "Hell Night" is not full of gruesome special effects and blatant nudity. Instead the movie relies on suspense, and it does this very well.
Let's face it, the story is not the most original, 4 sorority pledges have to spend 1 night in "Garth Manor" to gain entry to their chosen fraternities. Some of their peers set out to make it a night full of frights, but as is turns out, they needn't have bothered....Garth Manor is truly haunted. Heard it all before ? So have I, but I don't think I have ever seen the subject matter handled so well.
As awful as the deaths are, there is very little blood involved, and I don't think I saw one fake intestine ! The chills however, are plentiful. The setting, a dark, gothic mansion, candlelit and isolated is perfect. The mood is goosebump enticing. The music is eerie and the performances are all good. Of course, Linda Blair shines, as always. Ms Blair plays the nice quiet girl wondering what the hell she is doing in this situation, who turns out to be the only one with the guts to grapple with the monster 1 on 1.
If only more horror movies had attempted to do what Hell Night did. Pick your actors for acting ability rather than willingness to show flesh, and spend some budget on script development and filming techniques rather than bucketloads of blood and gore.
I have been a fan of this film for years and when I bought the DVD was amazed at the difference in picture quality. I actually saw things that I had never noticed on my VHS copy. The DVD also includes a theatrical trailer and amusing and informative commentary with movies makers and Linda Blair also. It also has some background info and filmographies of cast and crew.
I cannot speak highly enough of this movie. I recommend it thoroughly to anyone who enjoys a scary flick, as well as Linda Blair fans. I never tire of watching this brilliant effort !
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