Customer Reviews

Night Of Death!

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Just a quick review to note that NIGHT OF DEATH! was an enjoyable movie, definitely worth picking up for fans of Jean Rollin, Paul Bartel and Synapse Films. A well done, if barebones, release (I understand, though -- no supplements were really available for Synapse). It's in French with English subs and the transfer looks nice. Don did a superlative job as usual!

I'm glad I took a chance and bought this! I had time to finally grab this from my collection and I watched it late last night. After watching it, I had a smile on my face because this was a horror film I knew I'd gladly tell someone to watch! I loved everything about 'Night of Death' and didn't consider it to be slow in any way; in parts of the film that most would consider slow, are very entertaining to me. Example : I loved the old gothic, eerie houses/mansions and forest that were filmed! Also, the dialog from each character is odd and humorous. This is one of those Horror films that plays high on the 'creep-factor' for me! The special effects, in my opinion, are great! This is a cannibal flick but its not 'over-the-top' with gore like most are. The gore that is shown did make my face twitch a little haha. All-in-all, it has just enough gore and bloody moments that are placed here and there to satisfy any 'gorehound'. The ending is freaken AWESOME!!! You'll just have to see for yourself! If you like the idea of watching creepy, old people trying to stay healthy, young, and not dying simply because of eating people, than this is your kind of horror! Believe me, these are the creepiest old people I've ever seen on film, not to put down french folk haha. I suggest this Horror flick for fans of such horror titles as : 'Rest in Pieces', 'Ravenous', and 'Rabid Grannies'. Again, glad I gave this old French Horror my time!

"Night of Death!" is every bit as inadequate as said. There is nothing in the Night of Death; in fact, there is no real "Night of Death".

A dull, young nurse, Martine, gets a job working at a French house for old residents in the countryside. Of course, something is very wrong with this situation.

The inmates of the old convalescent home are given free run of the place, and the domineering director, Miss Helene, obviously has boundaries for anyone new. An eccentric group of characters populate the nursing home, including a pervert, a revolutionary, the necessary "old ladies", and a coarse and irritating deformed man who is extremely cruel and unpleasant, who enjoys his time of sleeping in the boiler room.

The acting is wretched. The dialogue is deficient, oh, and it's French dialogue (yawn). The plot is insufferable and poorly executed. The film is horribly edited and intolerably SLOW; characters appear and disappear randomly. Events occur out of sequence, the cinematography is rather simpleminded and dull, typical of the French. The gore in the film is cheap, petty and trivial.

There is about 10 minutes worth of material here stretched out in an unnecessary, tiresome, and unsuspenseful manner typical of 70's French "horror" Films.

"Night of Death!" is not frighting at all, it is very predictable, and above all, very badly paced.

La Nuit de la Mort (Raphael Delpard, 1980)

Why is it that I always seem to get crushes on actresses who only ever made a few obscure films? My most recent is Isabelle Goguey, a delicious dish who made only four films, three in 1980 and one in 1985. Paradigma, the '85 offering, is probably the best known, having been directed by Polish enfant terrible Krzysztof Zanussi, but try hunting that down in America these days. (Trust me, I have.) I was able to grab a copy of La Nuit de la Mort, however, one of the two Goguey movies in which she's actually the lead. And if jaw-dropping redheads are reason enough for you to watch a film, then by all means do whatever you have to do to get your hands on this one. If, on the other hand, you're looking for decent acting, originality, a good script, or solid direction, then you should consider going elsewhere.

Dalpard, formerly a softcore director, weaves a couple of different seventies stalwarts into this tale of Martine (Goguey), who takes a job in a creepy nursing home. The nurse who's already working there, Nicole (Jefferson in Paris' Charlotte de Turckheim), seems a bit on the odd side, but nothing compared to the witch who runs the place, Helene (Delphine's Betty Beckers in her penultimate screen role; she passed away in 1982). Not long after Martine's arrival, Nicole vanishes, at least as far as Martine is concerned; we know different, since Delpard is all too willing to give us scenes of Nicole being butchered and eaten by the inhabitants of the nursing home, who seem to believe that eating human flesh will give them immortality. Martine has to figure out what's going on 'round there before she, too, ends up as dinner.

The obvious influences here are Brooks Stanwood's classic novel The Glow (recently turned into a Lifetime Original Movie starring Dean Cain) and Roberta Findlay's... umm, un-classic... gore film Shriek of the Mutilated. I'd imagine anyone who sat down to combine those two things (released in 1977 and 1976, respectively, so the timing is perfect) would come up with a script close to this. Delpard, who co-wrote the script with Richard Joffo (who never wrote anything else, and in fact has no other credits on IMDB aside from writing and appearing in this film), never fails to make the conventional choice when one pops up, leaving us with a predictable, unscary thriller that you can ignore unless you think Isabelle Goguey is really that hot. (She is.) * ½

I wanted to see how French horror was in the 1980's so I decided to give Raphael Delpard's "NIGHT OF DEATH" a try. The movie isn't going to be for everyone, with its low budget and lackluster plotting; however, the movie can be quite amusing at times. Movies such as "Dumplings" present cannibalism as a means to an end and this time around, it presents that concept with a backdrop of a nursing home for the aged.

Martine (Isabelle Goguey) is a young unemployed nurse who had just landed a new job because of her boyfriend's recommendation at a nursing home called Deadlock house. Martine is reluctantly welcomed by the home's director Helene (Betty Beckers) and the handy man, Flaviens. Nicole (Charlotte De Turckheim) is the existing nurse who slowly develops a rapport with Martine but for reasons unknown, Nicole disappears that very same evening as Helene states that Nicole's employment has been terminated. Nicole is in fact been eaten (this happens within 20 minutes in the film) by the home's inhabitants and the same is being planned for Martine in two months time...

The direction resembles an old-fashioned atmosphere that exudes the feel of a television show; it results with the film becoming idiosyncratic and a little funny. I know having senior citizens be the main antagonists feel disturbing (they do look harmless) but the film feels very quirky and weird. I guess the director didn't mean the film to be scary or unnerving as the camera shots themselves look rather cheesy as intended. I'm not sure if this was meant as a comedy or some sort of homage to old-fashioned TV series, but I felt a slight disconnect to the film's atmosphere and proceedings.

The film's screenplay also lacks depth as with these many missing nurses and the police are nowhere to be seen, I found this rather far-fetched. The plot twists are rather predictable including the subplot of a serial killer who slashes his victims through the throat. For a horror-comedy, the viewer would hear no jokes or intentional attempts at humor. The antics of the characters do seem rather funny; there's Mr. Pascal who likes to cuddle with Martine, there's Jules who predicts a revolution with old people, there's another who likes using a mirror to take a peek underneath Martine's skirt, a trickster who likes playing practical jokes and insists on using a wheelchair even though he is perfectly mobile; they all appear to be harmless folks who are just trying to enjoy the remaining years of their lives. The love-sick handy man does present a bizarre creepiness about him. Martine is so unlike Nicole, she treats the elderly with respect and kindness; whereas Nicole is not shy at all in showing her contempt. Her kindness wins most of them except for Helene who has a single-minded purpose. They have the immoral lust for survival and everlasting life.

The film does present an edge with the premise of cannibal senior citizens and director Delpard uses prosthetics and red ink to simulate the late `dinner buffet'. The effects are decent for the most part but some looked very fake and rather silly; it was obvious that the dead body was a fake. Delpard also manages to balance the quirky and sometimes silly acting by slipping in scenes of nudity. Goguey and Turckheim looked very nice in their birthday suits.

As silly and unimaginative the plotting in the film is, I just couldn't help smiling at times. This is a film that wouldn't do well if one expects a taut, tight mystery thriller; it telegraphs its twists and turns from a mile away. The characters in the film do present a charming feeling of outrageous endearment that makes its overall weirdness and creepiness a little more effective. The lead actress is so pretty and sexy that she immediately earns sympathy. "Night of Death" isn't for everyone. The film portrays cannibalism as a quirky, silly plot device rather than a disturbing one. But the direction knew its limits and may please the viewer who is looking for exactly this type of movie.

Rent it [2 Stars= mediocre]

One of those rare hidden gems! Fans of eerie horror movies take note. This one was really surprising! I was just expecting an average old horror flick but it ended up being a VERY good and creepy horror movie. It has lots of eerie atmosphere, a strange soundtrack with ghostly female vocals, many haunting shots and the twisted plot easily maintains one's interest the entire movie. The sense of creeping dread is very effective and it all builds up nicely to a thrilling climax culminating in a truly terrifying final shot (despite what some reviewers say I don't think most people will see it coming). The only thing that the movie needed was more stylistic direction. Delpard is certainly a competent director and is to be commended for what he's done here, but one can only imagine what a Master like Mario Bava could have accomplished with the cinematography. That being said 'Night of Death' is a highly entertaining movie that deserves more attention. The tone is dark and foreboding throughout, with a decent pace that never bores. The old people are believably insane with their own twisted world views and unpredictable actions and are always fun to watch. There are several scenes that will certainly haunt viewers long after the movie is over and there are even occasional brief moments of shocking gore. This movie reminded me of several memorable movies: Horror Hospital, The Shinning, and The Sentinel. I highly recommend this movie to those who love eerie old horror movies dripping with atmosphere and dread. A VERY pleasant surprise!

NIGHT OF DEATH came completely under the radar for me. In my opinion its highly underrated. Its gory, funny and has amazing atmosphere that echoes Jean Rollin. The dvd release from synpase looks beatiful considering the rarity of this film. If you like films like this, dont fret at a blind buy, get it!