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93 comments in total

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12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
"Hell Night" is not quite your usual "slasher" picture., 30 July 2004

Author: Scott LeBrun from Winnipeg, Canada

Two fraternity pledges (Peter Barton, Vincent Van Patten) and two sorority pledges (Linda Blair, Suki Goodwin) are obliged, as part of their initiation, to spend one night in Garth Manor, where a madman once murdered his family and then killed himself. However, the legend also states that one member of that family was never found...

Not-bad horror thriller, directed by Tom De Simone, a man who started out in adult films and branched out into slightly more mainstream, yet still exploitative pictures ("The Concrete Jungle", "Reform School Girls", "Angel III: The Final Chapter"). He puts the accent in "Hell Night" on generating some genuine scares and suspense, and actually does a good job. A couple of dopey young dolts die, but with less graphic gore than usual. Of course, I'd be willing to bet that this film had a low, low budget, especially for effects, so obviously creating scares instead of just shocking the audience would have had to take priority. The makeup on the deformed killer is pretty good. Linda Blair has great appeal as a "scream queen".

All the same, I can understand why some people would think that "Hell Night" is boring. It's not as taut a picture as it could and should have been; better pacing would have helped. Also becomes completely absurd at one point where Van Patten is in a police station and is able to find some handy weapons and ammunition and abscond with a loaded rifle. Then again, these types of pictures weren't always known for their firm grip on reality.

As cheesy, low-budget 1980's horror B-pictures go, I think that it was fairly entertaining.

7/10

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Atmospheric Blend of Two Horror Sub-Genres., 28 August 2006

Author: youshotandywarhol from Oregon

"Hell Night" is a fun little 1981 horror film from the producer of "Halloween". The plot is as follows - Twelve years ago, a man savagely murdered his wife and three of their deformed and disabled children, leaving only one son as a survivor, then hanging himself in his family mansion. Now, twelve years after the horrible murders, four college pledges for the Alpha Sigma Ro fraternity/sorority are forced to spend the night in Garth manor for their initiation. All seems to be going well, and the upperclassmen play a few tricks on the newcomers to try and scare them. But the jokes become horrifyingly real when the pranksters and the pledges begin to die. Could it be possible that the fourth son of the Garth family is still lurking somewhere on the grounds?

I'd been wanting to see this for quite some time now, and I finally got my hands on the DVD and I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Is it clichéd? Sure it is, very much so, actually. The plot (while it isn't as original as it could be) is well paced and entertaining all the way. It blends both the slasher and haunted house horror sub-genres, and it does it with style. Sure, the horror clichés are present, but these clichés don't take the film down. The mansion was large, old, and creepy inside, adding to the classic haunted-house horror film feeling. Not to mention the pledges are dressed in period costumes reflecting the olden days. The acting was decent, not perfect but good enough. Linda Blair of "The Exorcist" is our main leading heroine, and her innocent character of Marti is likable. Peter Barton plays Jeff, and Vincent Van Patten plays the tough surfer dude along with Suki Goodwin as the party girl. All of the actors performed well for the most part, no real complaints there.

There are some memorable scenes in the film, especially the rug scene and the chase in the underground tunnels with Marti and Jeff and the old deformed psychopath. Speaking of the villain, he was actually rather creepy and the makeup effects were decent, although we don't really get to see his face until the finale. There are some creative murder scenes that have surprisingly good special effects considering the time the film was made. But the film's overall atmosphere was the best part if you asked me. It kind of reminded me of a Scooby Doo episode with it's style and story, but much more violent than anything you'd ever see on a cartoon show.

Overall, "Hell Night" is one of the most fun '80s horror films out there. The whole film has a fun, festive tone, and there are some pretty spooky scenes and the atmosphere was perfect in a classic, haunted-house horror kind of way. The atmosphere is killer (literally), there are some scary murders, and Linda Blair is the leading lady! What more can you ask for? Definitely check it out if you are a fan of the genre. 9/10.

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Surprisingly good with a great ending, 11 September 2003

Author: rm.bentley from Maidenhead, England

Overlooked this one when it was released but after seeing the DVD on sale and reading some positive comments on this site decided to part with my cash. Was I disappointed? No. Once you get past the cheesy opening with its gloriously B-movie style credits it turns into one of the more interesting stalk and slash films of the 80's. The set up is simple - 4 frat pledges have to spend the night in a mansion with a sinister past and a killer on the loose... who will survive? Do we care? Well yes, these kids are surprisingly likeable and, by cleverly putting them in pre-20th Century fancy dress in a candle lit house, removes them from the contemporary teen horror genre. The killings are pretty conventional – decapitation etc.– but the film then builds up to a tense and exciting final 30 minutes with a few surprises and a brilliantly staged ending. I'm probably over-praising this film somewhat but my expectations were low and my rewards were a decent 6.5/10!

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Give it a chance, 9 July 2000
Author: Hile_Troy (fakeshemp@juno.com) from Sandy, OR

I love slasher films and this is one of my favorites....it seems one of the biggest complaints about 'Hell Night' is the lack of blood. Am I the only one here who remembers two other horror classics that have little bloodshed....'Halloween' and 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' and before you disagree....watch them again. And notice that all the times that Leatherface smacks heads with the hammer and carves bodies with his chainsaw- very little blood hits the ground.....even 'Prom Night' shows black screen when someone is getting hacked up with an axe... And not all slasher films have to have the 'guess who the killer is' theme....in 'Halloween' we knew it was Michael Meyers and 'Chain Saw Massacre' we knew it was Leatherface and his family.... Back to 'Hell Night'...I thought everybody gave really good performances throughout...Linda Blair and Vincet Van Patten standout the most. I enjoyed the background story about the house's history...the house itself was an excellent setting. Character interaction was interesting...it didn't seem like pointless time filler. The killers were alot more scary than most of the slasher villains...plus the fact that they didn't get a lot of screen time which added to the suspense. A very under-rated slasher film. 'Hell Night' and almost any slasher film post 1979 are called 'Halloween' rip-offs...but, remember 'Black Christmas' came out years before 'Halloween'

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
not bad for a wannabe, 27 November 2002

Author: Dennis G. Barnes (Zod-2) from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

At first glance it seems that Hell Night is just cashing in on the success of proven box office draws, that being, Linda Blair's name from the Exorcist and the slasher genre which was doing so well at the time that Hell Night was made. However for a "wannabe" film Hell Night is very well done. The premise of the film is set up nicely and there is enough suspense and cool death scenes to make the film enjoyable. The problem is that after seeing the movie and witnessing the obvious talent behind the camera you realize that Hell Night could have been so much more then it is.

Hell Night has several good things going for it, a creepy mansion, creepy tunnels beneath the house and an eerie killer. All three are under used. The mansion and tunnels are rarely seen. The people in the house don't go exploring and when we finally get to see the tunnels, which are mentioned a few times to wet our appetites, we are quickly ushered out of them. The problem here is the film makers focus on realism. Realisticly if you were told to spend a night in a creepy old house would you explore the place? Probably not, ditto for creepy tunnels, especially if you discover evidence of someone/thing living there. Perhaps with a bit more imagination and/or bigger budget the house and tunnels could have been explored a bit more. As it is they are still a good source of suspense.

Finally we have the killer. The killer is used quite well and is really eerie looking. The problem is that a couple of interesting things are mentioned and shown about him but we don't learn what exactly is going on (you have to see the movie to know what I mean). It does provide for some interesting conversation after the movie is over but I think the film would have been more enjoyable if questions had been answered.

Hell Night is a little slow moving and doesn't keep it's pace going once things start to happen and Linda Blair's acting is atrocious, but that aside Hell Night is a nice addition to the 80's slasher flicks. Good suspense, creepy locations and some nice scares earn Hell Night a 7 out of 10.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Underrated gem of a horror movie, 20 November 2007

Author: dorotka24 from United States

I saw the late night, television version of this movie as a child of 10 and was absolutely terrified. Back then it was perhaps my favorite horror film and I can remember recording it off TV on my Beta VCR.

So naturally I thought when I tried the unedited, theatrical version as an adult, that the scares and tension would be gone, only to be replaced by B-movie cheese. Boy was I wrong! Hell Night, much like Friday the 13th and Halloween, is a horror movie that has, for me, stood the test of time.

From the creepy setting to the scary villains, and horny, screaming college kids, this one has it all. The acting and characterizations were competent and believable (for a horror movie), with fine performances from all involved.

Many of the typical horror clichés and dumb moves by the characters to serve the plot and score more victims were absent here. In fact, most of the characters didn't even realize a psychopath was on the loose until late in the film, when it was really too late.

The setting was really milked for all it was worth by the director, with scenes not only throughout the creepy mansion, but a number of them below the house and within the extensive grounds. Some of the blue lighting in the outside sets really lent a spooky, almost supernatural ambiance to several scenes.

I can't think of too many flaws here. Some gore hounds have complained about a lack of blood and guts. Did they see the same movie as me? I recall plenty of violent murders. The camera did not linger on them overly, but neither did it quick-cut away instantly like so many films of today. Some of the dialog was cheesy, but I don't have much of a problem with that if the story is good and the characters reactions to their dire predicament are believable.

Overall, I found this to be a highly enjoyable, terrifying film experience. Certainly one of the most underrated horror movies.

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
* *1/2 out of 4., 3 June 2002
Author: Brandon L. Sites (brandonsites1981@yahoo.com) from USA

Group of coed's for pledge night have to spend the night in a manor that local legend says a father went insane and murdered all of his family. The lone survivor, his deformed son, is rumored to be haunting the premises living in the underground tunnels and killing off unwelcomed visitors. Guess what, the legend is true as the coeds start to disappear one by one.

Spooky teen slasher builds up a good amount of atmosphere and delivers suspense instead of the usual nudity and gore. It also takes the time to build up characterizations for some of its characters. Linda Blair ( a highly underrated actress) turns in a very appealing, strong & sexy performance and is supported by a better then usual cast, including Peter Barton. The finale is especially exciting.

Rated R; Violence.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Extremely tame R-rated screamer..., 31 December 2007

Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

Group of sorority and fraternity pledges must spend the night in a supposedly haunted house as part of their initiation--how much you wanna bet something evil really lurks there? Schlock thriller with terrible cinematography and a draggy pace does boast some talented names in the credits (co-producer Irwin Yablans had a hand in the original "Halloween"), but the drawing card is of course Linda Blair, and she's attractive and professional as always (though looking a bit sheepish with this third-rate material). Supporting cast is less interesting, with Peter Barton perhaps an escapee from the Osmond family. A better director might have worked up more suspense by drawing us closer to the characters--and a better screenwriter might have given the director something to work with. It's a suspiciously mild drive-in quickie, not really deserving of its R-rating, though the big finale is well-staged. * from ****

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Sweet old skool slasher fun, 28 March 2007

Author: t-birkhead from United Kingdom

Before anything else, I've gotta say, I love old skool slasher pictures. Even when the film making standard is low, I just love the slasher film format, and so Im sometimes inclined to enjoy them more than they deserve. I found Hell Night to be a cracker, although the fairly low amount of bloodshed threw me at first. The great thing is that the director (Tom Desimmone) aimed for genuine tension and scares and not just generic teen slaughter. The kills aren't that bloody, but are on the whole pretty gnarly and satisfying. The atmosphere is generally quite creepy, since Garth Manor is a good location with a cool haunted house feel, and the killer is not really revealed until the end, so the film never gets redundant or boring. The acting is OK by the standards of this type of film, with Linda Blair coming across best. I don't have any real downers on this film, the only one that I can think of is that it does seem very Halloween influenced in places, which reminds that Hell Night is still an underdog compared to the big slasher classics. Still an essential viewing for slasher hounds, but not quite the best.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Strange slasher that's amusing enough., 11 March 2007

Author: ThrownMuse from The land of the Bunyips

Greek pledges find themselves in an abandoned mansion that is rumored to still be occupied by the deformed offspring of the owner. This is a typical 80s slasher where nothing really happens until the final half hour. The most unrealistic part of the movie is when the assumed "Big Man on Campus" is hitting on the campus hottie who is ready to bed him, but then he turns around and says "Who is THAT?" in awe of someone else's beauty. The camera then shoots across the room, focusing on little Linda Blair. I've got to give the filmmakers props for setting up certain scenes with horror movie clichés, only to break them down in really unbelievable ways.

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