Hell Night (1981)

Is there a cheesier, funnier (without meaning to be) actress than Linda Blair? A victim of early Hollywood success with The Exorcist, she hit puberty, tried being a teen queen and a scream queen, and then hung around on the basis of the success of her first major role, exploring the limits of her talent in a series of sub-B movies. This 1981 film, about bad shenanigans during Pledge Week at college, wasn't exactly one of the high points. This surprisingly tedious venture features a group of fraternity and sorority pledges forced to spend the night in an abandoned--and, of course, haunted--mansion that once housed a killer. And would you be surprised to find out that it still does? The cast includes Vincent Van Patten and Peter Barton, as though that's an attraction. No scares, no skin--what's the point? --Marshall Fine Amazon.com

Great spooky house, whacko killer 80's flick. Get it. Love it.

It took me a while to catch up with "Hell Night"--I saw it on cable long ago, in the 80's, and I remember enjoying it then. Well, a few intervening years have improved this particular psycho killer on the loose movie. It might have gotten three stars from me then, but now it's so much fun that it rates five stars. Why do deformed people lurking inside abandoned houses go on mad murdering sprees? Well, in these movies, they just do. That's what you paid your five bucks for, and that's what you get.

We have our standard setup--fraternity pledges must spend a night in a creepy old haunted house. Of course, there really IS something very evil and dangerous in the house, and the pledges find they are in a dire situation. A night of horror ensues. "Hell Night" delivers the goods fairly well, and rates up there with "The Funhouse" as a well-produced, nice looking slasher film with style to spare.

The 80's saw a glut of slasher films after the release of "Halloween," and most of them were wretchedly awful, so the gems stand out, and this is one of the gems.

The acting performances are pretty decent all around. We have the wonderful Linda Blair, doing a screaming, cleavage-baring Hammer Films-style damsel-in-distress bit, sure to satisfy fans of that sort of thing. Vince Van Patten steals the show for a few reels when his surfer/party animal character "Seth" suddenly grows a brain and LEAVES THE SPOOKY OLD HOUSE as soon as he realizes there is a real killer on the loose. Seth then goes on to alert the authorities, procure a weapon, and return to the house to save his buddies. This is all very entertainingly bizarre for an 80's horror film because in most of these things, there are no characters so sensible and proactive. Van Patten literally has to be seen to be believed. The various supporting players also do well.

The spooky old house itself is a combination of two houses (one for the exterior scenes, one for the interiors) and some sets built on a stage for special business (catacombs below the house, hair-raising rooftop action, etc.). The DVD is a little murky at times, but the house is one of THE best spooky houses ever presented in a film. I think it rivals Hill House from the original "The Haunting". There, I said it.

Finally, although there is a good bit of blood and gore, the film has an admirable sense of restraint and never goes overboard in that department. Graphic violence is usually only quickly shown, and this helps the character performances stay in proper focus. This is what they call "class," guys.

A very nice-looking, well-acted horror film. Don't buy that new stuff they are calling horror films; all that new stuff is garbage. Get your microwave popcorn popping, and give this one a spin. June 22, 2008

Typical 80's Horror Classic

I don't know if I'm getting older or more jaded, but I thought I remembered this movie as being one of the scariest I had ever seen. Compared to todays films, I do appreciate the understated gore and not as much flesh and fewer trash words. Ahh the good old days. The movie was in good condition. December 31, 2007

Atmospheric "Slasher", Film Starring Legendary Horror Icon Linda Blair

In the huge glut of "slasher" films produced in the early 1980's, "Hell Night", starring Linda Blair, Peter Barton and Vincent Van Patten, has always been a favourite on mine on a number levels. A viewing last night confirmed for me that while the characters are indeed fairly shallow and the dialogue would certainly never be mistaken for anything penned by Oscar Wilde, "Hell Night", is definately one of the most atmospheric and beautifully photographed efforts to come out of this particular horror sub-genre. The superb lighting employed here showcasing the creepy mansion and its overgrown grounds, and especially the eerie cobweb laden underground tunnels adds tremendously to the rich look and feel of the film. I found it very entertaining with a suitably "Gothic" looking haunted mansion, appealing characters, a rather disturbing "killer", and best of all a very spectacular climax involving Linda Blair fighting off her attacker in an out of control car that is real edge of the seat material. A very noticable lack of blood and gore that literally "drenched", this "slasher" genre right out of existence later in the 1980's decade also makes this film more appealing than many of the "Friday 13th" clones then being produced. October 13, 2007

Garth Manor Rocks

"Hell Night"
This review contains an obvious spoiler.
I didn't think I would like this movie when I heard about it
"WAS I EVER WRONG"
Hell Night has all the elements needed for a great
slasher movie, Sexy people, good kills and a freaky killer on the loose..
I personally love movies where the killer is in some way disfigured yet still human and in this movie that is delivered.
Sorority newbies spend the night in Garth Manor Known for its legend about Raymond Garth and his deformed children and how he killed them all and then himself .Supposedly Andrew Garth The most hideous of all the children escapes being killed and lives in tunnels under Garth Manor "so the legend goes".
Linda Blair is all grown up and quite the good herione also starring the FINE Vincent Van Patten and cute Peter Barton.
The final showdown between Blair and the villain is grade A entertainment and the rest of the movie does not disappoint either.
February 12, 2007

A Hellish Viewing Experience

The cover says 'Hell Night', Pray for Day as the tagline, I was praying for this movie to end- Thats how boring it was. This was one of the recommended films in 'Fangorias 101 Horror Movies youve never seen' book. Most of the ones ive seen so far have been good but this one stunk.

Plot- starring Linda Blair, this was one of the things that attracted me to the movie because we all know Linda from the great horror film The Exorcist so I figured she would be good in this one too, to my suprise, far from it. Though the actors didnt have much to work with as far as dialogue. A very familiar plot- one dark night 12 years ago, a madman butchered his family in their mansion before killing himself. 'Legend has it' one child survived the slaughter and remains hidden in the house as a deformed monster. Halloween night a group of fraternity and sorority pledges must spend the night in Garth Manor on the anniversary of the killings.

This film was very slow moving, the acting was terrible. Mostly a bunch of unknowns except Linda Blair and it wasnt at all scary. This was a bad horror film. I wouldnt recommend it, you might not even be able to sit through it without falling asleep or turning off the TV. August 21, 2006

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