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

Customer Rating:
Summary: Get The Hell Out Of My House!
Comment: "Hell Night" stars adorable, vivacious Linda Blair of "Exorcist" fame. She must spend the night in the abandoned, decrepit Garth manor along with three other sorority and fraternity pledges. Members of Sigma Phi Rho have rigged the house to emit spooky sounds and images. Unknown to them all, Garth Manor is not as abandoned as it appears. A deranged mongoloid remains and is determined to kill all intruders using a number of gruesome weapons. Who will survive this night of hell?

This slasher flick from the eighties is great to watch on Halloween or on any stormy night. In fact, the producer, Irwin Yablans, who brought us "Halloween" also co-produced this fright fest. The gothic Garth manor, huge and creepy, is the perfect setting for murder and mayhem. It is surrounded by a spiked fence with gates that are locked, trapping the pledges within. The chase scenes within the maze of hedges are accentuated by suspenseful music; they reminded me of Elke Sommer being pursued in Mario Bava's "Baron Blood."

Good performances are given by all, especially Blair. Vincent Van Patten, however, grew annoying as the wise cracking surfer dude. I was disappointed that the film didn't have a higher body count since Anchor Bay described it as " . . . an `80s body-count classic." The ending was shocking and violent. The last still frame of a stunned Blair slowly walking away from the manor was memorable.

"Hell Night" is worth seeking out if you enjoy good slasher fare such as "Halloween," "The Last House on Sorority Row," "Prom Night," and "Terror Train." Watching this movie will make you think twice about trespassing on someone else's property at night.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not as hellacious as I remember but still somewhat decent
Comment: Linda Blair stars as a college student Marti. Together with three other friends she has to spend the night in a house with a brutal history for an initiation. What started as a mere gag turned into a night of fighting for survival.

Hell Night is an 80's slasher that could mostly appeal to Linda Blair fans. This is one of the reasons I keep it around but it doesn't add to the rating or my overall enjoyment. This to me is a movie that could have been a little better.

I give it some credit for actually trying to give the characters some personality and the setting was fair. I also liked the fact the characters reactions were pretty realistic. Once they realized things were serious. They ACTUALLY tried to get out the house.

Now I don't find this movie scary in the slightest and I never did, even as a kid. The death scenes weren't really good and the gore was very limited as well. I'm also not ok with the non existent nudity. If you're going to have hot chicks with skimpy outfits. Atleast go that route.

Hell Night is a slightly decent slasher and nothing more to me. I recommend this to the easily pleased and Linda Blair fans.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Cheap, Cheesy and Fun!
Comment: Blood and Rain
Blood for the Masses

Hell Night
Starring
Linda Blair

Reviewed By
B.L.Morgan

4 Stars

Every October there's a film festival going on in my house. If I had to put a name to it, it would be The Annual Cheap Horror Halloween Film Festival. Cheap, because for October I buy in quantity. I want to see a lot of horror films that I've never seen before.

Usually I end up with somewhere around thirty movies that go back to the pawnshops and a few that are worth keeping. This year, I'm keeping one.

Hell Night starring Linda Blair was a real nice surprise. Forget about the first fifteen minutes of the movie. It was just a lame excuse for introducing the main characters and giving a reason why four college students have to spend the night in a deserted old mansion well known for being haunted.

After the first fifteen minutes this movie really took off. You got the usual story line of the other college kids trying to scare Linda Blair and the three other students and I got to admit the stuff they pulled would have had me leaving that house pretty quick. Except the the front gate had been padlocked from the other side and the fence around the mansion is topped with unfriendly spikes.

Of course now comes the bloodshed.

The bad guy in this movie is a sick looking dude that could have crawled out of one of your worse nightmares. And there is something beneath the house but I'm not going to tell you about that. You'll have to see Hell Night to find out what that is.

The acting in this movie is pretty average except for Blair who does a really good job as a damsel in distress. If she wasn't really scared when she did those scenes then she sure had me fooled.

Hell Night delivers exactly what you want from a horror film; a tense atmosphere, plenty of scares, a smashing climax and some sexy scenes that aren't quite all the way to R rated as well. Hell Night is widely available. It's in most video rental stores. So if you want a good cheap thrill check this one out.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great spooky house, whacko killer 80's flick. Get it. Love it.
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Typical 80's Horror Classic
Comment: 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.

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