Hell Night (1981) Review

After the crazy hazing horror that is Pledge Night, 101 Films return to campus for another college based slasher in the form of 1981’s Hell Night.

The set-up is stunningly simple with four pledges leaving the booze drenched safety of a massive house party to spend the night in a haunted mansion and prove their worth to their fellow frat bother’s and sorority sisters.

Following the inebriated party people the unfortunate foursome nervously descending on the rundown Garth Manor and listen as the Alpha Sigma Rho president Peter (Kevin Brophy) regales them with the gruesome tale of Raymond Garth who 12 years before murdered his whole family and hung himself.

With one of the sadly dejected and deformed children somehow escaping his father’s wrath the grand manor became abandoned and dilapidated mainly because of the constant rumours that the hate fuelled ghoul still roamed the grounds reaping revenge on anyone trespassing on his fated family home.

As the masses leave, locking the gates and promising to return at dawn, the freaked out group made up of Marti (The Exorcist legend Linda Blair) Jeff (Peter Barton from Friday 13th the Final Chapter), Denise (Suki Goodwin) and Seth (Vincent Van Patten) must brave the haunted house and stay the night.

Pairing off Marti and Jeff get to know each other better while Seth and Denise do the same except without any clothes on and after taking lots of drugs. The mood quickly moves from passionate to petrifying when screams are heard and things start to go bump in the manor. The question Marti must answer is are the pledges being pranked by Peter and his college cronies or is something far more sinister at play?

With its title serving as a twist on the hell week some fraternities and sororities put their un-ordained members through, Hell Night could easily be written off as a by the numbers horror with a college backdrop however it deserves a bit more credit than that.

Solidly directed by Tom DeSimone the movie does a good job building tension and terror making the audience aware early on not only that the innocent students are being suckered by their so called friends but that a malformed monstrosity is indeed alive and angry at their arrival.

The concept of an initiation gone wrong works wonders as the kids go from full on fear to anger at being tricked and back again when they learn the shocking truth. Keeping the killer as much in the shadows for the viewer as his victims are in the dark about his existence also helps immensely in increasing the overall sense of dread.

Lastly the use of fake effects and monster props by the frat boys enhances the actual moments of gore and mutilation making them look much more real than they usually would in comparison.

DeSimone is quoted as saying “I don’t like these horror films where people are walking around haunted houses wearing jeans and T-shirts” and another great hook in Hell Night is the use of ornate costumes that the cast wear due to the fancy dress theme of the opening party. Marti looks like an innocent Southern Belle while Jeff is a heroic Victorian gentleman, Seth is dressed as Robin Hood and the fun time Denise is a 1920’s flapper girl.

According to DeSimone this concept allowed them “to have everyone in those kinds of costumes that suited their personality” and the clothes do indeed project architypes over the characters, some of which turn out to be true and others false, while also giving the Hell Night a Gothic feel even though it is set in the 80’s.

Adding on this, script writer Randy Feldman manages to put in plenty of character development meaning the victims are far from faceless slasher fodder with Jeff and Marti spending major parts of the movie talking about their very different backgrounds and upbringing.

Credit is definitely due to Linda Blair who is totally convincing as Marti making a great transition from child star to leading lady which must have been all the more difficult due to the controversy and longevity of her most famous role. Believable and likable Blair elevates the movie and gives the audience someone to root for from the start which is essential in a slasher movie like this.

Coming in a bonus packed Blu-ray which features a 4K scan and a multitude of excellent extras 101 Films have yet again proven why they are leaders in genre releases. Far better than you may expect Hell Night is an entertaining slasher with some nice chills and thrills and a great performance from Blair making it one horror you will most defiantly want to spend the night with.

Movie Rating:  

Trailer: