Night School

     NIGHT SCHOOL is a super-fun lost slasher from that most rad year in horror, 1981- and it's got everything a slasher fan could want. Okay, so not much in the gore department, but stick with me here. Boy, did I have fun with this flick last night.  An absolute blast from start to finish!

It seems a series of brutal beheadings are terrorizing students at all-girl Wendell College in Boston, and baffling police as well.  The victims all happen to be students of the womanizing Professor Millet's night classes, and he's sleeping with them behind the back of his girlfriend, played by Rachel Ward (in her film debut).  It appears the heads of the victims are all being found near or in water, and police can't seem to make heads or tails of the case. Did I mention the killer rides a motorcycle?  And that Professor Millet also owns a motorcycle?  And that the lesbian headmistress of Wendell College is determined to protect her students and school at all costs, including possibly bedding a few nubile beauties in the process?  I'm not making this shit up.  All this and more awaits you in NIGHT SCHOOL.  

     It's a peculiar slasher. While it does incorporate many of the classic early 80's slasher characteristics and plot devices, it sometimes leans more toward mystery/thriller territory, which certainly isn't a bad thing. It fits in well with films such as EYES OF A STRANGER or VISITING HOURS. There are many things I liked about NIGHT SCHOOL.  The killer, for one. Some scoff at this murderer, but I don't know, I found him kinda cool. He reminds me of Maxwell Caulfield from GREASE 2 gone berzerk.

     There are some creative murder sequences in NIGHT SCHOOL, and I also liked the Boston locations used in the film, and the mood it gives the film.  It was totally believable, and I'm a sucker for the college slashers of the 80's anyway. NIGHT SCHOOL also has some pretty good production values, some decent acting for once, a rather menacing score, and genuine suspense and chills to boot. There's not much blood, but the killings are quite vicious and disturbing.

     I think it's a somewhat underrated slasher that's finally finding not only an identity, but an audience as well.  It's a fun and engaging murder mystery that despite its shortcomings, still manages to be thoroughly entertaining and a hell of a lot more fun than the 'slashers' being passed off today. Great, cheesy  fun all around.

The Initiation

     If you're ever looking for a fantastic 80's slasher about a mysterious killer stalking nubile sorority pledges in a deserted mall at night, then how about THE INITIATION?

     Daphne Zuniga- yes, Jo from Melrose Place, plays Kelly Fairchild. Seems Kelly is pledging her local college and learns she must participate in the annual sorority initiations to earn the respect of older sisters. The initiation ritual is to break into the mall after hours and steal the uniform worn by the hunky security guard.  Just so happens that rich girl Kelly's daddy owns the mall, and Kelly knows her way around the facility. And wouldn't you just know it- the initiation is the same night a mental patient has escaped from the nearest mental asylum, and is currently hiding in the dark mall, unbeknownst to the girls. I love this stuff!

     Kelly is doing her thesis on dreams and dream analysis. Which is funny, because she has been suffering from the same recurring nightmare over and over.  Kelly turns to sexy professor Peter (James Read), who is also heavily interested in dreams and the symbolism behind them.  He introduces her to his Dream Factory and his assistant, sassy and delicious Heidi- who promptly steals the show. Those glasses alone... She's 100% awesome. Kelly's parents (Clu Gulager and Vera Miles) are rich, and come across as conniving, suspicious, annoying, and possibly evil. And Mum seem to drink a lot. Mum doesn't like the thought of her daughter discovering what's causing her nasty dreams, and would like for her to just forget it!

      Even though it doesn't kick into high gear until the gals are locked in the mall, this is still a super-fun slasher. I love Jo from "Melrose Place" in a slasher. I love the creepy after-dark atmosphere of the mall. I love the corniness mixed some moderately decent stalk/slash scenes. I love the many POV shots of the killer throughout the film. I love the short shorts on the boys, who all look 17. I love the sorority girls, who look about 35. I love the dream/psychology mumbo-jumbo. I love the Tom Selleck poster seen on a sorority girls' wall.  And I love the totally didn't see that coming shock twist of an ending. Ha! This is pure 80's slasher fun all the way.

     There's no extreme gore, but some decent scares sprinkled throughout that certainly deliver the goods.  This easily ranks alongside such notable classics as HELL NIGHT, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME,  and THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW as some of the most memorable college-themed splatter flicks of the 80's. What could be better than having a bunch of 80's kids being stalked by a maniacal killer in an empty shopping mall? I can't think of a thing.

   

Sorority House Massacre

      By 1986, slashers were on their way out.  However, the influence of "Halloween" was still being seen, and "Sorority House Massacre" was a memorable entry in the dying slasher genre.  "A Nightmare On Elm Street" had introduced a new trend in fantasy/horror, and this film curiously combines elements of both that and "Halloween". It was marketed as part of the Massacre Collection, and makes a great double feature with "The Slumber Party Massacre".

     "Sorority House Massacre" tells the story of Beth, a rather butch college gal who's just moved into a new sorority and happens to be suffering from some nasty bad dreams and visions.  Mainly of some weird dolls and a strange man with a knife.  Beth left school for a bit to attend the funeral of her aunt, and comes back to an almost empty sorority (most of the sorority girls are away on a trip for the weekend).  And of course, in time-honored slasher fashion, an escaped mental patient has just escaped from the nearby asylum.  Yes.

     I mentioned "Halloween" earlier because this film has been widely criticized for being too much like John Carpenter's classic slasher.  It is.  The killer escapes, comes to town in a station wagon, stops by a hardware store, and goes back to his old house where he killed his family years earlier. Really.  And to top it off, he's hunting his surviving sister, who is unaware of her family history.  All that's missing here is Donald Pleasance running around, and well, everything that made "Halloween" so great in the first place.  Now don't get me wrong.  I love me some "Sorority House Massacre", but for different reasons than "Halloween".  Carpenter made a piece of art- an undying and influential classic.  This is not art, nor a classic.  It's pretty generic and unmemorable, actually.  But, like so many horror movies from the 70s and 80s, it's such a good time to be had that I find it irresistible.

     It's perfectly reasonable not to expect a classic when you're talking about one of those many nondescript and formulaic slashers from the dying days of the genre.  But don't let that stop you from watching this one.  Generally known as a rather anemic but oddly fascinating slasher from the late 80s, it's also known for having Carol Frank (director of "Slumber Party Massacre) directing it.  It's got some pretty good cinematography, some rather cool and kinda creepy dream sequences, some bitchin' 80s fashions, and a pretty decent score.

     On the other hand, you've got some downright bad acting, a bland killer, and a totally pointless yet downright hilarious montage of a bunch of sorority girls who pop in a cassette tape and try on each other's clothes. It's the fashion show from Hell, and it's totally rad.  Oh and this is the only slasher I can think of that has somebody murdered in a wigwam.  Don't ask- just watch!  While "Sorority House Massacre" offers up its fair share of gratuitous nudity, the film does offer up some surprising male nudity as well.  Fair is fair.  It's typical 80s lunacy, but for this genre, you could do so much worse.  It's nowhere near as sleazy as it's made out to be.  I like this movie- as bad as it is.  I like it a lot.  I also very much liked "The Slumber Party Massacre". It's a total guilty pleasure, and sure does hit the spot.  I'm irresistibly drawn to these movies- I can't explain it.  I just am.  All in all it was a helluva lot of fun watching this one.
   

Girls Nite Out

     Seems there's a lot going on at Dewitt College in rural Ohio. The basketball team has won, there's a scavenger hunt going on, and it seems a disturbed killer in a bear suit with knives for claws is lurking around the dimly lit campus in search of victims...  I'm not making this up!  Who is angry enough to start knocking off students at Dewitt College?  Well, you just have to watch it to find out.

      I'm quite a fan of the early 80s campus slashers, and this one is a prime example. Filmed in 1982 but released a couple years later in '84, GIRLS NITE OUT is a run-of-the-mill, low budget slasher that still manages to be utterly entertaining and watchable the entire time.  It's either wonderfully or painfully dated- depending on how you view the past.  For me- it's absolutely delicious and I'm instantly taken back to late Friday nights huddled on the sofa watching scary movies on HBO in 1985. Yes.

     I'll tell ya, GIRLS NITE OUT just needs to be seen- bad reputation be damned!  I cannot stress how much fun this movie is.

     The body count is small but somewhat effective, there is some pretty good atmosphere overall, and the cast is very energetic and likable. Lots to love here. You've got Hal Holbrook, the always-delicious Rutanya Alda (in a role you simply have to see to believe), and Julie Montgomery (Betty from REVENGE OF THE NERDS).  Plus we get horror alumni Lauren-Marie Taylor from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 and Carrick Glenn of THE BURNING!

       I like how it incorporates a rather playful tone to the festivities- the winning basketball team, the parties, the scavenger hunt, the crazy dj- and balances it with a slightly creepy and odd vibe. Yes, odd.  It's an odd slasher. It's almost seedy at times. The lighting.... the grainy film stock...  Maybe that's why I liked it so much.  It's total B-movie schlock, and I personally loved it. There's something appealing to me about these cheap but effective college campus slashers, and this is one of my favorites of that genre.  For a good time, sometimes we all just need a good old-fashioned GIRLS NITE OUT.

Silent Scream

       A gloomy seaside boardinghouse occupied by college students who can't find on-campus housing is the setting for this lost slasher.  The house is owned by Mrs. Engels (Yvonne DeCarlo), her strange son, Mason (Brad Reardon), and her daughter Victoria (Barbara Steele), who's suffering from a botched lobotomy.  Her surgery has left her elusive and dangerous, and like a dirty secret, she's kept locked in the attic.  On top of all this madness, a mysterious killer with a knife is lurking...

      "Silent Scream" has finally found it way to DVD, and for those of you who haven't seen this little-known slasher flick from 1980, it may surprise you.  I watched it again last night, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  This movie was exactly as I remembered it from 1987 when I first saw it, and I had a blast with it.  This is exactly the type of movie that made me such a fan of horror in the first place.

   

     Rebecca Balding plays Scotty, who's just a gal out looking for some affordable off-campus housing, and soon finds herself up to her Tenille in the eerie old house full of dark, family secrets and a murderous psychopath on the loose.   Scotty moves into the strange residence, meeting Mason and eventually his mother.  She instantly senses that something is just a little off in this crazy house.  (And boy, is there...)  We're also treated to wisecracking Doris, another residence of the house, along with a hunky college student whom Scotty instantly takes a shine to. Doris is certainly a hoot, but things waste no time turning sinister as we're immediately treated to creepy eyes peering through vents and a frenzied stabbing of another student on the beach.  The student was also living in Mrs. Engels' house, so after the body is found, a police investigation is launched, and the mystery of the mansion and its strange owners is all unraveled.  But not after some serious stabbings occur in the dark, dusty mansion.

     "Silent Scream" is a marvel.  Practically nobody has even heard of this little movie, yet I find it far more entertaining than say, "My Bloody Valentine".  This is a great little slasher, simple and to the point.  It moves along nicely, and you kind of dig Scotty- she's quite likable.  Mason is super weird and creepy, and his mother, (who's actually Lily Munster herself!) manages to be spooky on her own.  But Barbara Steele owns this movie.  She is truly scary in her role- she never utters a word in the entire film, yet completely steals the show. This would be her only on-screen performance in the 80's.

       "Silent Scream" was released slightly before the bloody onslaught of hundreds of copycat slashers, and kind of just got lost in the shuffle.  It's a shame, really, because it's actually quite good.  Predictable and cliched?  Sure.  But it does deliver some genuine shocks and suspense.  And it's chock full of dark cobwebbed hallways, frenzied stabbings, spooky music, and days of atmosphere.  All that on top of Barbara Steele's unnerving, eerie stare...  It doesn't hit you over the head as say "Friday the 13th" did, instead going for more of a disquieting, eerie effect.  It's a nifty mix of Gothic and Slasher flick, and I can't stop talking about the chilling Barbara Steele.   It borrows heavily from "Psycho" and "Halloween", and that's part of what makes it great.  Bottom line, "Silent Scream" is nothing spectacular, but it is a neat and underrated little thriller that certainly deserves an audience.  I love this little forgotten movie.  This is the kind of movie that you might stumble across at 11:30 one night and get completely caught up in.  If you enjoy gloomy mansions, spooky cellars and secret passageways that lead to certain doom, then "Silent Scream" is for you.  And it's available on Netflix!

  

      The film received a high-definition 1.78:1 transfer with a 5.1 surround soundtrack, so "Silent Scream" looks great.  Nothing you haven't seen before, but this one did leave an impact on me when I first saw it years ago on VHS.

Hell Night

     Aahhh... the 80's. As many fantastic horror movies came out of that decade, there's something about the year 1981.  It was a magical, mythical year in horror, and "Hell Night" is one of my favorites.  I love it just as much as "Halloween", "Friday the 13th", or "Prom Night"- and that's a lot of love.  It's a total guilty pleasure of mine, a perfect little b-movie.  This is exactly the kind of movie we would rent on Friday nights.  This, or "Happy Birthday To Me", or "Silent Scream".  Plus, Linda Blair is the final girl- I mean- Linda BLAIR in a slasher flick from 1981?  YES PLEASE.  That was all the information I needed to know instantly that I had to see this movie.  I've had a sweet spot for this slasher since I stumbled across it on HBO late one night around 1984. I loved it then, and I just recently watched it, and I'm quite pleased to say I love it just as much today as I did when I first saw it.  Most awesome.

     Starring Linda Blair, Peter Barton, and a half-naked Vincent Van Patton (son of Dick),  "Hell Night" tells the story of  four young pledges who of course must pass an initiation.  To gain entrance into the Alpha Sigma Rho fraternity, they must spend a full night in Garth Manor.  Garth Manor was the sight where 12 years prior to the night, patriarch Raymond Garth murdered his entire family of deaf mute and mentally retarded children.  But legend has it that one of the children survived the madness, and now resides in the crumbling mansion. As if all this wasn't disturbing enough, the upperclassmen have rigged the entire mansion up with enough scary sounds and pranks to send Linda and gang screaming into the night... only they're locked into the estate- with no escape until the next morning.

       Strictly adhering to the now fully-established slasher formula, this one's a hoot from start to finish.  The entire film has a festive and fun tone, which meshes well with the spooky scenes.  Cheesy in parts?  You betcha.  Not only is this an 80's horror classic, but it's a camp classic as well. It's got a great story, great direction, and great atmosphere.

     "Hell Night" is just so darn fun to watch, I absolutely love every minute of it.  This is one of those fun scary movies to watch with that certain group of people, even though I was pretty scared watching this on HBO back in 1984.  It's definitely one of the more interesting stalk-and-slash films to come out of the 80's.   "Hell Night" is certainly no masterpiece, but I can think of hundreds of horror films that are far worse.  It's schlocky and silly and doesn't take itself seriously at all, and that's a big part of why I am so fond of it

     .  Like "Prom Night"- it doesn't have the greatest reputation among horror fans, but I love both of them tremendously.  Of course "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" were going to inspire a gazillion knockoffs, some great, some terrible, and "Hell Night" was one of many released in the early 80's.  A rollicking good time to be had, and Vincent Van Patton is some serious eye-candy.  A half-naked blond surfer running around a dark, deserted mansion?  Sign me up, please.