Hell Night (1981)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Tim S

  
  Having not seen Hell Night since I was about 12 and having found a used copy, I decided to give it a spin. The only copy of the film that I had seen was a squashed full screen VHS tape that was muddy, dark and just nearly impossible to watch and make any real sense out of.… More
  Having not seen Hell Night since I was about 12 and having found a used copy, I decided to give it a spin. The only copy of the film that I had seen was a squashed full screen VHS tape that was muddy, dark and just nearly impossible to watch and make any real sense out of. Fortunately, the DVD I found of it isn't, and I was finally able to experience it properly for the first time. I found it to be surprisingly effective and creepy. It's not a body count sort of slasher movie as there's hardly any victims to be served up to the unseen force terrorizing these young college students that are stuck in a haunted mansion all night under an initiation for a fraternity. There's actually some very good dialogue buried in there; not always delivered at the highest levels, obviously, but refeshingly realistic at times. The back and forth between Linda Blair and Peter Barton is mainly what I'm referring to. Everyone seems to be having a good time, and it shows in their performances. The movie loses its focus at times and gets a little bit silly towards the end, but overall, it has some great atmosphere and some genuine scares. I can't even really call it a slasher because it doesn't go by that particular formula, but it's a well-produced horror movie that was worth the profits it raked in.

• AJ V

  
  This movie starts out like a typical college prank haunted house story with the students joking around and then maybe the house really is haunted. It isn't scary or exciting at all until the end. The end was a pretty good surprise, and I kinda liked it, but other than that,… More
  This movie starts out like a typical college prank haunted house story with the students joking around and then maybe the house really is haunted. It isn't scary or exciting at all until the end. The end was a pretty good surprise, and I kinda liked it, but other than that, it's not such a good movie.

• Lee ?

  
  Disappointingly average slasher which takes a while to get to the action... and there isn't much once it does get started. Does have a couple of creepy moments and one good kill at the end. But there's no gore, a low body count and no real scares. Could have been better.

• Creep F

  
  Hell Night is a creepy little fun horror movie from the 80's. The atmosphere in this movie is amazing, and to me atmosphere is one of the strongest qualities in a horror film. Yes there's the typical 80's cheese, but it's always fun and it never takes away from the… More
  Hell Night is a creepy little fun horror movie from the 80's. The atmosphere in this movie is amazing, and to me atmosphere is one of the strongest qualities in a horror film. Yes there's the typical 80's cheese, but it's always fun and it never takes away from the fear that this movie delivers. We get a spooky old mansion in the dark foggy mist, possibly haunted by a ghost, and a killer who's on a murderous rampage killing off a group of teens one by one. It's all great and there are some really true intense nail biting moments in here as well. To me, this is Linda Blair's best movie by far. "Hell Night focuses on Marti, a young college co-ed played by Linda Blair. Marti is pledging a sorority and must endure "hell night," the night when pledges must perform some idiotic stunt in order to become members. So, Marti along with fellow pledge Denise, must spend the night in Garth Mansion, along with fraternity pledges Jeff and Seth. Why Garth Manor you may ask? Well, it seems that millionaire Mr. Garth and his wife had three deformed children. Mr. Garth couldn't take this, so he slaughtered his family and killed himself, but only three bodies were found. The legend has it that Andrew, the youngest Garth child, still roams the grounds. So, Marti and the rest of the gang enter Garth Mansion. Soon, frat president Jeff, and two cronies arrive to begin playing pranks on the group to try and frighten them. But, someone else is in the house, someone who isn't there for fun and games. One by one the young partiers are picked off by an unseen assailant. Is this all an elaborate "hell night" trick or has one of the Garth's returned to seek vengeance?" Hell Night is such an underrated film that had never gotten the attention that it deserved. The beautiful Linda Blair was stunning in this film(and no, I'm not just talking about all that cleavage she showed here), even though that definitely was a plus. The acting wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either, and it never becomes too unbelievable. Actually the performances were just right for the type of movie that this was and the story, although not too original, was told in a very creepy fashion. Another great thing about this movie too was the score, the music here was very eerie and spine tingling and it had added much tension to several scenes in the movie. This movie is definitely perfect to watch around Halloween time, for it does have that spooky spirited Halloween feel to it. I just loved this movie! Don't expect any gore or anything like that, because even though it's rated R with the occasional spurts of violence and some nudity, this movie strongly relies on the spooky dark atmosphere, along with a good old creepy story. Try to watch this movie in the dark, when you're alone at night, I'm sure you'll be quite pleased. Check this movie out...Hell Night is a must see! <a href="http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm89/JDHallowEEn/?action=view¤t=HellNight.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm89/JDHallowEEn/HellNight.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

• Lafe F

  
  What starts as a prank, ends up with a group of kids being locked on the grounds of a spooky castle with a maniac. Cheap scares with a good setting. The killings aren't too great; I was expecting more. I didn't understand the bit with the ghosts.

• Eric H

  
  Nowadays nobody who wants a legitimate career in the film industry would dream about starting in porn but that wasn't always the case. Back in the seventies the technical specs of skin flicks were pretty much on a par with regular movies, they were shot on film and required a… More
  Nowadays nobody who wants a legitimate career in the film industry would dream about starting in porn but that wasn't always the case. Back in the seventies the technical specs of skin flicks were pretty much on a par with regular movies, they were shot on film and required a knowledge of lighting that non-professionals simply didn't have. If you were a director with a list of porn titles on your cv you were taken seriously by producers of exploitation fare. Tom DeSimone, director of titles like "Swap Meat" and "Heavy Equipment", was taken aboard by Irwin Yablans of "Halloween" fame to direct this slasher. He should have stuck with porn. Having never attended college in the United States I didn't realise that Hell Night was an actual thing, the night when pledges are put through ordeals in order to be accepted into fraternities and sororities. Blair is one such pledge and to prove her worth she and her slutty English friend must spend the night in a purportedly haunted mansion with two guys who look like they belong in a "Hardy Boys" porn spoof. The fact that the guys in this movie are prettier than the girls is a clue to the directors previous career in gay porn. You know straight away that Blair will survive the night as she instantly shows no interest in sex, in fact she seems completely disinterested in anything, mumbling her way through the script like she's hypnotised. Goodwin is doomed from the start as she takes drugs, drinks, and jumps straight in bed with a guy who seduces her by using surfing as a sexual metaphor. As far as easy lays go she's right up there with Jamie Lee Curtis in "The Fog", the early eighties must have been a great time to be a horny young man. As slashers go this is particularly tedious, the kills are bland and badly shot, the attempts to build up atmosphere amounting to tedious scenes of characters walking through poorly lit corridors. Aside from a few amusing lines of dialogue there's little of interest here. Screenwriter Randy Feldman didn't get another script produced for eight years after this but it was worth the wait, the buddy cop classic "Tango & Cash"!

• John M

  
  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 really bad, but the movie delivers good suspense, creepy locations and some nice scares

• Patrick D

  
  An above average run-of-the-mill slasher that gets extra points for Linda Blair, and maintains being well decent despite unexplained/confusing plot points.

• Donna D

  
  This scared me a lot when I first watched this movie! A group of Sority kids pledge 4 fraternity pledges to sleep in a Mansion, which has been rumored to be still haunted and possible may still be inhabitant with the previous goolish owner. Scary and suprising. Check it out!

Read all 9 featured audience ratings