Uriah43
Once a year at a specific college the fraternity known as Alpha Sigma Rho hosts an initiation for their new pledges which consists of them spending the night in an abandoned mansion called Garth Manor. Supposedly, a crazed man named Andrew Garth murdered most of his family and then committed suicide. However, of the five family members only three bodies were found. The implication then is that at least one of the family members is still alive and residing somewhere in Garth Manor. Of course, nobody takes this seriously and because of that the four pledges by the names of "Marti Gaines" (Linda Blair), "Seth" (Vincent Van Patten), "Jeff Reed" (Peter Barton) and "Denise Dunsmore" (Suki Goodwin) are locked up inside the estate of Garth Manor until dawn. To further add to their discomfort, the president of Alpha Sigma Rho by the name of "Peter Bennett" (Kevin Brophy) has devised all sorts of tricks which he and some fellow fraternity members plan to use to scare them as much as possible. What nobody counts on is a demented and deformed member of the Garth family still living in the manor with homicidal intentions toward everyone on the estate. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a passable 80's slasher film which started off well enough but seemed to lose its focus around the half-way point. Although it might sound strange to say about a slasher film, there was just too much violence during this particular time and as a result it became almost tedious. Be that as it may, it still wasn't too bad as far as slasher films go and I have rated it accordingly. Average.
gwnightscream
Linda Blair, Peter Barton, Vincent Van Patten, Suki Goodwin and Kevin Brophy star in this 1981 horror film. Blair (The Exorcist) plays college student, Marti who pledges a sister sorority of Alpha Sigma Rho. She and 3 others are forced to spend the night in a deserted house, Garth Manor where murders occurred 12 years prior. Soon, Marti and the others become terrorized by a mysterious killer who may be a surviving member of the family. Barton (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) plays Jeff, a boy who Marti finds romance with, Van Patten plays Seth, Goodwin plays Marti's friend, Denise and Brophy plays Peter, President of the Alpha Sigma Rho frat. This isn't a bad film and Blair is good in it. If you like horror/slasher flicks, give this one a try.
megoobee
College kids (ie: killing fodder) locked in a spooky house where they need to stay as part of their initiation into their fraternities/sororities. Nice premise, now where could they have gone with the story? They could have been presented it as a straight ghost/haunted house flick which they didn't. They could have did it as a whole-hog over-the-top slasher gore fest which they didn't. They could have presented it as a parody which they didn't.What they decided to go with was a TV style, watered down lame excuse for a horror movie. I mean come one, Freddy, Jason and Michael were slashing up the screens in Hollywood during the 1980's and this is the best they could do?There is no suspense build up, the kills are quick and unsatisfying. We all know the elements of good horror/slasher movies. So let's do a recap of what Hell Night had:Scary? - No. Gory kill scenes? - No. Creative death scenes? - No. Suspense? - No. Great last scene where the protagonist has to rise from the brink of death to defeat the killer? - No. Gratuitous nudity? No. Sorry, this movie has none of the usually elements needs for a good horror/slasher film. The action was slow and plodding, you could tell Linda Blair just was there for a paycheck. If you want to see a good horror flick, keep looking as this isn't the one.
ivegonemod
This was OK, and really only because I happen to be a semi-fan of clean slasher flicks between 1975-1982. No nudity and no sex scenes, and very little profanity; that's how I roll.There's action here, but most of it is boring and stupid. The kids are just so insipid at the sorority and fraternity. The Garth house overnight kids were the best of the bunch, but Linda Blair is a bit slow. I kinda liked Seth; he shouldn't have come back, he should have just let those idiot police officers lock him up for safety.What happened to Denise anyway? Did I miss it? The other guy in the house (not Seth) is a fool. He's seen dead people and one girl go missing, and yet when he spies a light in the garden from the upstairs window, he has to go investigate and thinks it is smart to leave Linda Blair's character behind, telling her not to worry. Uh, why not fool? She doesn't say that, she just whines that she doesn't want to be left behind. Then why don't you follow his stupid butt stupid? Lots of other idiotic things go on here.
AD
