Hell Night (1981) with my Daughter

 My daughter lately really emphasizes our "movie nights". So I'm having to sort of mull over an 80s horror film we can watch together. Let me tell you: Butcher, Baker Nightmare Maker (1981) is not that. We started that one and I apologized to her profusely. She looked over at me as I turned it to Don't Panic (1988) and said it was alright. But Hell Night (1980) was perfect. There is a sexual scene I had to fast forward through on Shudder between Van Patten and Goodwin, and Goodwin --not a complaint when I'm watching it myself, but with my teenage daughter, it would be obviously awkward-- walks around in lingerie before one of two Mongoloid brothers attacks her (off screen, just a hand grabbing her mouth). I laughed to myself once the principles leave the big costume party, where the fraternity and sorority are really living it up, for the Gothic mansion where the meat of the film takes place; to leave behind such a wild and crazy atmosphere for the cobwebbed, candlelit confines of a mansion of notoriety (the Mongoloid family where murders and suicide are told so much, the story has become a campfire horror to keep folks up at night), you'd think those forced to do this as a pledge might advocate for a better night when nothing's happening. I didn't necessarily grow up with this one, but I can understand why it is a cult film. I do think I saw this one on the shelves visiting stores in my youth, though. Much like the earlier Roller Boogie (1979), Hell Night is a film of a certain time --I really have these Prom Night (1980) vibes with it, too-- that I figure those the same age as Linda Blair and Peter Barton (the leads of Hell Night, fighting for their survival, with Van Patten retreating once he climbs over the pointed fenced entrance to the police station, only to be rejected as another partying goof causing trouble, retrieving a shotgun from the weapon's room) at the time saw this and fell in love with it because it represented a time in their lives when old age was a thing of the future not to worry about. I do that, of course. Granted, I was born in 1977. So I see my mother in her youth when watching young Blair and Barton trying to get out of the damn house and off the hedge-maze property. The "catacombs" underground of the mansion is revealed at the end of the film much to my delight. I like to look over to see if my daughter is biting her nails or turning away as a study of the effectiveness of the film. Hell Night gripped her most of the way through. The cut we watched on Shudder was rough, though. I plan to get this one on Blu-Ray. I do believe, though, that about ten or so minutes could of been shaved off this to make it tighter, a bit leaner. I think 112 minutes is just a bit too long for a film  of this type. The "car not starting" suspense device always was leaned on...and Blair telling Barton earlier in the film that she learned from her mechanic father while working for him in high school "tricks" clearly meant that she would rely on them later. I think the film still surprises me in regards to dispatching Barton, though. The film really seems to be the type that would allow him to live at the end. But the idea that Blair would get the key out of the death grip hand of scythe-impaled Brophy in the hedge maze, unlock the the fence, jumpstart the car, and just leave without a worry is not the stuff of slasher flicks in the 80s. The fence spikes bent forward was so completely telegraphed that no surprise came when Mongoloid Garth #2 was impaled as Blair drove the car right into it.

This is once again a film that captivated me with its setting. The two Mongoloid killers come and go as killers, twisting the head around of ooga-booga prankster, Sturtevant, hatcheting the head from the neck of Neumann, and tossing Barton out a window stories to his death on the walkway. I think the party will be a fun little introduction for folks who can perhaps relive their own past "wild days", allowed the reminisce for a bit before a few head to the Garth mansion. ***/*****