Terror Night (1989)

Good concept, poorly executed.

disgusting, overrated, pointless

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

The plot of "Terror Night" is fairly simple:a group of film enthusiasts head to the old Lance Hayward estate before the landmark is torn down.A phantom haunting the mansion murdering the victims while dressed as Hayward's most famous screen characters."Terror Night" aka "Bloody Movie" was originally made in 1987 but wasn't released in the US until 2004.The film has some enjoyable cameos by famous B-movie actors including Cameron Mitchell,Aldo Ray and Dan Haggerty.Michelle Bauer provides some graphic nudity,which is always highly appreciated in slasher movies.The gore effects are pretty good for example one victim is ripped in half after being tied to a tree.There are some huge lapses in logic,but who cares.If you enjoy gore and nudity give "Terror Night" a look.8 out of 10.

Produced in 1987, Terror Night became the slasher movie equivalent of the Holy Grail for horror enthusiasts after it never secured its expected release, which therefore kept fans searching for almost twenty years until it finally crept out almost unnoticed on to budget DVD. The movie was covered in various horror media and fanzines during its production, meaning that when a launch date never arrived, fans were left wondering what exactly had happened. Rumours of bootlegs kept people searching, but it wasn't until the late nineties when I came across a subtitled copy in an exchange store in Nuremburg that I actually believed that it even existed. It is rumoured that copyright wrangles with additional footage - that was 'borrowed' from classic movies for inclusion into the story - prevented Terror Night from gaining public exposure. A few bootlegs saw the light of day, which were then copied privately and passed around on the VHS black-market, but up until very recently, the film had remained locked in a studio vault. Its unfortunate production problems admittedly gave the film a somewhat mysterious and alluring edge and on top of that it boasts an interesting premise, a good cast and directorial assistance from legendary horror filmmaker Andre De Toth. A group of youngsters decide to spend the night in the dilapidated Hollywood mansion of one-time screen idol Lance Hayward. Hayward has been missing for over forty years and despite rumours that he emigrated to Europe, it is believed that he died many years ago. The teenagers soon learn that this is not true as Hayward begins stalking and slaughtering the group one by one, whilst donning costumes of the characters from his previous cinematic adventures. Had Terror Night been released as had been intended by the production team, I predict that it may well have been a relatively popular addition to the category and a good seller on the VHS and drive-in markets. The film boasts almost all the essential ingredients that made its more successful genre counterparts household names, including a young and attractive cast, some decent bloody deaths, credible gore and intriguing cameos from screen veterans like Cameron Mitchell. The use of black and white movie footage to accompany the murders was an interesting touch; even though it almost certainly proved to play a key part in the film's downfall and ruined any chance of the ongoing franchise that the producers during this period predictably craved. Despite sticking closely to the slasher rulebook, which was in regular use during the eighties, the key source of influence seems to stem from the nineteen-eighty thriller Fade to Black. The premise is inexplicably similar, although Terror Night fashionably decides to stay true to its slasher roots as where Fade to Black has never been noted as a genre entry. The cast do a good enough job with what they are given, especially the old-timers who seem to be having a ball with their small cameos. Cameron Mitchell turns up for a brilliant piece of scene-chewing and like all the senior screen veterans, he seems to be motivated to do more than just phone-in a few lines for the paycheque. The various choices of costume for the killer provide a good bit of fun (I especially enjoyed the maniacal knight-in-armour) and the murders are almost always energetic and gory. Popular screen queen Michelle Bauer comes along for her usual excuse to get naked and then viciously slaughtered and porn queen Jamie Summers is also included for a rare non-adult film role. First (and last) time director Nick Marino creates little in terms of tension or suspense and his methods are that of the 'point and shoot' variety. Andre De Toth's involvement in the direction of a share of scenes is a rumour that has never been confirmed or denied and there's nothing exceptional here to be noted. However without the press package that would have accompanied Terror Night had it been released as intended, there is little way of knowing the exact percentage of his input. Despite some excellent moments, Terror Night is knee deep in a puddle of flaws. It's inadequately lighted to the point of frustration in places and lacks the visual gloss and stylish direction/production that made its more popular counterparts memorable. The plot is also poorly handled and never gives a resolution to the mystery that it spends so much energy creating. We never find out what Lance Hayward actually is, or what was his motivation behind the murderous rampage? We never learn if the maniacal assassin is actually a ghost or just an extremely lucky ninety-year-old with the appearance of someone half that age. It could be argued that these problems would have been ironed out if the movie had been given the post-production that was intended and we will never know for sure when it was decided that Terror Night would not secure worldwide release. Perhaps the filmmakers never got the chance to add the finishing touches that would have given the film a more attractive sheen. However there is really no excuse for the laughable ending, which to be fair was perhaps typical of cheesy eighties slasher trash. Terror Night is one of the few slasher movies that had the potential to be a lot better than it eventually ended up, but somehow lost its way between the months of production and its release some twenty years later. It's a shame that we'll probably never find out how it might have turned out if it was given a real chance and it looks as if it might have suffered a nightmare production. Still, for fans looking for an extremely rare genre-piece, it does deliver the goods on a few levels. It's packed to the brim with hokey gore and there's some excessive nudity that always interests fans of exploitation. It's a good film that could have been so much more.

1920s film star Lance Hayward is missing to the world at large, but people begin mysteriously dying around his abandoned estate. Three teen couples (including a woman who is a huge fan of the presumably deceased actor) end up going there on an otherwise boring weekend and rummaging through the place. They find old movie props, a locked vault, nitrate movie cans (that come in handy during the fiery finale) and some other interesting things until they start disappearing one by one. There are also a few barely-seen Zoot Suit-wearing phantoms who lurk around the woods and use two cars to pull a guy in half. Director Nick Marino's contribution to the 80s slasher cycle does not fully overcome the familiarity of the premise, but stylistically he is trying something a little bit different, beginning with mock silent screen credits and a great song by Ian Whitcomb which is also an effective evocation of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Before each murder, we get a flurry of movie clips from anonymous films and comic-book like shots of movie stills and lobby cards, all edited with quick precision and all tinted monochrome, so it doesn't look as sloppy as it otherwise would have. The clips may also explain why this film did not find a wide release until about fifteen years after it was made (the filmmaker may have come across some copyright problems when using this footage). The special effects are certainly bloody enough and there are a variety of murders here. A man is pulled apart by two cars, a hand is chopped off, someone is impaled on a picket fence and there's a pretty good decapitation (followed by a bloody head on a platter gag). Other deaths involve everything from a bow and arrow to fencing sword. The sets are minimal, but effective. But the screenplay could have definitely used another polish; the stereotyped characters are thrown into the mix with a killer who is not only wholesale boogie-man material but whose motivations and reason for existing are so hopelessly muddled that you never know for sure just what he is or why he is doing what he's doing. The clarity is almost non-existent, but I assumed the man is a ghost since he pops up all over the place and appears in both youthful and elderly forms. But, hell, by the time it's all over with, you can't totally hate this one. After all, somehow it ends up letting the cultured heavy and lone female survivor do some passionate Shakespearian stage work somewhere in limbo!Now get ready for some major name dropping. The credits on this film read like a who's-who of exploitation of the 1980s. As with most slasher films from the period, the performances are highly variable. The veterans in the cast all have about one scene each and get through BLOODY MOVIE with a bare minimum of embarrassment. Aldo Ray is a wino who gets a hook in the head, Dan Haggerty is impaled, Cameron Mitchell is a detective who is strangled and hung and Alan Hale, Jr. (The Skipper from Gilligan's Island) is a wide-eyed security guard (and the only one without a death scene). John Ireland receives top billing as the killer, but he doesn't even materialize on-screen until the very end (though to his credit, it is still a creepy cameo). Of the younger cast, we have some familiar faces; Bill Butler (LEATHERFACE, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake), Ken Abraham (CREEPOZOIDS), Carla Baron and John Stuart Wildman (both from SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA), and 'Denise Stafford' (that's her head on the platter on the DVD cover; Stafford apparently is a porn actress who goes by the name Jamie Summers). Though leading lady Staci Greason (who played the first victim in Friday THE 13TH, PART VII) is quite good and gives the most professional showing of the younger cast, it is Michelle Bauer who steals this film away from her co-stars with a full blown comedic performance. She carries on quite capably here and nails the most laughs as a drunken punker chick who ends up stumbling her way through the mansion with her annoying biker boyfriend before getting whipped and pushed down a flight of stairs. I appreciate the filmmakers for having the common sense to keep her around until near the end. Though I am sad to report that sleaze great Jay Richardson, who is in just as many of the schlock horror films as Michelle, is barely visible as one of the forest-lurking phantoms.Originally titled TERROR NIGHT, this was worked on by a lot of prolific and familiar Z-movie production people. It was co-scripted by Kenneth J. Hall (who also helped cast the film), was co-produced by Nancy Paloian (producer of DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR?, hence the misleading packaging) and shot by Howard Wexler. The special effects are by Cleve Hall (who was also the 2nd unit director, along with porn purveyor Fred J. Lincoln) and John Vulich helped shoot and edit it. Given special thanks in the end credits are Andre de Toth (the director of the original version of HOUSE OF WAX; he lent directorial assist to Marino and is actually listed on here as being the co-director), David DeCoteau and Fred Olen Ray.

Standard no-bud horror set-up - group of young adults providing the body-count after trespassing in old mansion - given enough quirk & energy to sustain interest. Plot centres around "Lance Haywood" former screen idol presumed dead: Haywood kills each person according to different film roles. Great cast - Jamie Summers in bubblebath - Michelle Bauer running around naked - body ripped in half during opening minutes - sepia flashbacks to killer's past screen glories - slashed-up headbanger fights to death with Haywood in knight's armour - movie posters of Haywood's films & confusing/indifferent ending. It's like FADE TO BLACK with great sub-Priest Metal Cheese from Surgical Steel!!!