Is it 4:30 am? Not sure anymore, ensconsed in my seat, still awake, not tired after my TORSO snooze. More coffee, garcon! Quentin jumps onto the stage, pacing nodding grinning like a wolf, "Okay, you wanted gore you got it, alright?" He goes into his intro for HELL NIGHT, basically saying how cool and scary it is. The microphone falls like an axe and we're back to the 1981 horror future.
I'd seen HELL NIGHT on NBC in its TV debut, cut up like a paper snowflake ("Edited For Television") then again uncut on HBO, where I appreciated what is still one of the top three decapitations in the genre (I don't know the others, I only know there's three -- DAWN OF THE DEAD might be the other two). Starring Linda Blair, who was reduced to a slew of lesser films since her Best Supporting Actress nom for THE EXORCIST and her unforgettable broom assault scene in 1974's BORN INNOCENT (a NBC Made-For-TV Movie!) and directed with surprising skill by Tom DeSimone, better known as "Lancer Brooks" when he helmed the 3-D classics PRISON GIRLS and HEAVY EQUIPMENT, along with several gay and exploitation films. In a nutshell, HELL NIGHT deals with the inevitable attempt by meddling college kids to party hardy at a cursed mansion. I'll let
Roger Ebert chime in:
This time, the pretext is a fraternity-sorority initiation stunt. The venue is an old mansion. We learn that the hapless Garth family once lived there and had four deformed and handicapped children. The misfortunes of the children are described in great detail, with dialogue that's in very bad taste. But then of course HELL NIGHT is in bad taste. The only child that need concern us is the youngest Garth, who was named Andrew and was born, we are told, a "gork." None of the dictionaries at my command include the word "gork," but for the purposes of HELL NIGHT we can define "gork" thus:
Gork
(n.) Deformed, violent creature that lurks in horror movies, jumping out of basement shadows and decapitating screaming teenagers.
He's right, but he didn't like HELL NIGHT. I did to the degree you can enjoy one of the endless 80's HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13TH clones (and it's mind-boggling how many there were). But this one was produced by Irwin Yablans, who brought us HALLOWEEN, so we'll cut him slack for being greedy. Even Vincent Van Patten has his own weird charm. I love it when one of the co-eds pulls out a transistor radio and they both start rocking out to Geriatric Rock Cue # 587. The film has that anticipatory suspense integral to the genre as Garth takes out his vengeance on the collegic intruders. What's perhaps most memorable about HELL NIGHT is Mac Ahlberg's atmospheric cinematography, casting the terror in blue shadows. And bad taste or not, Andrew Garth is a particularly great gork and his comeuppance is one of the very best and brutal of the decade. I'd forgotten just how great. The Alamo was whopping it up at 5:30 am. Or was it six yet?
One more film to go and maybe we'd see sunrise again...
