"Terror Night" is a fine and impressive slasher entry.
**SPOILERS**
After hearing a strange news report, friends Jake Nelson, (Alan Hale Jr.) Kathy, (Staci Greason) Chip, (William Butler) Todd, (John Wildman) Greg, (Ken Abraham) Sherry, (Jaime Summers) and Lorraine, (Carla Baron) decide to head over to investigate. Realizing it's the house of old-time movie star Lance Hayward, (John Ireland) they rummage through the house looking for a good time. Realizing they are not alone, they into Angel, (Timothy Elwell) and Jo, (Michelle Bauer) also hanging out at the house. Slowly dawning that they're disappearing one-by-one, they come across a killer killing them off in the inspiration from several of the actors biggest films, and they race to get away before becoming prey for the madman.
The Good News: This one here was actually pretty good. The fact that there's a really enjoyable and unique storyline to this, which is a little off-the-wall, manages to derive some fun parts to it. As it's about a famous Hollywood actor trying to regain his past through using his best-known gimmicks as the basis for killing people off, there's a lot to this one which sticks out. This one has some nice stuff to come along with that, as the killer in this does tend to dress up appropriate to the kill, dressing up like a samurai when he uses a knife or a jungle explorer to kill them using bows and arrows, which is really well-done for what's happening in the scene. That also means that the kills in here are actually rather good and gory, which always helps. There's a great decapitation, an impaling in the back with a spear, one grabbed around the neck and forced backward, breaking the neck, another is thrown out a window and lands on a picket fence, a meat hook to the head and the highlight, being tied to a tree with a rope attached to a car that then snaps the person in half. It's a fantastic way to open in the film and serves as a really great introduction to the rest of the film, which is just as bloody and brutal. This one also has a great amount of suspense in this, which comes from several superb stalking scenes that deserve some good points. The main one through the house has a great air to it, with the first realization of the killer being there is actually good, searching for the group and stumbling upon the other friends is all good stuff. There's also the film's high quality nudity, which is always nice and here comes through with two great scenes, where a couple take a bath together and a later one where another couple are stumbled upon sleeping with each other. They both provide nice nudity, and along with the other factors, provide the film's good points.
The Bad News: There wasn't much to this one that didn't work. The ending here is the biggest one in the film, as it has a couple points wrong with it. The main one is that it forces the ending in the house to feel really cheated, ending before it has a chance to get going. There's not even a fairly decent chase through the house from the killer, as it just bursts into fire before there's anything done with it. That's probably the biggest part of this, as there's no real reason why this one had to be done in such a manner without including at least one chase for this. That would've also eliminate the really uncomfortable ending that plagues the film, which here is really terrible. There's the rather painful and confusing addition of the policemen into the story, plus there's the just plain confusing manner in which the film ends, with the costumed re-enactment of a play with each other, and it leads to perhaps one of the lamest and bloodless deaths in the history of the genre. It's just really flawed and doesn't make much sense. The other flaw to this is that there's too much of the old-time advertisements to this, and it's hard to enjoy this because of that. These here are the film's bad points.
The Final Verdict: An incredibly enjoyable slasher that has a lot going for it and manages to mostly make up for it's few flaws. Recommended for fans of the style of 80s slashers or find this one relatively interesting, though those who aren't big on slashers should heed caution with this one.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity and a sex scene
**SPOILERS**
After hearing a strange news report, friends Jake Nelson, (Alan Hale Jr.) Kathy, (Staci Greason) Chip, (William Butler) Todd, (John Wildman) Greg, (Ken Abraham) Sherry, (Jaime Summers) and Lorraine, (Carla Baron) decide to head over to investigate. Realizing it's the house of old-time movie star Lance Hayward, (John Ireland) they rummage through the house looking for a good time. Realizing they are not alone, they into Angel, (Timothy Elwell) and Jo, (Michelle Bauer) also hanging out at the house. Slowly dawning that they're disappearing one-by-one, they come across a killer killing them off in the inspiration from several of the actors biggest films, and they race to get away before becoming prey for the madman.
The Good News: This one here was actually pretty good. The fact that there's a really enjoyable and unique storyline to this, which is a little off-the-wall, manages to derive some fun parts to it. As it's about a famous Hollywood actor trying to regain his past through using his best-known gimmicks as the basis for killing people off, there's a lot to this one which sticks out. This one has some nice stuff to come along with that, as the killer in this does tend to dress up appropriate to the kill, dressing up like a samurai when he uses a knife or a jungle explorer to kill them using bows and arrows, which is really well-done for what's happening in the scene. That also means that the kills in here are actually rather good and gory, which always helps. There's a great decapitation, an impaling in the back with a spear, one grabbed around the neck and forced backward, breaking the neck, another is thrown out a window and lands on a picket fence, a meat hook to the head and the highlight, being tied to a tree with a rope attached to a car that then snaps the person in half. It's a fantastic way to open in the film and serves as a really great introduction to the rest of the film, which is just as bloody and brutal. This one also has a great amount of suspense in this, which comes from several superb stalking scenes that deserve some good points. The main one through the house has a great air to it, with the first realization of the killer being there is actually good, searching for the group and stumbling upon the other friends is all good stuff. There's also the film's high quality nudity, which is always nice and here comes through with two great scenes, where a couple take a bath together and a later one where another couple are stumbled upon sleeping with each other. They both provide nice nudity, and along with the other factors, provide the film's good points.
The Bad News: There wasn't much to this one that didn't work. The ending here is the biggest one in the film, as it has a couple points wrong with it. The main one is that it forces the ending in the house to feel really cheated, ending before it has a chance to get going. There's not even a fairly decent chase through the house from the killer, as it just bursts into fire before there's anything done with it. That's probably the biggest part of this, as there's no real reason why this one had to be done in such a manner without including at least one chase for this. That would've also eliminate the really uncomfortable ending that plagues the film, which here is really terrible. There's the rather painful and confusing addition of the policemen into the story, plus there's the just plain confusing manner in which the film ends, with the costumed re-enactment of a play with each other, and it leads to perhaps one of the lamest and bloodless deaths in the history of the genre. It's just really flawed and doesn't make much sense. The other flaw to this is that there's too much of the old-time advertisements to this, and it's hard to enjoy this because of that. These here are the film's bad points.
The Final Verdict: An incredibly enjoyable slasher that has a lot going for it and manages to mostly make up for it's few flaws. Recommended for fans of the style of 80s slashers or find this one relatively interesting, though those who aren't big on slashers should heed caution with this one.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity and a sex scene