Four fraternity pledges endure hazing in the form of being tasked to spend an entire night at the eerie Garth Manor, which has been vacant since the former owner killed his wife and children before hanging himself 12 years ago. These four friends laugh off the legends about surviving family members still lurking the house, and, after being locked inside the gates, they settle down for a night of fun-spirited partying. Marti, played by Linda Blair (
The Exorcist), is having second thoughts about Greek life. Jeff, played by Peter Barton (
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter), is only pledging because of his father's wishes. Seth, played by Vincent Van Patten (
Rock 'n' Roll High School), is a laid-back surfer who is up for a lively night with the gorgeous Denise, played by Suki Goodwin. The fraternity president and his cohorts have other plans for these pledges, and they sneak onto the premises to play some scary tricks. All of these people are in for an unexpectedly terrifying evening, however, when the mansion turns out to be not so empty after all.
The movie poster for
Hell Night, with its tagline,
“Pray for day.”, captured my imagination when I saw it in the newspaper during my childhood. A few years later, I watched a television airing of the film, and fell in love with its simple, yet intensely effective plot. When I revisited it tonight for the first time in three decades, I was pleased to discover that the story has lost none of its darkly fun allure. The mansion setting really makes the film, especially because of the hidden catacombs, the outdoor hedges around a fountain, and the spiked metal gates. I also love the fact that the characters are all dressed in pre-20th century outfits, because of the pre-hazing parties. The violence in the movie is thankfully quite tame compared to its contemporaries during the golden age of slashers in the early 1980s, but it rides high on a tide of solid cinematography and atmosphere.
Hell Night stands tall in horror circles these days, because it makes an insightful statement about the resilience of the individual in the face of conformity. Linda Blair's Marti is not only beautiful, but resourceful as well, and she is able to use her intellect (and her car mechanic know-how) to battle the odds, ensuring that she does not need the validation of a group to bolster her self worth. Many of my favorite moments of the movie are the quieter dialogue scenes with the four characters, all of whom have their own unique personalities that defy easy categorization.
For this new Blur-ay of
Hell Night, Scream Factory has done impressive work with a less than perfect source, taking the best surviving 35mm print and using occasional standard definition footage to fill in the gaps. Aside from a couple of noticeable frame jumps, the transition comes across almost seamlessly, probably because the nighttime darkness keeps some of the lack of detail from standing out when the less-than-stellar footage is utilized. It's an honor to have a presentable high definition presentation of this movie in the first place, since the possibility of such a thing has been in doubt for years.
The supplementary interviews are plentiful, and this is one of Scream Factory's most souped-up Blu-rays in that regard. I'm still going through them, and I have not even started with the commentary track. I love it when Blu-rays are like amusement parks, and it's not possible to go through all of the goodies at once.
My favorite supplement is the one with Vincent Van Patten and Suki Goodwin having a conversation in present-day, because Goodwin is still
amazingly attractive even after all of these years.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
I'm sure Universal would license it cheaply.
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