There is enough to like about this early 80s slasher film, that you can almost forgive some of its inevitable cliches that pop up in the third act. The film deals with four Greek House pledges who have to spend the night in a supposedly haunted mansion for their initiation. Before the kids are dropped off at "Garth Manor" as it is called, we get some nice exposition about the family who lived there from a boss frat guy. I am not that familiar with Greek life at college to know exactly what was his title, but most likely he was a rush chairman, who at some point of the day had told a pledge or two he was 'damn glad to meet them'. Anyway, it turns out the Garth family were some deformed inbred or ill-bred family whose patriarch was some kind of a turn of the century robber baron. At one point, he supposedly murdered most of the family, but one especially dangerous son got away and was never found. He may even still be living in this closed-off mansion!! The four pledges have to spend the night in the house and the front gate is chain locked shut and there are of course no working phones to call for help if needed. Also, climbing over the fences is dangerous as there are razor sharp spears at the top of each bar. The pledges are given a handgun to protect themselves, but as we find out later, it will be of no use. Is there someone actually living in this old mansion? Who if any of these pledges will survive until dawn??
Finding out these questions might just be worth your time. The film is pretty low-budget, but it really didn't need much in that department. The house is creepy enough for the setting. There is some decent gore, but nothing too over the top. The action plays out mostly as you might expect, but with well placed scares around many corners. Linda Blair is the "final girl", and she seems at home with this type of story. Her character has some depth, too. She's already having some buyer's remorse about joining a sorority, even before she realizes the terrible mistake they've made by agreeing to this initiation. Most of the cast I did not recognize, save for Peter Barton from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Hell Night, though well paced and full of scares, unfortunately suffers from a lot of the cliches that these horror films were riddled with back then. A car won't start when it needs to, even though it has been working just fine, the police don't believe an eye witness, and don't even look like they'd want to be bothered by it even if they did believe it, also people snooping around the scary house even when they know there is at least one killer, and they would be better off staying put and waiting for help. Also, how in the hell was someone able to light all those candles that the pledges find waiting for them once they are inside the house? After what we see happen to the other frat guys outside planting fake scares, how could anyone have gone into the mansion and lit all those candles without themselves getting killed? Okay, enough griping. I'll be generous and give it 7 stars.
The Hound.
Finding out these questions might just be worth your time. The film is pretty low-budget, but it really didn't need much in that department. The house is creepy enough for the setting. There is some decent gore, but nothing too over the top. The action plays out mostly as you might expect, but with well placed scares around many corners. Linda Blair is the "final girl", and she seems at home with this type of story. Her character has some depth, too. She's already having some buyer's remorse about joining a sorority, even before she realizes the terrible mistake they've made by agreeing to this initiation. Most of the cast I did not recognize, save for Peter Barton from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Hell Night, though well paced and full of scares, unfortunately suffers from a lot of the cliches that these horror films were riddled with back then. A car won't start when it needs to, even though it has been working just fine, the police don't believe an eye witness, and don't even look like they'd want to be bothered by it even if they did believe it, also people snooping around the scary house even when they know there is at least one killer, and they would be better off staying put and waiting for help. Also, how in the hell was someone able to light all those candles that the pledges find waiting for them once they are inside the house? After what we see happen to the other frat guys outside planting fake scares, how could anyone have gone into the mansion and lit all those candles without themselves getting killed? Okay, enough griping. I'll be generous and give it 7 stars.
The Hound.