Welcome To Our Nightmare III: Terror, Wooley... and TAKOMA!

I barely remember it, but I dont think I liked it much.

And here we are, the least talked-about slasher on Movie Forums.
Well, I am here to tell you that Hell Night is no worse, really, than the average of those many slashers we have talked about so many times over the years (The Prowler, Prom Night, The Final Terror, The Prey, The Burning, Just Before Dawn, House On Sorority Row, Final Exam, Terror Train, The Slumber Party Massacre, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Rage, Death Spa, and even The Edge Of The Axe. Hell Night has its issues but it also has its strengths.

Hell Night is an interesting little movie because I think you would have to call it a Slasher and yet it kind of takes place in a sort-of Haunted House with everyone in gothic costume. On purpose. This was a decision by the director who also lit the film with a little bit of Bava and put it in this great old mansion. I found that it felt like a Haunted House movie most of the time it's just that the "ghosts" weren't exactly ghosts. And, of course, this makes it an October Movie.


So on Pledge Night, the big-name fraternity and sorority on campus throw a huge costume party which culminates in locking their new pledges into the Garth Manor house overnight as a rite of passage. Old Man Garth murdered his family of deformed children along with his wife and eventually himself some years before. But the youngest somehow got a pass and another of his children's body was not found. As the pledges settle in for the night and the frat-boys and sorority girls come around to try to scare them, the body-count begins to mount.



So there are actually a number of pretty good scenes in this and even though the movie is mostly bloodless with quick actual kills, they do a good job of building suspense to the dreadful moment and find ways of making it seem a little more graphic than it really is. There were several little things that made me smile throughout the movie and, to be honest, there was nothing I really thought was bad about it. Overall I thought the acting was pretty good for a Horror movie (surprised to hear that Linda Blair got shade for her performance I thought it was perfectly good and more magnetic than her co-stars and very sympathetic). I did wonder if the head-turning kill that occurs fairly early on was specifically because Blair is in the movie. I also liked that the Party Girl is not killed off right away in some moralistic execution, she sticks around quite a while.

So, yeah, there is nothing wrong with this little slasher. We have certainly praised worse ones around here. And I do think that with it's look and vibe and Haunted House setting it makes for a decent October watch.


Post-script - It’s worth mentioning that there’s this little theme of class differences running throughout that has actually I guess been talked about a good bit. Blair's character is not from this world of privilege that everyone around her came from and here they are in the mansion of a wealthy man and it's all decay and death. Interesting subtext.

I agree that Cemetery has its excellent moments but I think overall it's a big step down from the other two and I prefer to substitute Zombie and just pretend that's really the other one in the Trilogy... and honestly, I think it fits better than Cemetery also.

I also really liked it. (On some services it's called The Psychic).

I don't think it's a big step down from The Beyond. If there is any problem with it, it just makes too much sense. And by too much sense, I mean almost makes sense, which is really the only crime a Fulci movie can make with me.


Basically, a rule of thumb with Fulci is that you always need a good dose of lingering confusion so that when the slower scenes come around, you can at least torment yourself with the questions 'wait, have I been introduced to this character yet?' or 'hold on, why are they doing that thing they are doing?'.


If I know what every function every scene has towards the bigger picture, the magic can't help but dissipate a little. It gives me time to orient myself and Fulci should know better than this

I could have a field day with all the slashers no one talks about.


Doom Asylum, anyone?


Ya, I thought not.


Apparently no one understands the unexpected magic that happens when a movie is simultaneously a terrible horror movie and a terrible comedy. Somehow, when mixing these to unlikely ingredients together, some weird alchemy happens that makes me very happy.


And,no, no one other than me should bother watching it

Or how about Sledgehammer?


Maybe not very scary, but has arguably the greatest food fight in cinematic history.

this has been on my watchlist forever and i'm sold now

It loses steam once it realizes it's supposed to be a horror movie, but up until that point it's got some great scenes of people unpacking luggage from their car and then balancing beer cans on eachothers heads. The kind of important things modern audiences dont really know how to properly appreciate anymore.

Lol, your concerns have been duly noted but I will be proceeding with the trilogy proper. I've only seen each film exactly once and don't remember a drastic dip in quality. I've even gone so far as defending the indefensible Bob in the past. We'll see how it goes I guess.

Now you've got me wondering if I blind-bought Doom Asylum or not. I think this is one that I came very close to buying, but ultimately, did not. Fairly certain I never bought Sledgehammer either, even though I've been aware of the title for over a decade, but still have not seen it to this day.

ETA: I stand corrected on Doom Asylum. I did blind buy. Sounds like it'll go on the queue for late night movie with friends... Though, it'll have to go on there after Creatures from the Abyss and Blood Lake, so it'll be a few years.

Well, then you should be fine.

First thing that struck me while watching the first film tonight was how terrible the voice acting was for everyone. Yes, Bob's is a special kind of terrible but not really that much worse than anyone in this film.

Sounds like the perfect triple bill to lose all your friends.


*chef's kiss*

Is it a comedy? Is it just really really bad? Is it an art house film or a total put-on? Is it something I should be laughing at or something to be unnerved by? Just...wow.



I made the wise decision to check this out when I saw it mentioned on RLM, since I'd never even heard of it before, and it delivers as a complete blind watch. Now I've got competition for best movie I watched this Halloween (I just figured Ghostwatch was walking away with this).


A movie that greatly rewards those who dare to watch it knowing nothing at all about what it's about. But, also a movie who might drive a few of these brave souls completely insane (*loud horse noises*.....*more loud horse noises*)

Mr Rock made a pretty strong case for that one some time back. Not strong enough for me to actually watch it, of course.

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If he didn't convince you it's the greatest movie ever made, he didn't do his job


Of course I understand this might not be the best time to vouch for anything, since I've only just stopped talking about Doom Asylum and Sledgehammer as things I both have watched and didn't immediately regret.


But Devils Story is better than both of those! Combined!

Where is it? I'll take the challenge. I probably won't get to it before All Hallow's Eve but I'll do it.

It's on Tubi. Probably wouldn't meet your horror requirements, even though it is part slasher, part monster movie. It falls in between the cracks of any actual genre. I feel like it's almost a hybrid of Jean Rollins pastoral, slow paced moodiness, Lynchian surrealism, Kenneth Angers provocations, Fulcis gorey dream logic and all sorts of low grade Grindhouse murder movies.


It's also only 75 minutes.


But i's also probably really irritating to anyone who doesn't get on board it's very particular vibe. It sort of reminds me of that psychotic breakdown, Disneyland movie I've recommended before (I can't remember it's name, but Takoma watched it) in how it kind of assaults the audience with its abrasively noisy repetitions. It's unignorable

I like a vibe, particularly a unique one. I'll check it out.