In which the always spunky Linda Blair and a motley crew of likable teenagers spend one “Hell Night” in a haunted mansion and, you guessed it, horror ensues!
The supernatural slasher Hell Night (1981) is weirdly underrated. It’s rarely mentioned among other great slasher films from the genre’s peak years, circa 1978–1982. Halloween kicked off the craze in ‘78, leading to an abundance of cheap knockoffs that largely failed to capture the magic of John Carpenter’s and Deborah Hill’s genre-defining effort. The year of Hell Night‘s release, ’81, is probably the peak slasher year. Vulture called it the “apex of the subgenre’s wave,” a year in which “a staggering amount of them released into theaters.” It was a packed field, so in some ways it makes sense that Hell Night might get lost in the crowd. While it’s never really been lost to time—seeing several home video releases and being regularly available on streaming—it still maintains a lowkey reputation, except of course among rabid slasher fans (a club in which my friends and I are charter members).
Directed by Tom DeSimone—whose earlier film Chatterbox (1977), about a talking vagina, is a certified cult classic—Hell Night executes a simple premise well. After a college costume party, and as part of a fraternity/sorority hazing, four pledges must spend the entire night inside abandoned Garth Manor, located in the boonies and where the former owner once slaughtered his wife and children. A night of terror follow—a hell night, if you will. We’re invested from the get-go because of the deliciously gothic ambience DeSimone establishes at Garth Manor—characters carry candelabras through the dark and cavernous mansion—but also because of the highly memorable and likeable cast. The pledges come from all walks of life, making for an interesting melding of backgrounds and personalities—upper-class rich kid Jeff (Peter Barton), lower-class smart girl Marti (Linda Blair), sexy English trollop Denise (Suki Goodwin), and fun-loving SoCal surfer Seth (Vincent Van Patton). The actors have chemistry together and, as written and performed, are easy to root for as things start to go south.
Hell Night offers one of my favorite Linda Blair performances. A horror movie legend, thanks largely to her adolescent work in one of the greatest horror movies ever made, The Exorcist (1973), Blair compiled a strong body of work in cult films that would only find their true audiences years later. Hell Night is one of those movies, and her charismatic lead performance anchors the film. Even though she’s rarely mentioned in such lists, Blair makes one helluva Final Girl here.
As the privileged rich kid, Barton could’ve come off as unlikable, but he gives Jeff some extra dimensions. Van Patton really shines as the laid-back, but brave Seth, who jumps into action when needed. Like Blair, he has charisma to spare here. And if we’re talking about charisma, let’s talk about Suki Goodwin’s ridiculously compelling performance as Denise, an exemplar of the happy-go-lucky horror movie hottie. These characters laugh, flit, and fuck their way through slasher films until, inevitably, they meet their doom at the killer’s hands (think PJ Soles as Lynda in Halloween). Back in the day, they were the token “sluts,” the fun, flirty, and sexually active characters who were usually some of the first to go. Typically, these babes were mostly clueless to the horror around them until it was too late. In so many ways, Denise is one of the quintessential clueless horror hotties. It’s such a fun performance by Goodwin. Amazingly, Hell Night is her only feature film credit.
This would be a perfect time to pause the review for some station identification—and a gratuitous gallery of the smoking hot Suki Goodwin.
Okay, we’re back!
I haven’t gone into too much detail about the plot or memorable moments from Hell NIght (Suki Goodwin’s unbelievable hotness distracted me, and now I need a cigarette and a nap), but that’s for the best. As is true of most films worth your time, you should experience Hell Night cold and just relish the ratcheting tension and great performances. While it has an extraordinary amount of competition when it comes to 1981 slasher films, Hell Night is a blast, and one of the only films that so deftly works as both gothic horror and supernatural slasher.
For a more in-depth look at Hell Night, you should read what my friend Lance wrote about it for Kindertrauma. It’s a great piece, and he said it all, so I didn’t have to.
Hell Night is streaming on Tubi, Freevee, and serval other streamers.
Our Gal Friday Yvette helped push this post to the finish line. As always, we’re grateful for her hard work and dedication digging through the vast, underground archives to find hidden gems in need to dusting off for publication.
Yvette: Monsieur, ze pleasure is all mine. Crawling around on all fours, ripping my nylons to shreds, breaking a heel while stumbling through ze detritus you call an “archive,” well, it’s ze type of work I live for! Ahem. Did ze sarcasm seep through enough? I hope so, monsieur, because I’m about to hit you with an enormous invoice for new stockings, new heels, and a handful of expensive chiropractor bills, all of which you will be paying in full. Merci.
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