October 5th, 2010 - Hell Night

What a pleasant, little surprise. When I randomly picked a movie off my shelf that I had never seen before, I have to admit I wasn't expecting much. I had never really heard of it before, the cover was ugly as sin, and the only recognizable star was a teenaged Linda Blair. And man, I have rarely been so happy to be proven wrong.

It's a pretty basic setup. Fraternity/sorority hazing dictates that the 4 initiates spend the night in a spooky old house. Legend has it, the previous owner killed his wife, 4 of his 5 children and then himself. The last child was never found, and I'm sure you can tell where this is going. The four leads prepare for a quiet night of recreational drug abuse and pre-marital sex, and 3 of the frat members sneak in to operate all manner of spooky noises and effects to the snot out of them. The child, all grown up and named Andrew, decides to get those damn kids off his property.

In all fairness, this is a pretty standard slasher movie. All the archetypes are there, and you can probably guess who gets killed in what order. But that's all part of the fun. Even better are the slight twists to the formula. One character actually escapes the grounds, and failing to find help, comes back with a shotgun. And once he gets back, he manages to go to town. No traumatized survivor testimonies to an unbelieving authority figure, no getting killed off as soon as he gets back. The kids don't take to getting killed of one by one, and they do take the fight to Andrew more than once.

The film's low budget doesn't really hurt it either. The kills are not quite as spectacular as they could have been, and the makeup and effects in general are rather dodgy. The actors are a mixed bag, but no one really leaves a lasting impression. Linda Blair switches from sounded shrill to bored. Sometimes in the same sentence. The cinematography however, is pretty damned good. With the exception of some poorly choreogrpahed sequences meant to disguise the budget, the entire thing looks sharp. The framing is well thought out and often witty in an odd way, and the lighting has some great contrasting colours that called to mind Dario Argento on a few occasions.

The script isn't too shabby either. There are some facepalm worthy clunkers, but they're few and far between. More noteworthy are the absolute gems of conversation that happen every now and again. It almost feels like a Marx Brother threw a cue card in randomly every 10 pages or so.

All told, Hell Night doesn't have a lot you haven't seen before in some form, but it's done really well, and chances are you haven't given this a shot. Don't make my mistake, if you see it on the cheap, pick it up and put it proudly on the shelf beside Friday the 13th. Show it off to friends who will pick it up and mock you for owning it. Prove them wrong, and prove to yourself that bottom shelf videos deserve a chance like everything else.