Invitation to Hell

This is a no budget British horror film. Allegedly made for £50, whether that is true or not it sure looks like it.

A young woman goes to a fancy dress party and finds she is to be sacrificed as part of a satanic cult.

The film is influenced by classics like The Exorcist and has some slasher elements like a knife through the throat (best gore effect in the film).

The budget shows and the film looks like it may have been shot on VHS or Hi-8 as it doesn't have the clarity of 16 or 35mm. The film first appeared on VHS tape with the director's other film The Last Night. I was convinced this was a video nasty, but it's a pre-cert that was never re-released in the UK. It does have a DVD release in USA. This film is not recommended but it is a rare curiosity of British horror.

Michael J. Murphy or MJM went onto write and direct a series of straight to video cheapies in various genres: slasher, sex, fantasy. He died in 2015.

Wonky little British trinket wherein a girl is lured to a farmhouse in the pastoral outlands to become an unwitting participant in a Satanic ritual. There are several people staying in the house, and a few end up dying gory deaths or becoming possessed by a demon. The film is badly shot, and the sound quality is occasionally muffled, but this has a surreal edge to it that got to me a bit(and put forward some moments of pretty strong gore). Also strange is the film's subtle gay-rotic undercurrent(one lengthy scene of two guys wrestling almost looks as though it might segue into a man-on-man porn scene).

I would hastily recommend this one to people who enjoy quirky, low-budget horror obscurities. 5/10

Well, I read all the IMDb reviews (except that long one) including the ones specifically stating how awful the DVD bootleg is, with all the sound issues. I can handle it, I thought, being a lover of bad movies and all, and British Horror has rarely done me wrong. Besides, how much dialog can there be in a 54 (turned out to be 41) minute movie, anyway? Well, never mind that, and never mind the head-ache inducing roar which replaces most of the dialog, I have a serious lack of common sense, when searching for bad movies, Actually taking some of these IMDb reviews serious for a change would probably help, then I wouldn't have had to pay perfectly good money for an inconvenience from Hell, like Invitation to Hell.

A woman named Jackie is invited to a remote farmhouse for a high school reunion/costume party, where it's somehow discovered that she's still a virgin. This news hits everyones ears just fine, because they're all Satan worshipers, and were needing a virgin for their ceremony, so guess who's never allowed to leave...

If, for some reason, any of this sounds interesting, and If the DVD bootleg is your only option, then, For any chance at all of understanding anything, turn the TV down a little. Not exactly a diamond in the rough, but if I thought real hard I could probably think of a better analogy. Invitation To Hell actually isn't the worst movie I've ever seen (see The Chooper) but it very well may be in the bottom 5, although, it was a little gorier than I thought, which always deserves recognition. Invitation To Hell is a rather haunting, gloomy, horror movie, which can almost resemble quality, at times, so I feel bad giving this one such a low score, but if you ever see it, you'll probably wonder why the hell anyone would actually write about such an insignificant obscurity, much less, have the nerve to not give it a one. Just, something about British horror, I guess. For something more entertaining from England, I would recommend anything from Vampyres to Shaun Of The Dead, but if you're like me and have a hard time making a sensible decision, then I would highly recommend Invitation To Hell. 3/10

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Invitation To Hell; before launching into my critique, here's a breakdown of my ratings:

Story - 0.75 Direction - 0.50 Pace - 0.50 Acting - 0.75 Enjoyment - 1.00

TOTAL - 3.50 out of 10

One of the foremost drawbacks of the eighties for movie watchers was the video camera. Video players were an outstanding and life-changing invention - for once, instead of going to the movies, you could go to friends or stay home and watch a film. But any numpty with a camera could shoot a motion picture and find somebody to fund distribution. And that is what appears to have happened with Invitation To Hell.

The synopsis of the story is rather substantial. Sadly the writer wasn't skilled enough to build the outline into a fully-fledged tale of horror. There needed to be more details and believable characters. For example, a scene where the two old friends meet and one invites the other to a party would have anchored the evil twist in the invite's tail better than having the woman just turn up. More background on the evil inhabiting the farm would also pull the audience in more. There's not enough meat on the story's bones to make it fulfilling.

Lamentably, the writer also directed the picture, and his skills are as weak as the scripting. Blissfully, however, he does keep all the scenes well lit. There is even one impressive special effects sequence. The demon knifes one of the farmworkers to a bedroom wall, crucifix style, then pulls the heart from their chest. It's not the best FX, but for this low a budget, it's bloody magnificent. Regretfully, the rest of the camera work is well below par. There are scenes where people talk, but their mouths are closed tight. But worst of all is the meandering pace. The film only lasts three-quarters of an hour, but it feels much, much, much longer.

Ah, now we get to the acting, and it's as bad as the writing and direction. A good cast could have made this drivel watchable. The cast is so wooden in their delivery, that I could have gone outside and watched the trees in the garden and gotten a better performance.

So with a sad heart, I suggest you all miss this picture and do something more interesting with your lives: Like training a snail to race. Invitation To Hell can't even be called a B-Movie, it is that horrendous - there aren't even any unintentionally funny moments. I took the bullet on this one so you don't have to.

Please feel free to visit my Absolute Horror lists to see where I ranked Invitation To Hell - and to find a more enjoyable viewing experience.

Take Care & Stay Well.

I know the sound is horrid if you can even call it sound and the acting is garbage again if you can call it acting. But this film does turn away most people and i like that about this film. By being a horrid mess it makes the film more personal to me. So when I watch it I feel like it is my own movie. Also for any one looking for the Wes Craven Invitation to Hell this is not it. That film is worse to watch than this. Even though the Craven movie can be heard it still sucks because Susan Lucici (or however you spell her name) should have stayed in Daytime Limbo where she belongs and not muddled up the great Wes Craven's movie. So if you want a film that takes a little work to watch Invitation to Hell (1982) is for you. trust me when your friends are at school talking about the latest Michael Bay crap fest you can blow them away with your knowledge of underground cinema. I know it worked for me.