Terror Night

Three couples decide to party the night away at the abandoned estate of film star Lance Hayward. Hayward was a Fairbanks and Flynn type in the 1920s, but has been missing for the past 20 years so his place is scheduled to be demolished. The kids encounter an unruly biker couple (the female half being Michelle Bauer) just before Hayward starts killing them in methods patterned after his top films. This is another one of those "how did this get made" films, but is an easy way to pass 90 minutes. There is plenty of graphic gore and some nudity (from Bauer, naturally). The old Hollywood star angle could have worked better had they put more thought into it and the production benefits from use of several Fairbanks productions. It is never explained why he is still so agile in 1987 or how he can survive a huge fire with no problem. Top billed John Ireland (who is the last incarnation of Hayward) and Cameron Mitchell get rough 5 minutes of screen time. Also top billed Alan Hale, Aldo Ray and Dan Haggerty get roughly 3 minutes of screen time each.

Released on an inexpensive DVD as "Bloody Movie" and an even cheaper DVD under its original title, perhaps people will get a chance to see this one. It's not bad!

A 1920s film star who never made it to sound pictures hasn't been seen for years, since he sold the rights to his films (he'd bought them all) to television. Think Errol Flynn, and in fact clips from his films are shown and his estate is thanked in the credits.

People get killed in ways people died in the star's movies. During the killings, clips from relevant pictures are shown, as well as the poster for the movie, and piles of still from it. The killer is dressed as "The Gaucho" and kills people with a Zorro-like blade, etc.

Two bikers, and a group of young people separately break into the star's estate, and they too get killed. The star would be 90 if he is still alive....

Really pretty enjoyable. The older stars in the movie: Alan Hale, Cameron Mitchell, etc. have only brief cameos.

Standard no-bud horror set-up - group of young adults providing the body-count after trespassing in old mansion - given enough quirk & energy to sustain interest. Plot centres around "Lance Haywood" former screen idol presumed dead: Haywood kills each person according to different film roles. Great cast - Jamie Summers in bubblebath - Michelle Bauer running around naked - body ripped in half during opening minutes - sepia flashbacks to killer's past screen glories - slashed-up headbanger fights to death with Haywood in knight's armour - movie posters of Haywood's films & confusing/indifferent ending. It's like FADE TO BLACK with great sub-Priest Metal Cheese from Surgical Steel!!!

Every once in a while, someone decides that there needs to be another movie about horny teens going somewhere to get butchered. Still, "Terror Night" (also called "Bloody Movie") does put an interesting spin on that motif. In this case, the house of 1920s movie star Lance Hayward is getting repossessed by the city; Hayward disappeared from the public eye many years earlier. Anyway, some typical '80s teens opt to go there for the night, and...well, you can probably guess what happens to them, especially since two of them are fiddling around in the bathtub when they first appear in the movie.

What makes this slasher movie a little different is the fact that a number of old B-actors appear in it. John Ireland plays Lance Hayward, but Aldo Ray plays a homeless man and Alan Hale plays a security guard. Personally, I wish that Alan Hale could have gotten more screen time, so that he could have maybe assumed his Skipper persona. Maybe they could have brought in the other Castaways to irk him. Oh well.

Also, when the murders happen, they use scenes from Lance Hayward's movies to show the murders. Considering that horror veteran Andre De Toth (House of Wax) was involved in this movie, it makes sense that it would be a little different.

The empty mansion of a legendary movie star who hasn't been seen in twenty years is set for demolition. A biker couple and a group of teenagers decide to give the place a visit. Once inside the old place the characters meet grisly deaths at the hands of a killer dressed as the movie star's film's characters. I found this to be a pretty enjoyable '80's slasher film, likable due to the fact that there is a lot of messy killings, a tight pace, creative kills, better than average acting from some of the actors, a creepy enough setting, and some out of place cameo appearances. If your only a fan of current horror movies then you probably won't like this, but if your an '80's slasher fan and you haven't seen this, then put this on your to-do list. Features chopped off heads and hands, a guy torn in two, impaling on a wooden fence, woman falling on spikes, and lotsa blood (hence, the title of the movie. It was filmed as Terror Night). The teen couple that makes it to the end of this movie is played by the same actor and actress who played a teen couple that gets murdered in the beginning of Friday The 13th Part 7. Three Stars.