Night Screams

Behind the uninspired title lies an equally uninspired slasher that fails to deliver those essential ingredients of any good trashy horror: gratuitous nudity and gore. Initially, the film shows promise, opening with a girl getting topless in a changing room before being attacked by a masked maniac, but then it becomes apparent that this is actually a scene from 1981 slasher Graduation Day, as watched by two of this movie's characters before they are stabbed to death. Nudity borrowed from another film doesn't count (which also negates some T&A later on, which comes from a porn film being watched at a party), and the subsequent stabbings are lame.

The rest of the film continues in this disappointing fashion as a group of friends at a post-graduation party are bumped off in tame and uninventive ways off by an unseen maniac. Suspects include the escaped lunatics hiding in the basement, and football star David (Joseph Paul Manno), who is prone to outbursts of violence if he stops taking his meds. Of course, these turn out to be red herrings, but the real identity of the killer isn't hard to guess.

Of the numerous murders that occur in the house, we get a guy skewered with a fire poker, poisoning in a sauna, an axe in the head, a guy barbecued on a stove and stabbed in the neck, strangulation, suffocation, electrocution in a hot-tub, and choking with a pool cue, none of which are likely to satisfy gore-hounds. The best part of the film comes earlier on, when the escaped criminals are involved in a shootout with some cops and kill the staff of a diner in cold-blood: it's a surprisingly brutal scene, with some bloody squib-work.

2.5/10, rounded down to 2 for diabolical dance troupe The Sweetheart Dancers, whose terrible moves would get them four 'NOs' on America's Got Talent.

Another day, another long-forgotten 80's slasher that came to my attention because it looked like it had to offer some decent murder sequences, T&A and a handful of clumsy and not-so-convincing red herrings. And yes, "Night Screams" is a more or less enjoyable horror effort, but only just as long as your expectations are kept to a minimum. We follow the usual crowd of stereotypical and irritating high school teenagers as they throw a graduation party in the football jock's house. However, there are two escaped criminals hiding in the basement and the hunky football star David himself suffers from aggressive behavior when he doesn't take his carefully prescribed pills. Soon after the party-goers are killed off in fairly imaginative ways (one girl has an axe planted in her skull, another guy's face is literally barbecued) and director Allen Plone begs us to think the culprit is either David or one of the mad thugs in the cellar. The plot twists don't really work, but I admire Plone for trying and there's at least a little bit of style to find in his film. Although that does not include the tasteless footage of porn movies and another inferior 80's slasher ("Graduation Day") that continuously plays on TV-sets in the background. I guess none of the actual actresses wanted to take her top off, so they needed to steal the padding from other movies. "Night Screams" is a forgettable and truly run-of-the-mill 80's slasher, but we've definitely seen worse already and avid fans of the decade will certainly not regret watching it.

My review was written in December 1987 after watching the movie on Prism video cassette.

"Night Screams" is a subpar specimen of regional horror filmmaking (shot in Wichita). Slasher pic is loaded with cliches and the running time is padded shamelessly with footage from a porn film and endless end credits (intercut with "highlights" condemning the preceding pic).

A group of graduating high school seniors get together for a party at a remote house and are killed one at a time. Suspects include two vicious escaped criminals prowling nearby, plus the hero, an unbalanced football great who, hint, hint, has left behind his medication. Twist has an unlikely character proving to be the deranged killer, and getting away with it at film's end.

Film was edited by noted film doctor Herbert L. Strock and is spiced up by lengthy excerpts of softcore sex footage from a porn feature starring Seka, Honey Wilder and John Holmes. Acting, gore and tech credits are routine.

By the time Night Screams came out, the slasher film had gone past life support and was at death's door. Night Screams doesn't do much to revitalize the genre, but it's competently and professionally made with a few reasons to tune in.

A seemingly unrelated murder kicks off the film as two people are murdered while watching Graduation Day on TV (if you think it's gonna get meta or something, think again). It's years later and a mentally disturbed football player has a party while his parents are away and his friends are brutally murdered one by one. There's also two homicidal bandits on the run who have chosen his basement to hide out in to avoid the law, but they're such obvious red herrings that their subplot doesn't amount to much.

If you're looking for gore, Night Screams actually does deliver in that department. People are stabbed, electrocuted, suffocated, and even burn on a grill like a hamburger. If you're an 80's fashion enthusiast, there's also a whole lot of questionable hairstyles and wardrobes on display.

I just saw "Night Screams" as part of an (obscure) slasher double bill with "Graduation Day" (1981). At least "Graduation Day" wanted to be a slasher. This, "Night Screams", I don't know what it wants to be. I do know it wants to be more clever but it ends up being a dumber movie all the same. A couple of escaped convicts find a hiding place in the basement of a house where a teenager on medication decides to have a party with his friends because his parents aren't home. There's bad music, bad sex, bad acting and eventually a few bad killings. On a technical level, it's not better or worse made than "Graduation Day". The latter at least played it by the early 80's slasher textbook and delivers as such a film. "Night Screams" plays it by the late 80's slasher textbook - not that the rules are much different, really - but manages to dumb things down to an almost intolerable level. Even with nada suspense or tension this time and the kills themselves aren't memorable either. The only mildly amusing aspect was the stupid twist at the end. It's such a typical conclusion, not at all original and you can see it coming from a mile away. But at least the filmmakers watched enough slasher flicks to get that thing right. Still, even if you're an avid slasher fan, I don't think you'll get too excited over this flick.