Hell Night (1981)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Tom DeSimone

Writer:

Randy Feldman (written by)

Release Date:

28 August 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Pray for day!

Plot:

Four college pledges are forced to spend the night in a deserted old mansion where they get killed off one by one by the monstrous surviving members of a family massacre years earlier for trespassing on their living grounds.

Plot Keywords:

Night | Sorority | Fraternity | Male Surfer | Teen

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Linda Blair	...	Marti Gaines
Vincent Van Patten	...	Seth
Peter Barton	...	Jeff Reed
Kevin Brophy	...	Peter Bennett
Jenny Neumann	...	May West
Suki Goodwin	...	Denise Dunsmore
Jimmy Sturtevant	...	Scott
Hal Ralston	...	Older Cop
Carey Fox	...	Younger Cop (as Cary Fox)
Ron Gans	...	Driver (as Ronald Gans)
Gloria Heilman	...	Party Girl

Directed by
Tom DeSimone		(as Tom De Simone)

Writing credits
Randy Feldman		(written by) (as Randolph Feldman)

Produced by
Bruce Cohn Curtis	....	producer
Mark L. Rosen	....	producer
Chuck Russell	....	executive producer
Joseph Wolf	....	executive producer
Irwin Yablans	....	producer

Original Music by
Dan Wyman

Cinematography by
Mac Ahlberg		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Anthony DiMarco		(as Tony Di Marco)

Casting by
Johanna Ray

Art Direction by
Steven Legler		(as Steven G. Legler)

Costume Design by
Lennie Barin

Makeup Department
Ken Horn	....	special makeup effects artist (as Kenneth Horn)
Pamela Peitzman	....	makeup artist (as Pam Peitzman)
Tom Schwartz	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Michael Fottrell	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Ross Bush	....	first assistant director
Jim Charleston	....	second assistant director
Harry Haskell	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Kerry Alexander	....	carpenter
Loma Lee Brookbank	....	property master
David Clark	....	art department assistant
David Daniels	....	art department assistant
Charles Edwards	....	carpenter
Mike Fredrickson	....	lead carpenter
Robyn Jill Harwood	....	art department assistant
George Herthel	....	art department assistant
Mary Hicks	....	scenic painter
Jeff Knight	....	assistant art director
Lee Lazarow	....	set dresser
Robert Long	....	carpenter
Mark Luine	....	art department assistant
Steven L. Meyer	....	carpenter (as Steve Meyer)
Elliot Nachbar	....	carpenter
Peitro Palladini	....	scenic painter
David Pentacost	....	carpenter
Richard Portillo	....	carpenter
Mark Pritchard	....	carpenter
Guy Ring	....	carpenter
Reggie Rook	....	carpenter
Brian Shelton	....	carpenter
Bob Siegert	....	carpenter
Richard Singletary	....	art department assistant
Michael Speaker	....	scenic painter
Jeff Staggs	....	construction coordinator
Mark Tarnawsky	....	art department assistant
Peter Tkacheff	....	carpenter
Robert Ulrich	....	assistant property master (as Robert Ulrich Jr.)
Steve Walsh	....	carpenter
Chris Woodward	....	carpenter
John R. Woodward	....	carpenter (as John Woodward)
David B. Clark	....	art department assistant (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas B. Arnold	....	boom operator (as Douglas Arnold)
Jan Brodin	....	sound mixer
Jim Cypherd	....	recording engineer
Michael J. Ford	....	sound editor
Roxanne Jones	....	assistant sound editor (as Roxanne R. Jones)
Michael Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul A. Sharpe	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Paul Sharp)
Sam F. Shaw	....	sound effects editor (as Sam Shaw)
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John Eggett	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)

Stunts
Kerrie Cullen	....	stunts
Freddie Hice	....	stunt coordinator
Steve Holladay	....	stunts
Marcia Holley	....	stunts (as Marsha Holley)
Freddie Hice	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Buckley	....	second electrician
Marty Carrillo	....	electrician
Bradley S. Christian	....	grip
Robert Fischer	....	best boy grip (as Robert M. Fischer)
Richard Groetchen	....	best boy electric
Patrick Hall	....	grip
Robert Harmon	....	still photographer
Larry Lapointe	....	gaffer (as Larry LaPointe)
Randy Nolen	....	Steadicam operator
Rick Rolnick	....	best boy electric
Danny Toback	....	key grip (as Dan Toback)
Michael Wilson	....	second assistant camera

Casting Department
Robert J. Howard	....	location casting
Victor J. Kubitschek	....	extras casting
Steve Ringel	....	location casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jackie Cummins	....	key costumer (as Jaqueline Cummins)
Christopher Gibson	....	wardrobe assistant
Theresa Nicholls	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Warren Chadwick	....	assistant editor
James Peichocki	....	apprentice editor
Allan Schultz	....	assistant editor (as Alan Schultz)

Music Department
Kenneth Karman	....	music editor (as Ken Karman)
Bob Walters	....	music coordinator (as Bob Walter)

Transportation Department
Patrick Hall	....	driver
Barry Schneier	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Frank Darabont	....	production assistant
Steven Henderson	....	production assistant
Barbara Javitz	....	production coordinator
Carol Krupa	....	production assistant
Amy Rabins	....	production auditor
Sheryl Roberts	....	production secretary
Kevin Rock	....	production assistant
Daniel Schott	....	assistant to producers
Dale Tate	....	title designer
Jenny Townsend	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• BLT Productions
• Media Home Entertainment

Distributors

• Compass International Pictures (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• Adams Filmi (1983) (Finland) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Best Film & Video Corp. (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Future Film (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Media Home Entertainment (1981) (USA) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Court Wizard Special Effects (as Court Wizard Productions)

Other Companies

• E.A.T.S.  set construction
• Sound Arts  music recorded at
• Production Service Consultants  location equipment
• Lion's Gate Sound  sound re-recording (as Lion's Gate Sound Co.)
• Kimberly-Shirk Associates  the producers wish to acknowledge the cooperation of
• Bannershield Estates  the producers wish to acknowledge the cooperation of

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Netherlands:16 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1982) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

BLT Productions

Trivia:

The hedge maze was brought in as there was no actual garden maze on the mansion property.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Jeff Staggs's occupation is mis-spelt in the end credits as "Construction coodinator."

Quotes:

Marti: But Seth is bringing back help.
Jeff Reed: Seth isn't coming back.

Movie Connections:

References "Leave It to Beaver" (1957)

Soundtrack:

Theme from 'Hell Night'

Talking in terms of 80's slashers...this is a good film!

Linda Blair, everybody's favorite head-tolling girl, stars as an extremely cute college girl named Marti. Together with 3 other students, she's locked overnight in a haunted mansion as some sort of fraternity initiation rite. The house used to be inhabited by a family of weirdoes (figures…) and the deformed son is believed to still dwell around in the tunnels underneath the mansion's basement. While the other fraternity members are playing pranks to increase the eeriness, the real killer comes to interfere…

Of course, you can't really refer to this 'Hell Night' as being a good film. It's an 80's slasher, produced in-between two 'Halloween'-films. The only reason of this film's existence is to raise more money, so you can't be too demanding for plots, logic or credibility. In it's own specific category, this is a more than decent film. I can name you over a thousand similar films that are worse but only a few that are better. It's amazing what a competent director (Tom DeSimone – specialized in 'Women Behind Bars'-flicks) and a devoted cast (Linda Blair!!) can achieve. There are quite a few suspenseful sequences in Hell Night and the gore is not exploited for once. The settings are decent but sometimes underexposed, which is a bit of a shame. Overall, this a lot more tolerable than the average flick in which teens are slaughtered by the dozen.