The Black Room (1984)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Directors:

Elly Kenner
Norman Thaddeus Vane (co-director)

Writer:

Norman Thaddeus Vane (writer)

Release Date:

March 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

There is a room for rent in the Hollywood Hills... and the tenants are paying in blood.

Plot:

A room gets put up for rent following the mysterious murder of its previous tenant. When an apartment-hunting...

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Murder | Rampage | Softcore | Vulgarity

Cast

Stephen Knight	...	Jason
Cassandra Gava	...	Bridget (as Cassandra Gaviola)
Jimmy Stathis	...	Larry
Clara Perryman	...	Robin
Charlie Young	...	Lisa
Geanne Frank	...	Sandy
Linnea Quigley	...	Milly
Christopher McDonald	...	Terry
Allisun Kale	...	Jenny
Edwin Avedissian	...	Davie
Sheila Reid	...	Female Lover

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) | USA:R

Company:

Butler-Cronin Productions

Soundtrack:

Dancin To the Music

Amusing and steamy

Larry, a dashing family man, decides he needs some escapism in his life and rents a room to fulfill his darkest fantasies. The room he finds is within a Hollywood Hills mansion and is decorated seductively in black with lots of candles and drink. His doting wife goes along with the fantasy, but what she doesn't know (if you can believe it) is that the lurid tales of prozzies and pickups he's ravished in the room are actually true. And what Larry doesn't know is that the kooky siblings from whom he rents the "black room" are after blood and not his rent! This is a quirky and unique low-budget film that delivers in some areas. It manages to go from creepy to sizzling hot to awkwardly funny from scene to scene. The acting is excellent for a low budget-80s film, especially by the four relatively unknown leads. Jimmy Stathis (Larry) manages to pull off loving father and husband in some scenes and complete sleazeball in others. He's a character that is difficult to root for (and even watch at times), but thankfully he isn't the only protagonist in the film. His wife (played by the fantastic Clara Perryman) smiles and laughs along with Larry's kinky fantasies that don't involve her, which is an aspect of the story that comes across as silly considering she knows that he really does have this "black room." But once the story gets going and she becomes more involved with the plot, it's easy to get past this. The demented landlord sibs steal every scene they're in. Stephen Knight is believably lecherous and Cassandra Gava is both sexy and insane as his caretaker and BDSM-loving sister. The atmosphere, especially in the titular room, is eerie and alluring. The score is inventive and one of the movie's high points. So while some of the plot premises are a bit brow-raising, and the horror in the film didn't seem to fully lift off, this is an original and steamy genre movie in which I found enough things to enjoy. Look for Christopher McDonald and Linnea Quigley in small roles.