DVD catch up: Hell night. Stuck with Linda Blair all night long!

Synopsis: A bunch of horny youngsters spends the night in a abandoned house, which was the scene of brutal murders years ago, unaware that the killer is still at large! (yes, I know, this is the premise for 100 other films!)

Review: You can tell this is an 80's slasher within a few minutes. Not because Linda Blair is in it and she doesn't look like the scary botoxed cougar she has become. Not because of the bouffant hair and terrible fashion, the electro music... You can tell because, unlike modern slashers, shots last more than a few split seconds, and the  camera is not struck by the current trend of fast, bordering on the Tourette, editing Syndrome, and there is even some sort of story and characters.

This post Friday the 13th 80's slasher starts off like hundred others that followed Friday the 13th and Halloween, following the law of diminishing returns. But what sets it apart is a carefully constructed atmosphere that builds up the tension and avoid cheap scares, as well as an avoidance of gore. 

Indeed, after the obligatory first few murders of barely there supporting actors, the action then really takes the time to follow the remaining characters, managing to actually make us care for them, ramping up the tension by moving at a slower pace and barely showing the killer (and it's probably for the best, given that when it finally shows up, he looks like some kind of Frankenstein creature/monkey mash up). 

Linda Blair is the real oddity in this. She spends much of the film sleepwalking through her scenes, her acting completely at odd with the rest of the cast until she finally wakes up and kick some ass!

Rating: 6/10

Credits US 1981 Directed by Tom DeSimone. Starring Linda Blair...