Happy Hell Night | |
---|---|
Directed by | Brian Owens |
Screenplay by | Michael Fitzpatrick Brian Owens Ron Petersen |
Produced by | Pavlina Proevska |
Starring | Nick Gregory Darren McGavin Frank John Hughes Sam Rockwell |
Cinematography | Sol Negrin |
Edited by | David Mitchell |
Music by | Nenad Bach |
Production company | Pavlina Ltd. |
Distributed by | Quest Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
Countries | Canada Yugoslavia |
Language | English |
Happy Hell Night (also known as Frat Night) [1] is a 1991 Canadian-Yugoslav slasher film directed by Brian Owens and starring Darren McGavin and Nick Gregory. The film also features brief appearances by Sam Rockwell and Jorja Fox in their early careers. [2]
On Halloween night 1965, a fallen Catholic priest named Zachary Malius murders seven fraternity pledges from Winfield College who apparently broke into his family's crypt and enacted an occult initiation ritual. After being confronted by his peer, Father Cane, who believed Malius was possessed, Malius was incarcerated in an insane asylum for his crimes; Henry Collins, a pledge that year, was the only survivor.
In 1991, during pledge week, the university students are preparing for hell night. Fraternity member Eric Collins, the son of Henry, is suggested by his fraternity brother Ned to have the new pledges break into the local insane asylum and photograph Malius as their initiation ritual. Eric later mentions the prospect to his father over the phone, which causes Henry to cut their call short. Later that afternoon, Eric finds his girlfriend Liz having sex with his younger brother, Sonny, in a hotel room. To punish him, Eric appoints Sonny and fellow pledge Ralph to photograph Malius as their initiation. Sonny and Ralph break into the asylum and find Malius's cell sequestered in the basement, but when Ralph attempts to take a photo, Malius attacks and kills him. Sonny flees on his motorcycle while Malius murders a nurse orderly before escaping.
Meanwhile, Liz attempts arrives at the party with her friend, Susan, and attempts to apologize to Eric at the party, but is rebuffed. She finds Ned Bara, a nerdy fraternity member, downstairs, and he inadvertently reveals Sonny's initiation ritual to her. Concerned when Sonny fails to return by midnight, Liz stops by the local church and seeks advice from the priest, Father Cane. When she explains Sonny's initiation assignment, Cane panics and urges her to go into hiding. Back at the fraternity house, the party begins to phase out, and Eric initiates sex with a Kappa Sigma sorority sister, but she stops him when he cannot find a condom. She attempts to leave the fraternity house, but is subsequently murdered in her car by Malius, who drives an ice axe through her head. Malius subsequently kills several partygoers in the house. Meanwhile, Henry, arrives in town and visits the church, where he finds Cane's body hanging posed as the Cross of Saint Peter above the altar.
Liz returns to the fraternity shortly after, finding it apparently empty. Throughout the house, she discovers multiple corpses before being confronted by Malius, but she evades him. Eric and Sonny subsequently arrive, and the three band together with Ned, who has closed-circuit monitors of the house in his room. Communicating to Ned via a walkie-talkie, Eric, Sonny, and Liz locate Susan, who is decapitated in the attic. Malius stalks them through the house, before Eric shoots him with a speargun, and he falls out a window. Henry arrives moments later, and confesses that he and Malius conspired together in 1963 to recreate a Satanic ritual, in which Henry made a pact with the devil that yielded him power and wealth. Malius, unfazed, murders Ned downstairs before impaling Henry with the ice axe through the door, killing him.
Eric, Sonny, and Liz find a book in Latin inside Henry's satchel detailing the ritual he performed with Malius twenty-five years earlier. Eric and Liz run to the cemetery and attempt to recreate the ritual in the Malius crypt. Malius arrives and stabs Eric through the chin, but is stopped from killing him when Sonny arrives moments later. Sonny and Liz complete the ritual, but Malius takes Sonny with him to hell. The police arrive at the cemetery shortly after, and Liz leaves with Eric in an ambulance. As she assures Eric everything is going to be alright, the ambulance driver turns around and reveals himself to be Malius.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2019) |
The film was shot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was financed through Pavlina Ltd., a Yugoslavian film production company. [1]
Happy Hell Night was released on video in the United States in April 1992, and was released in the United Kingdom on video under the title Hell Night (not to be confused with the 1981 film of the same name). [3] It was also released under the title Frat Night in Europe. [1] It subsequently screened on the Cinemax network throughout October 1992. [4] [5]
The film was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on August 3, 2004. [6] It was released for the first time on Blu-ray in a limited run by Code Red DVD on December 5, 2016, featuring a new 2k scan from the original vault materials. [7]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2019) |
Critical reception for Happy Hell Night has been mostly negative. In a particularly scathing review, TV Guide wrote, "Happy Hell Night is the decrepit mule train of slasher films, taking up the rear and sweeping up the malignant droppings of the Friday the 13th , Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street series, not to mention scores of other horror gore-fests of the 1980s. [8] Mondo Digital wrote, "Strangely edited, extremely bloody, and often baffling, it's the kind of film slasher fanatics stumble on and scratch their heads trying to figure out how it all came together." [9]
Eric Cotenas from DVD Drive-In gave the film a mixed review. While commending the film's atmosphere, cinematography, and performances; Cotenas criticized the film's plot as "overly familiar", the "underdeveloped" conflict between the two brothers, and lack of emotional resonance in the film's finale. [10]
Reception from audiences was equally as critical. Happy Hell Night received a 2.5/ 5 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with only 25% of users rating the film higher than 3.5/5. [11]
Hazing, initiation, beasting, bastardisation, ragging or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person's willingness to participate.
The Next Karate Kid is a 1994 American martial arts drama film, and the fourth installment in the Karate Kid franchise, following The Karate Kid Part III (1989). It stars Hilary Swank as Julie Pierce and Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi.
Tales from the Crypt is a 1972 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis. It is an anthology film consisting of five separate segments, based on the Tales from the Crypt short stories by Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, and Bill Gaines. The film was produced by Amicus Productions and filmed at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England.
Night of the Creeps is a 1986 American science fiction horror comedy film written and directed by Fred Dekker in his feature directorial debut, starring Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow, and Tom Atkins. The film is an earnest attempt at a B movie and an homage to the genre. While the main plot of the film is related to zombies, the film also mixes in takes on slashers and alien invasion films. Night of the Creeps did not perform well at the box office, but it developed a cult following.
Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation is a 1990 American supernatural horror film directed by Brian Yuzna, written by Yuzna, Woody Keith, and Arthur Gorson, and starring Maud Adams, Tommy Hinkley, Allyce Beasley, Clint Howard, and Neith Hunter. It focuses on a Los Angeles newspaper reporter who, while investigating the unexplained death of a woman, becomes entangled with a coven of Lilith-worshipping witches who are preparing her for a ritual on Christmas Eve. The fourth installment in the Silent Night, Deadly Night film series, it bears no resemblance to the previous films, as it drops the storyline of the Billy Chapman character entirely.
Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! is a 1989 American slasher film written and directed by Monte Hellman. A direct-to-video release, the film is the second sequel to the 1984 film Silent Night, Deadly Night and centers around the Christmas-obsessed killer Ricky Caldwell awakening from a coma and stalking a blind teenager with psychic powers, while she travels to her grandmother's house for the Christmas holiday with her brother and his girlfriend. It was the last to follow the storyline set by the previous two films, the next two sequels being standalone entries.
Hell Night is a 1981 American supernatural slasher film directed by Tom DeSimone, and starring Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Kevin Brophy, and Peter Barton. The film depicts a night of fraternity hazing set in an old manor—the site of a familial mass murder—during which a deformed killer terrorizes and murders many of the college students. The plot blends elements of slasher films and Gothic haunted house films. Filmmaker Chuck Russell served as an executive producer, while his long-time collaborator Frank Darabont served as a production assistant.
Happy Birthday to Me is a 1981 slasher film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Melissa Sue Anderson and Glenn Ford. Its plot revolves around six brutal murders occurring around a popular high school senior's birthday.
The House on Sorority Row is a 1982 American slasher film written and directed by Mark Rosman, produced by John G. Clark, and starring Eileen Davidson and Kathryn McNeil. The plot follows a group of sorority sisters being stalked and murdered during their graduation party after they conceal a fatal prank against their house mother.
The Brotherhood is a 2001 horror film directed by David DeCoteau and starring Samuel Page, Josh Hammond and Bradley Stryker. It is the first in the Brotherhood series of homoerotic horror films. The series goes by the title I've Been Watching You in the United Kingdom.
Just Before Dawn is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Jeff Lieberman and starring Chris Lemmon, Gregg Henry, Deborah Benson, Ralph Seymour, Jamie Rose, and George Kennedy. The film follows a group of hikers who travel into a mountainous region of Oregon to visit property inherited by one of them, only to be hunted by a ruthless backwoods killer.
Slaughterhouse is a 1987 American black comedy horror slasher film directed by Rick Roessler and starring Joe B. Barton.
Ghostkeeper is a 1981 Canadian supernatural slasher film directed by James Makichuk, and starring Riva Spier, Georgie Collins, and Murray Ord. Its plot centers on a trio of snowmobilers in the Canadian Rockies who become stranded at an abandoned hotel where the elderly female innkeeper is hiding an evil entity within the building. The film is inspired by the Windigo legend of North America.
Killer Party is a 1986 Canadian supernatural slasher film directed by William Fruet, and starring Martin Hewitt, Ralph Seymour, Elaine Wilkes, Joanna Johnson, Sherry Willis-Burch, and Paul Bartel. It follows a trio of female sorority pledges who unleash a demonic force after participating in an initiation ritual in an abandoned house on their university's campus.
Pledge Night is a 1990 American slasher film directed and edited by Paul Ziller. Its plot follows a college fraternity that incurs the wrath of a deceased pledge named Sid, who died during a hazing years prior. The film's soundtrack is provided by the American heavy metal band Anthrax, and the film also features the band's lead singer Joey Belladonna as a young version of Sid.
Fear in the Night is a 1972 British psychological horror film directed, produced, and co-written by Jimmy Sangster and produced by Hammer Film Productions. The film stars Judy Geeson as a psychologically-fragile woman who, upon relocating to a rural boarding school where her husband has taken a job, finds herself being tormented by a mysterious figure with a prosthetic arm. Peter Cushing and Joan Collins, respectively, also star as the school's mysterious headmaster and his wife.
Erotic Nights of the Living Dead is a 1980 Italian erotic horror film directed and written and directed by Joe D'Amato. It has received mixed to negative reviews. It was filmed in and around Santo Domingo.
The Brotherhood is a series of homoerotic horror films directed by David DeCoteau. The first film in the series is also known as I've Been Watching You in the United Kingdom.
The Initiation is a 1984 American slasher film directed by Larry Stewart, and starring Daphne Zuniga, Vera Miles, Clu Gulager, and James Read. The plot focuses on a young woman plagued by a disturbing recurring nightmare, who finds herself and her fellow sorority pledges stalked by a killer during their initiation ritual in a department store after-hours.
Silent Night, Deadly Night is an American horror film series consisting of six films. The first film in the series, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), originally titled Slay Ride, tells the story of Billy, a young man who experiences a psychotic break and goes on a murder spree dressed as Santa Claus. The film received theatrical distribution from TriStar Pictures, but was pulled from theaters in November 1984 after a series of protests against the film.