To All a Goodnight (1980)
David Hess was no stranger to the world of celluloid horror when he stepped behind the camera for his directorial debut (and swan song as of this printing). As an actor he made us cringe as Krug, the scariest of the hoodlums featured in Last House on the Left and his rapist take on Of Mice and Men in House on the Edge of the Park left our jaws dropped firmly on the floor. So he must have seemed a perfect choice for the ill fated To All a Good Night.
This film is mostly known among horror completists as one of the first slasher flicks to feature a killer Santa. A sorority house is closing down for the holidays but a few of the horny young ladies have stayed behind, tempting fate by drugging their house mother and inviting a few of their male friends to stay the night. The lascivious horde of femme fatales is anchored by the innocent-girl-next-door Nancy (Jennifer Runyon). In fact she is the only one the retarded groundskeeper (i.e. red herring #1), Fast Ralph (Buck West) can tolerate. But now the group find themselves isolated from the world as an axe-wielding maniac in a Santa suit slices and dices his ways through the cast.
To All a Goodnight is ridiculous in every respect yet it’s pretty enjoyable. On the outside, it may seem poorly shot and acted (except for the beautiful Jennifer Runyon who has sadly disappeared from the scene) though the body count isn’t bad and the ending holds an interesting twist. But dig a little deeper and read John’s interview with Mr. Hess and you’ll see a set plague with problems. Hess certainly cannot be blamed for all of the film’s mistakes.
But viewer beware, if you’re not a fan of slice and dice To All a Goodnight can become tedious and sometimes it’s a challenge to make it to the next kill. Things liven up when a sex starved police officer gets a bit close with one of the sorority sisters, but that’s well into the last half of the film. This movie was meant to be enjoyed with a group a friends who can get each other from one death to the next.
So why do I want to give Mr. Hess a second chance in the director’s chair? Krug scares the hell out of me!
Featuring notorious producer Don Edmonds (Ilsa She Wolf of the SS), Home Sweet Home kind of has a lot going for it. For one, it features mostly adults instead of teens. Sure, they’re still horny as hell, but there’s something palpable about the characters. The women are gorgeous and look to be of various ages. And the film has heart. Sure, it’s a kind of mindless and confused heart, but the acting is decent and there’s a real feeling that the filmmakers were shooting for something. Sometimes it just takes that little extra edge to make a movie work. OK, maybe work is a misleading word. Ah whatever, Home Sweet Home is also downright hilarious for all the wrong reasons and I’ll totally admit it… I liked this movie! In fact, I liked it a lot. So there.
There’s not really too much else to it. Luckily, the Kiss Army freak dies – he SO deserves it – and most of the cast goes along with him. Things move rapidly towards total chaos and then BAM, the obligatory shock ending. Not bad for a movie made in 1981.
Of course, you’ll have to forgive its many faults, including the awful opening sequence, which features a very primitive word processor delegating information to the audience regarding the house in question. After a few minutes of obnoxious beeping, I thought I was through with this cheap backyard slasher, but then came the real movie, featuring Wintergate as Jim (looking a lot like Michael Des Barres) practicing the art of telekinesis in his underwear at his office! We soon find out that Jim has put out an ad for tenants, women only no less, to live with him in his large but rather bland house. Being the 80s – which means tons of women with loose morals – the house fills up quicker than a bar on bottomless beer night. In fact, there are so many women, it’s almost impossible to keep track of them all. I ended up calling them “Blonde Floozy” and “Hot Blonde British Girl” just to identify them.
Boardinghouse is a movie that has to be seen to be believed. But be forewarned, you must have the constitution of a true horror hound with a taste for the totally absurd to watch it all the way through. Luckily, I am that person, so this was as good as ice cream on a hot summer day. I don’t think I could exactly pinpoint what was so bewitching about this mess of movie, but I laughed the whole way through and I just simply enjoyed the moxey of Wintergate. Plus Kalassu does show some real presence as an actress and a singer and gives the disgruntled audience one character to hold on to.
