Terror Night
Terror Night (also known as Bloody Movie) is a 1987 American slasher film directed by Nick Marino.
Terror Night | |
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Bloody Movie DVD cover | |
Directed by | Nick Marino Andre DeToth (uncredited)[1] Fred Lincoln (uncredited)[2] |
Produced by | Nick Marino Nancy Paloian |
Written by | Kenneth J. Hall Murray Levy David Rigg |
Story by | Nick Marino |
Starring | John Ireland Cameron Mitchell Alan Hale Jr. Staci Greason William Butler Michelle Bauer |
Music by | Bruce Hanifan |
Cinematography | John V. Fante R. Michael Stringer Howard Wexler |
Edited by | Art Luciani |
Release date | 1987 |
Running time | 84 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Plot
When a group of kids sneak into the dilapidated, apparently-abandoned mansion of vanished silent film star Lance Hayward, they are methodically killed off by the psychotic actor, who dons costumes from his classic film roles for each murder.
Cast
- John Ireland - Lance Hayward
- Cameron Mitchell - Detective Sanders
- Alan Hale Jr. - Jake Nelson
- Staci Greason - Kathy
- William Butler - Chip
- Michelle Bauer - Jo
- Timothy Elwell - Angel
- Carla Baron - Lorraine
- Ken Abraham - Greg
- Aldo Ray - Captain Ned
- Dan Haggerty - Ted Michaels
Production
While producer Nick Marino is credited as the director, numerous cast and crew members assert that several uncredited directors worked on the film, including Fred Lincoln and Andre DeToth (the latter of whom had not officially directed a film for almost 20 years).[2][3] Several accounts claim that DeToth convinced veteran actors John Ireland and Cameron Mitchell to join the cast, and shot the scenes they appear in after the majority of principal photography had been completed.[4] DeToth wore a neckbrace during shooting, after suffering an injury.[5]
One shooting location was an estate which had once belonged to Errol Flynn.[6]
Release
Although filming was completed in 1987, no record appears to exist of the film having an official release until 2004, when Fred Olen Ray's Retromedia put it on DVD under the title Bloody Movie.[7] A Legacy Entertainment release from 2005 uses the film's original title.[8]
Critical reception
Allmovie called the film a "substandard horror film" and that "the real fun to be had in Terror Night is its virtually limitless source of bizarre trivia for dedicated exploitation buffs."[9] DVD Talk's Daniel W. Kelly wrote, "With a storyline revolving around vintage movies and appearances by some recognizable has-beens, the film has more of a camp quality than horror. It's not the worst of the genre, but it's not the best. It's a bit simple and unexciting."[7]
References
- Borseti, Francesco (12 August 2016). It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers. McFarland & Company. pp. 256–257. ISBN 1476666040.
Andre [DeToth] agreed to do someone a favor and took over the shooting of Terror Night
- Borseti, Francesco (12 August 2016). It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers. McFarland & Company. p. 259. ISBN 1476666040.
Nick Marino gave himself co-director credit because he helped stage a few scenes, he was the producer and had final say over the credits... Fred Lincoln directed the entire movie except the "Othello" scene, which was Andre De Toth[sic].
- Borseti, Francesco (12 August 2016). It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers. McFarland & Company. p. 262. ISBN 1476666040.
Kenneth Hall was supposed to direct Terror Night and then Fred Lincoln came on to replace him and then after we completed filming, Andre De Toth [sic] was [hired] to do some rewriting/reshoots which basically re-imagined the entire film. So Nick Marino never actually directed the film..
- Borseti, Francesco (12 August 2016). It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers. McFarland & Company. p. 257. ISBN 1476666040.
Cameron Mitchell was brought in by Andre [DeToth]. Cameron worked two nights...Andre convinced John Ireland to appear in the film...
- Borseti, Francesco (12 August 2016). It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers. McFarland & Company. p. 258. ISBN 1476666040.
- Borseti, Francesco (12 August 2016). It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers. McFarland & Company. p. 261. ISBN 1476666040.
- Kelly, Daniel W. "Bloody Movie". dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- Bowman, Lisa Marie. "The TSL's Horror Grindhouse: Terror Night, aka Bloody Movie (dir by Nick Marino)". Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- Robert Firsching. "Terror Night (1987)". Allmovie. Retrieved 23 June 2012.