One Dark Night
A long-lost (and thought to be destroyed) horror flick of the early 80s now somewhat restored and released on DVD, has got to be one of the weakest examples of the genre imaginable. You know you’re in trouble when the main villain is not even played by an ACTOR, but instead by a fake-looking dummy. Meg Tilly is cute in her early role (which she later disowned), but her acting is horrendous, with a blank expression that carries from scene to scene. The camera work in the main setting of the mausoleum is meant to try to evoke the atmosphere of Phantasm, with barely a fraction of that film’s results. The first hour drags like a dump truck, and when the “scary” scenes finally start, they’re so cheesy and corny that the viewer is compelled to laugh out loud. It doesn’t help that the trio of “mean girls” is a corny ripoff of Grease’s pink ladies, and the token black girl’s habit of always chewing on a toothbrush is annoying and idiotic. This is a film where the hero is looking for his girl, and finds a random character hanging out on a street corner who happens to know where everybody is and what they’re doing at any given time. The only points this film gets is having the ultra-cool original Batman Adam West in a supporting part (though the writing for his role is bad and he really is of no consequence to the plot), and an early part for Elizabeth Daily as one of the clique members (her angelic closeups are sadly the highlight of the film). On top of part, the film carries a PG rating, which means no swearing, nudity, sex, and violence that could be acceptable on a Nickelodeon Halloween Special. All in all, if you see this and become curious, avoid…
2/10