Getting dressed for a party, friends Judy Cassidy, (Cathy Podewell) Helen, (Allison Barron) Rodger, (Alvin Alexis) Jay Jansen, (Lance Fenton) Max, (Phillip Tanzini) Frannie, (Jill Terashita) and Stooge, (Hal Havins) decide to throw a party held by Angela Franklin, (Amelia Kinkade) and her friend Suzanne, (Linnea Quigley) at a local abandoned cemetery house. Starting up a giant dance party, they learn that the house they've chosen was known as Hull House which was the site of a brutal massacre years ago and is rumored to be haunted by the spirits of those who died there. Conducting a séance during the proceedings, they end up unwittingly releasing a horde of demons that were trapped in the building and they end up possessing the group and kill them off one-by-one, forcing the remaining ones to try to find a way to survive the onslaught of the creatures and get out alive.
This was a really impressive and entertaining film. One of the main ones is that the film is really creepy and has a great air of suspense. The building where everything is done is just highly creepy, with the completely dust-covered furniture, long hallways and darkened rooms, as well as the decorations added to the place for the party, with the giant candles, Halloween set-ups and much more added to the place to make it even more creepy. They're all added together in a fantastic ability to creep out because of the location. Then, when the floating heads, demon-eyed POV shots and demonic voices from beyond are thrown in, it's just even creepier. The gore in here works nicely, not being too graphic but good enough to satisfy with a tongue ripped out, eyes squished, an arm lopped off from closing a coffin-lid on it, an impaling in the back with a wooden stake, a crushed head and several being set on fire to add to the fun. That these, along with the film's ability to throw in a lot of 80s-era fashions, ideas and action give it a really healthy cheese factor as well and are a great part to help it become all the more watchable during it's early moments. The pace is great, since the film is really simple and straightforward with it's plot, which is always a good thing. There's also a couple of really great scenes that show the film's creativity. There is a very interesting shot as the group discusses things. We see the pieces of the broken mirror scattered on the floor. The gang stands over them and each person can be seen in a different shard of glass. Another big scene occurs when one of them is sitting down and takes their lipstick and slowly runs it down between her breasts, starting at her neck and then looping around her left boob. As they makes a slow circular pattern, drawing ever closer to the areola and the nipple, the camera slowly zooms in, and with the tip of her lipstick touching her nipple, she pushes it straight into her breast and it disappears without a single drop of blood. When she pulls her hand away, we see that her breast still looks normal, and it's perfectly done in a seamless shot which makes it all the better. As well, the last good part here is that there's plenty of nudity on display here, from one of them fully shows off her behind, another fully shows off her boobs and a third shows off everything for the camera on the front, which here is all done in great manner and is really appreciated. All of these are a grand part of making this one really enjoyable.
There wasn't a whole lot to this one that didn't work. The fact that there's a ways to go in here before anything really exciting happens is one of the biggest things working against it, since it does have a tendency to really wander a lot with what's going on during the early part of the film. Because it has to include the failed party and move on from there to the resurrection of the spirits and then them going crazy, it takes a while but it's good from then on. The slow pace at the beginning is helped out with the suspenseful location and the frequent nudity, but as far as action goes it's a really long time for it to get anything going. The other part wrong here is the cheese-factor, which might be a little much for some who aren't accustomed to these kinds of films or simply don't care for that quality. It's pretty loaded and can turn some off who aren't big on it, but these are all that's really wrong with it.
This film is probably one of my favorite movies from the 80s. I remember renting this film just based on the VHS cover. With the recent release on blu ray thanks to Scream Factory, I was happy to purchase this and revisit it with my wife (who liked it as well). I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoyed the 80s and is looking for a great throw-back to the era.
8.5/10
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