Hell Night

Campus hazings include mayhem and murder. Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Peter Barton, Kevin Brophy. May: Jenny Neumann. Directed by Tom DeSimone., This plodding, derivative slasher opus — a surprise box-office hit — stars Exorcist vet Linda Blair as one of a quartet of sorority and fraternity pledges required to spend the title evening of their initiation inside the spooky Garth Manor. The mansion was the site of a gruesome multiple murder, wherein the owner killed his wife and three of his four deformed children before taking his own life. After the four pledges bed down for the night (mainly with each other, though Blair is called upon for the standard “virginal heroine” role here), mischievous upperclassmen descend into the house, intending to scare them out of their wits…but something even more repulsive than a pack of drunken frat-boys beats them to it. It comes as no surprise that Garth’s fourth child — apparently the most monstrous of the bunch — is still roaming the premises, and doesn’t take kindly to strangers. An early foray onto exploitation turf for director Tom de Simone, this film has a fairly stylish look, though mired by underlit photography and silly performances. Blair is appealing, but her role is sadly underwritten.