Behind the Couch

I recently wrote an essay on the 1981 Gothic slasher film Hell Night , exploring the influence of folklore and cautionary fairy tales on its narrative. Following in the wake of titles such as Halloween , Friday the 13th , Terror Train , My Bloody Valentine , The Prowler and Prom Night , Hell Night  was produced at the height of the 'Golden Age' of slasher films (1978 - 1984). While it strongly adheres to typical slasher conventions, it offers interesting variations with its eerie fairy tale subtext and social commentary on the dangers of rites of passage initiations and social indoctrination. If you're interested in reading more, my piece has been published in the latest issue of We Belong Dead and you can pick up a copy here . 

1981 Dir. Tom DiSimone The early Eighties was officially a good time for slasher movies. From 1978 to round about 1985 is generally considered the slasher heyday. From Black Christmas to Halloween, Friday the 13th to, well, Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning , and everything in between; the output of the horror genre at this time usually involved some masked psycho or other stalking teenagers in an isolated location, killing them off in grisly fashion, one by one, until only a single character was left alone, usually a young woman, with nothing but her level head and resourcefulness to aid her in defeating the brute.  Hell Night is one such film, its ominous atmosphere and gothic trimmings marking it as one of the better ones. As part of their initiation into the fraternity Alpha Sigma Rho, four young pledges must spend the night in the exceedingly creepy Garth Manor, where legend has it, many years before, disturbed patriarch Raymond Garth slaughtered his wife and mo...