Nubile college student Rebecca Balding scrambles to find housing and ends up boarding at the Engels' Gothic seaside home. Fellow boarders include funny girl Juli Andelman, braggart trust fund dude Peter Widelock, and hunky dreamboat Steve Doubet. The house is managed by the nerdy Brad Rearden, whose mother Yvonne DeCarlo rooms in the attic and emerges on occasion to glare mutely at the boarders. A psychopathic killer enters the mix and begins offing the inhabitants, bringing in detectives Cameron Mitchell and Avery Schreiber to investigate.
Most have probably never heard of this film, although it did fairly well in the early dawn of the 80s slasher genre and seems to have a very small cult following who insist it is better than it really is. The sad part about the film is that the bones of something quite good are there, but it simply never catches fire and contains zero surprises.
The fact that the film is painfully predictable is a downfall. The film opens with a flash forward of the police running into the house in irritating slow motion and we get snatches of carnage, so we have a good idea from the first few frames of who ends up six feet under. We also know that Balding and Doubet as the two lookers in the group will automatically fall in love/lust, but it seems to happen even improbably quicker in this film than usual. They get one brief sex scene where Balding bares her boobs, but alas Doubet predictably merely doffs his shirt. Further, with only four potential victims in the house and a healthy running time, there is not much suspense as to who is on the killer's chopping block. There is also no surprise as to the identity of the killer as the film pretty much tells us from the outset.
On a plus side, the film looks great. The house - with its cobwebbed passages and hidden places - is a creepy setting. It is easy to see what truly gifted filmmakers could have done with this scenario (adding a few more students to the mix to keep suspense going would have been nice), but the director here too often settles for the obvious.
Mitchell and Schreiber are wasted as the detectives, whose subplot really does not go anywhere and seems included only to pad the running time. Rearden never really milks the prospect as to whether he may or may not be a Norman Bates-ish character and veteran DeCarlo is never given enough material to really ham it up. Barbara Steele is effective at her menacing best as a mute hidden denizen of the house. The students are all appealing and fairly well played. Andelman seems like that fun best friend everyone wishes they had. Balding and Doubet are credible and sympathetic, and have nice chemistry.
The kill scenes have some minor gore, but they never really have much shock value or scare factor going for them. Again, the fact that we can guess who is a victim and when they will be taken out is disappointing, as is the tiny body count for a slasher film. The climax holds no surprises either and seems more of an anticlimax.
Again, the film is actually OK to watch if expectations are not high, but I would not advise anyone to go out of the way for it either. This is definitely one that would be ripe for a better remake in the hands of someone who could remedy its weaknesses and capitalize on the creepy sets and situations.
Most have probably never heard of this film, although it did fairly well in the early dawn of the 80s slasher genre and seems to have a very small cult following who insist it is better than it really is. The sad part about the film is that the bones of something quite good are there, but it simply never catches fire and contains zero surprises.
The fact that the film is painfully predictable is a downfall. The film opens with a flash forward of the police running into the house in irritating slow motion and we get snatches of carnage, so we have a good idea from the first few frames of who ends up six feet under. We also know that Balding and Doubet as the two lookers in the group will automatically fall in love/lust, but it seems to happen even improbably quicker in this film than usual. They get one brief sex scene where Balding bares her boobs, but alas Doubet predictably merely doffs his shirt. Further, with only four potential victims in the house and a healthy running time, there is not much suspense as to who is on the killer's chopping block. There is also no surprise as to the identity of the killer as the film pretty much tells us from the outset.
On a plus side, the film looks great. The house - with its cobwebbed passages and hidden places - is a creepy setting. It is easy to see what truly gifted filmmakers could have done with this scenario (adding a few more students to the mix to keep suspense going would have been nice), but the director here too often settles for the obvious.
Mitchell and Schreiber are wasted as the detectives, whose subplot really does not go anywhere and seems included only to pad the running time. Rearden never really milks the prospect as to whether he may or may not be a Norman Bates-ish character and veteran DeCarlo is never given enough material to really ham it up. Barbara Steele is effective at her menacing best as a mute hidden denizen of the house. The students are all appealing and fairly well played. Andelman seems like that fun best friend everyone wishes they had. Balding and Doubet are credible and sympathetic, and have nice chemistry.
The kill scenes have some minor gore, but they never really have much shock value or scare factor going for them. Again, the fact that we can guess who is a victim and when they will be taken out is disappointing, as is the tiny body count for a slasher film. The climax holds no surprises either and seems more of an anticlimax.
Again, the film is actually OK to watch if expectations are not high, but I would not advise anyone to go out of the way for it either. This is definitely one that would be ripe for a better remake in the hands of someone who could remedy its weaknesses and capitalize on the creepy sets and situations.