Terror Night Explained

Terror Night
Director:Nick Marino
Andre de Toth (uncredited)[1]
Fred Lincoln (uncredited)[2]
Producer:Nick Marino
Nancy Paloian
Story:Nick Marino
Starring:John Ireland
Cameron Mitchell
Alan Hale Jr.
Staci Greason
William Butler
Michelle Bauer
Music:Bruce Hanifan
Cinematography:John V. Fante
R. Michael Stringer
Howard Wexler
Editing:Art Luciani
Runtime:84 min.
Country:United States
Language:English

Terror Night (also known as Bloody Movie) is a 1987 American slasher film directed by Nick Marino.

Plot

When a group of kids sneak into the dilapidated, apparently-abandoned mansion of vanished silent film star Lance Hayward, they are methodically killed off by the psychotic actor, who dons costumes from his classic film roles for each murder.

Cast

Production

While producer Nick Marino is credited as the director, numerous cast and crew members assert that several uncredited directors worked on the film, including Fred Lincoln and Andre de Toth (the latter of whom had not officially directed a film for almost 20 years).[2] [3] Several accounts claim that de Toth convinced veteran actors John Ireland and Cameron Mitchell to join the cast, and shot the scenes they appear in after the majority of principal photography had been completed.[4] De Toth wore a neckbrace during shooting, after suffering an injury.[5]

One shooting location was an estate which had once belonged to Errol Flynn.[6]

Release

Although filming was completed in 1987, no record appears to exist of the film having an official release until 2004, when Fred Olen Ray's Retromedia put it on DVD under the title Bloody Movie.[7] A Legacy Entertainment release from 2005 uses the film's original title.[8]

Critical reception

Allmovie called the film a "substandard horror film" and that "the real fun to be had in Terror Night is its virtually limitless source of bizarre trivia for dedicated exploitation buffs."[9] DVD Talk's Daniel W. Kelly wrote, "With a storyline revolving around vintage movies and appearances by some recognizable has-beens, the film has more of a camp quality than horror. It's not the worst of the genre, but it's not the best. It's a bit simple and unexciting."[7]

References

  1. Book: Borseti, Francesco . It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers . . 256–257 . 12 August 2016. 978-1476666044 . Andre agreed to do someone a favor and took over the shooting of Terror Night.
  2. Book: Borseti, Francesco . It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers . . 259 . 12 August 2016. 978-1476666044 . Nick Marino gave himself co-director credit because he helped stage a few scenes, he was the producer and had final say over the credits... Fred Lincoln directed the entire movie except the "Othello" scene, which was Andre De Toth [sic]..
  3. Book: Borseti, Francesco . It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers . . 262 . 12 August 2016. 978-1476666044 . Kenneth Hall was supposed to direct Terror Night and then Fred Lincoln came on to replace him and then after we completed filming, Andre De Toth [sic] was [hired] to do some rewriting/reshoots which basically re-imagined the entire film. So Nick Marino never actually directed the film...
  4. Book: Borseti, Francesco . It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers . . 257 . 12 August 2016. 978-1476666044 . Cameron Mitchell was brought in by Andre. Cameron worked two nights...Andre convinced John Ireland to appear in the film....
  5. Book: Borseti, Francesco . It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers . . 258 . 12 August 2016. 978-1476666044 .
  6. Book: Borseti, Francesco . It Came from the 80s! Interviews with 124 Cult Filmmakers . . 261 . 12 August 2016. 978-1476666044 .
  7. Web site: Kelly . Daniel W. . Bloody Movie. dvdtalk.com . 23 May 2019.
  8. Web site: Bowman . Lisa Marie . The TSL's Horror Grindhouse: Terror Night, aka Bloody Movie (dir by Nick Marino). 12 October 2017 . 23 May 2019.
  9. Web site: Terror Night (1987) . Robert Firsching . . 23 June 2012.