A promising concept, is let down by its stringy narrative and so-so execution. I've never even heard of "Happy Hell Night" before and this early nineties, offbeat campus low-budget slasher is something that wouldn't have felt out of placed in the 80s. Tacky, gory and sleazy, but something just seemed to be missing or should I say something felt out of place. I couldn't shake the feeling that it could have been much better.
In 1963 seven members of the Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity were found brutally mutilated inside Winfield Mausoleum. The accuser priest Zachary Malius was put away in the local State Asylum. Twenty five years later, a hazing prank goes wrong when some guys accidentally release Zachary from his cell and heads back to Winfield College to continue the butchery.
The killer is suitably creepy and genuinely unnerving in appearance, but when he opened his mouth to spout out an amusing quip (ala Freddy Krugger style). It simply killed the mood. "No
" this, "no
" that. Done in a scratchy tone. No, please stop talking. Sadly this is too distracting (including its loopy tone), as it does bestow a nasty, atmospheric ambiance with some striking imagery
especially with the sequences of the killer lurking in the shadows and of course when he's stuck in his cell. Even then odd surreal images crop up too, involving a Jesus statue in a church and the setting has a Gothic touch. The darkly twisted, but untapped story takes awhile before hitting its strides, with the usual campus lounging and dramas. But when it kicks off the slaughter, buckets of blood flows (very cheap jolts), sex and nudity escalates (sometimes kinky) and stupidity is ensured. Some passages during the stalk and slash stages, just seem to jump around in a rather jaded manner. Not making much sense with little in the way of cohesion. The music does create some chills with its foreboding cues.
The cast attached features some names; Darren McGavin, Sam Rockwell, Jorja Fox (from the TV show "C.S.I") and Ted Clark. But these folks have nothing more than minor roles. The rest of the performances are extra-ordinary
some rather bad in their amateurishly buoyant deliveries. Crude dialogues come out of their mouths with a real joke-like emphasis.
Nothing special, but kind of fun over-the-top, b-grade shocker.
