Halloween Night (Video 1988)

A kindly old grandfather is actually the leader of a murderous satanic cult which sacrifices its victims on Halloween.

Director:

Jag Mundhra

Writer:

Carla Robinson

Stars:

Hy Pyke, Gregory Scott Cummins, Katina Garner

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hy Pyke	...	Grandpa
Gregory Scott Cummins	...	Tommy
Katina Garner	...	Amanda
Carla Baron	...	Vera
Jeff Brown	...	Roger
Michael Potts	...	Bill
Patricia Christie	...	Beth
Larry Coven	...	Brian
Bryson Gerard	...	Young Tommy
Heidi Lepucki	...	Young Vera
Lance Harvey	...	Young Roger
Jeanna Fine	...	Nora (as Angel Rush)
Dave Campbell	...	Sarge
Marya Gant	...	Carrie
Michael Mincinski	...	Bob

Storyline

A kindly old grandfather is actually the leader of a murderous satanic cult which sacrifices its victims on Halloween.

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Plot Keywords:

holiday horror | independent film

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 July 1988 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Death Mask

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spencer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References Dead End Drive-In (1986)

User Reviews

Hack-O-Lantern, pretty weak 80s Halloween slasher

Young Tommy is given a pumpkin, a toy skeleton, and a pentagram necklace by his weirdly accented grandfather. When his mother learns where he got the pumpkin from, she smashes it. She complains to her husband about the man, and the way he singles out just their one son among all of them. He goes to complain, and gets killed upon observing a satanic ritual the grandfather presides over.

Years later, the son is a satanist too, and one of his brothers is a cop. The grandfather doesn't want him to waste his energies on girlfriend, so one of the cultists dresses up in a devil mask and cloak, and she thinks it to be Tommy (this scene is stolen from Carpenter's Halloween). The satanists are fairly careless about whether the pentagram is one point up, or two points up

There are a few musical scenes of bands performing. To some extent this is an element of 80's horror movies, but it also serves to pad out a pretty bare movie. One of these scenes, of lead singer in afro and faux-tribal bikini shooting lasers from her eyes at the band members, who disappear, and pitchforking one of them in the neck is a music video in a dream (!). Several of the real deaths involve pitchforks too, though. We even get a swashbuckling swordfight at a Halloween party.

Given the overall cheeziness, viewers might be surprised at the full-frontal nudity scenes that turn up. They will also be unpleasantly surprised at a scene in which the movie comes to a dead halt, while a guy performs his impersonation of a turkey in the wild surrounded by hunters before Thanksgiving. It's not funny in the remotest!

The only other Mundhra movie I believe I've seen is the softcore thriller Tropical Heat. In that, he largely wasted nice places shot on location in India, Maryam D'Abo, and Asha Siewkumar. A shame. He's also did the horror movie Open House (1987), and he did the thriller Night Eyes (1990) which spawned three sequels.