Unhinged (1982)

Three young women who crash their car during a rainstorm are taken in by a bizarre family at their large, rural estate.

Director:

Don Gronquist

Writers:

Don Gronquist, Reagan Ramsey

Stars:

Laurel Munson, Janet Penner, Sara Ansley

Cast

Cast overview:
Laurel Munson	...	Terry Morgan
Janet Penner	...	Marion Penrose (as J.E. Penner)
Sara Ansley	...	Nancy Paulson
Virginia Settle	...	Mrs. Penrose
John Morrison	...	Norman Barnes
Barbara Lusch	...	Gloria
Bill Simmonds	...	Carl Penrose
Francine Molter	...	Terry's Mother (voice)
Dave Hood	...	DJ (voice)

Storyline

College students, Terry, Nancy and Gloria are on their way to a rock concert, driving through a torrential rainstorm... only to crash their car, badly injuring one of them. Seeking shelter and aid they come across a house occupied by a man-hating mother and her daughter... our trio soon wish they hadn't.

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Plot Keywords:

mansion | secret | old lady | blood splatter | female full frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

Get your slice from the reaper. Violence beyond reason, Victims beyond help.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film has been considered by some to be a loose remake of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

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Quotes

Terry Morgan: A lot of really weird things are going on round here!... Breathing, strange sounds, your Mother, now faces at the window... I can't stand it!

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Crazy Credits

The fast-food restaurant chain, "Taco Time" is given a special thanks in the end credits, because of the radio ad that is heard in the beginning of the movie.

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Connections

Referenced in Fear, Panic & Censorship (2000)

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Soundtracks

Nocturne (Bal Phantôme)
Written by Francis Poulenc
Performed by Ann Miller

User Reviews

This is Not As Bad As it is Made Out To Be

Unhinged is not a great film by any means. I bought this movie about a year ago and the cover states "Banned In the UK" and "Out Sold Poltergeist", so naturally I was rather interested to see what the controversy was all about. I will admit when I sat down and watched this I thought it was just terrible. Virtually no gore, awful acting, and a stupid premise. Why was this banned in the UK? It wasn't until a full year later that I decided to grab this movie again from the other 300 horror movies I have and give it a second chance.

Basically, three college girls are on their way to a jazz concert. They get kind of lost and end up crashing their car on some old road. When the girls come to, they are in a mansion and have been rescued by quite a strange little family of just a mother and daughter. Quickly, you notice that the mother hates all men and is constantly yelling at her daughter for bringing men into the mansion. The movie picks up when one of the girls from the car wreck goes to get some help and is quickly killed off. Will the rest of the girls make it through the night?

After a second viewing of this movie, I actually have grown to like it. In many ways, this movie is actually rather original. It has a good old fashioned story to it, unlike the rest of the movies of its era (Friday the 13th, The Burning, Sleepaway Camp, etc. {all of which are good also}). The fact that the director didn't want to have a body count movie was interesting because it all most forces you to pay more attention to the story and not the murders. And the ending is rather shocking, even I must admit. If you pay attention in the movie you can already guess who the killer is, but the ending is still pretty sick.

Altogether, this is a decent no budget horror movie with a nice twist ending. I highly recommend it to those that have the patience to watch a movie like this. 7/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Unhinged

Filming Locations:

Pittock Mansion - 3229 NW Pittock Drive, Portland, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anavisio Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color