Night 6 of 31 Nights of Horror

Still not the movie I’m searching for from my childhood memory. I asked Google for a 1980s horror movie with teens in a haunted house and this is what it suggested. Four fraternity and sorority pledges have to spend the night in a mansion where, years prior, a man killed his entire family and hilarity ensues. I mean murder, obviously, lots of murder.

This one turned out better than I thought it would. It’s a slow starter that gradually ramps up the suspense and adrenaline levels and relies a lot more on jump scares and tension than on shock and gore. Surprisingly the premise is a little misleading. I mean it’s accurate, I just thought a movie about a fraternity initiation would be a cross between Animal House and Friday the 13th, but there’s no nudity, there’s very little blood, there’s no swearing and even though drugs are mentioned, you don’t actually see anybody do any. I think if it were brought before the MPAA today, it wouldn’t get an R rating. It feels like a slightly more violent episode of Goosebumps.

With the exception of Linda Blair, none of the names or faces of the actors are ones I recognize, but they all did really well. Probably because it’s a B movie that is lacking in the “B”s that most people are looking for in the genre, but I’m surprised it isn’t better known, or maybe it is and I’ve just been oblivious all these years. It would take very little editing to let it play on TV and is one you can easily put on and not worry about a trick-or-treater accidentally catching a glimpse and being scarred for life.

You can currently catch it on Plex for free, or rent it for as little as $2 on Google play.