To All a Goodnight (1980)

This 1980 horror film features a crazed killer dressed as Santa Claus stalking a group of friends at an all-girl school where an accidental death occurred 2 years prior. What can I say? This film is disappointing. Many scenes are dark which makes me want to go to sleep, the characters are unlikable, except for the main girl, Nancy (Jennifer Runyon), the editing stinks and the ending is kind of predictable and ridiculous. Also, The film obviously rips off "Prom Night," "Black Christmas," "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th." The only plus is the girls showing some skin and a couple of kills/deaths. I'd only view this if you're into slasher flicks, but it's a weak one.

To All a Goodnight (1980) * 1/2 (out of 4) At a sorority house, a prank turns deadly as a young woman being chased by her sisters falls off a balcony and dies. Flash forward two years and a group of girls invite their boyfriends over just as a psycho shows up to kill them off.TO ALL A GOODNIGHT is a really bad slasher from first-time director David Hess who is of course best remembered for playing the bad guy in Wes Craven's THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. It turned out 1980 was a very big year for him as he not only directed his first movie but also appeared in the highly controversial Ruggero Deodato shocker HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK. Sadly, this film here just doesn't have a whole lot working for it, although I will praise Hess for at least making a very professional looking film on less than $70,000 and in under ten days. I was really shocked to hear those figures because this film at least looks professionally done so I'm a little curious why Hess didn't try his hand at directing again.As far as the film goes, it's a pretty sluggish affair because there are obviously all kinds of corners being cut. It's obvious watching the film because some scenes just appear to be first takes that they had to use because they didn't have more time. I say this during a couple sequence where the killer goes to stab at people and it just looks like it's a rehearsal or being done in slow motion (the knife going towards people). Another problem with the film is that there's really nothing too memorable going on. There's no question that this was an attempt to cash in on the slasher genre that was just taking off and it's clear this was rushed to try and cash in on that. The screenplay itself throws in the various clichés that by this time were already old-fashioned. There's a bit of BLACK Christmas thrown into the film and you can also at least say this featured a killer Santa Claus several years before SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT.The special effects really aren't the greatest as the majority of the stuff happens off screen. The stabbings are good enough but no one will mistake them for the work of Tom Savini. There was one very memorable throat slashing where you see the throat pretty much pull apart. I'm a little surprised that this here made it past the MPAA. As far as the performances go, they're what you'd expect in this type of film but for the most part they're all good enough. Jennifer Runyon is the most known name in the cast, although porn star Harry Reems can be seen briefly. The film does offer up quite a bit of nudity so director Hess at least had that going for him.TO ALL A GOODNIGHT is a pretty forgettable slasher but I'm sure some fans of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT will want to see it just as a curio.

Another year, another holiday-themed horror movie! Watching my annual holiday horror flick on Christmas day is my second favorite tradition, next to getting drunk on Jägermeister and argue with my siblings! This year I found in my Christmas stocking a movie that I've wanted to see for a long time, even though I always knew not to expect too much from it. "To All a Goodnight" holds quite a bit of cult-value, but that's almost solely linked to the fact that it is the one and only film directed by David Hess; the legendary infamous lead actor of exploitation classics such as "Autostop Rosso Sangre", "House on the Edge of the Park" and – particularly – "Last House on the Left". I don't know why Mr. Hess suddenly thought it would be a good idea to contribute something to the genre as a director, especially because his "To All a Goodnight" is extremely formulaic, dull and forgettable. You know the routine: a group of girls that don't return to their families for the Christmas period remain at their finishing school, sedate the landlady with sleeping pills and invite their horny boyfriends over for a wild night of jingle bells. Unfortunately for them, there's a maniacal killer dressed in a Santa Clause suit running loose on the premises. Could his rage perhaps have something to do with the fatal accident that occurred in the same finishing school one year earlier, when a poor young girl fell to her death during an initiation prank gone awry? My guess is yes… Working from a script from Alex "The Incredibly Melting Man" Rebar, Hess isn't too shy to insert literally every single slasher cliché that exists. The sorority setting and payback for a deadly prank are two examples of this, but also the presence of a suspicious and perverted looking gardener who always pops op out of nowhere, the surviving virgins and the dead phone lines are terribly overused clichés. Of course, on the other hand we also have to bear in mind that "To All a Goodnight" was released in 1980 already, and thus prior to the enormous slasher boom later that decade. Still, even for a low-budgeted film, the killings are disappointingly uninspired and bloodless. Due to the poor and dark photography, the murders are often even impossible to see! The final twist, as in the revelation of the killer's identity, is fairly obvious from early in the film, and it's not even that difficult to foresee who will survive the Christmas massacre. There isn't much to mention regarding the cast, neither, except maybe that one-time actress Linda Gentille has a ravishing body and that porn king Harry Reems ("Deep Throat", "Educating Mandy") makes a bizarrely insignificant cameo appearance as a private airplane pilot.

The idea of a killer dressed as Santa Claus attacking a group of young people at a sorority house sounds great to a horror fan like myself! Which is why I was so excited to this the other day. Unfortunately, 'To All A Goodnight' was a major disappointment. It had so much potential, but with so many flaws to me this is a below average slasher film that I wouldn't care to see again.The movie begins with a girl accidentally falling to her death during a prank/initiation. Flash forward two years, this time with a group of new girls who are staying at the sorority house over Christmas. They invite a bunch of boys over to spend the holidays with them which of course was added just to increase the body count. Eventually, a killer dressed as Santa kills a few people and one of the body is discovered the next morning. A cop comes to the house and tells them to stay and lock up for the night (not sure why they listened, I would have gotten the hell out). Anyways, a few more murders happen that evening leading to the killer's revelation.There are so many things wrong with the movie. The main group of characters are so annoying and make it hard to get through the film at times. The dialogue and acting are so bad, it just makes most scenes seem awkward. Plus, it's Christmas. Where is the snow? I feel that the movie could have been much more moody and creepier with a snowstorm outside or something. And why would they stay at the house an entire day after finding a bloody corpse. It makes no sense. Also, the lighting is pretty bad so don't expect to see everything clearly, including some of the kills. The killers identity was sort of obvious to me anyways, but there is a second twist which came out of nowhere for me. It felt rushed and fell flat. 'To All A Goodnight' has it's moments, like a helicopter propeller kill and making one of the characters go completely insane after finding a decapitated head in the shower. But after I had so much anticipation in seeing this, I felt that it wasn't a very good movie and could have been so much better.4/10