31 Nights of Halloween Horror - Night 17 - One Dark Night
One Dark Night
89 mins.
Dir. Tom McLoughlin
USA/1982
Tonight we are going to start a double dose of the 80s. First up a flick I somehow never saw when it was released and finally got around to watching. Definitely a sign of the times, let's explore One Dark Night.
This one has two separate story lines converging into one. We start with a potential crime scene, Russian mystic Raymar is found dead in his apartment with a closet full of female bodies, apparently drained of their life force. Raymar is succeed by his daughter Olivia and her husband Adam West, who poor guy, no matter what will always be Batman or the Mayor of Quahog in Family Guy. Olivia never knew anything about her father and after burying him in a mausoleum, she is visited by an old research partner of Raymar's who reveals to her, her father was a Psychic Vampire who used his telekinetic powers to drain the life force from living things. He gives her a tape to listen to explaining all about Raymar's powers.
Meanwhile in our other storyline we have Meg Tilly who wants to join a click in high school, called The Sisters. Reminiscent of the Pink Ladies in Grease, they even have their own jackets. Only problem is Meg is dating the ex boyfriend of the leader of The Sisters and she still has a thing for him. For the final initiation, The Sisters make Meg Tilly spend the night in a mausoleum and they later sneak in to try and scare her. This is where our two stories collide because...you guessed it, its the same mausoleum Raymar is buried in and apparently he is not really as dead as everyone thought.
So Meg Tilly is drugged on Demerol that one of the Sisters gave her and is wandering around the Mausoleum one dark night, two of the sisters wearing monster costumes sneak in to scare Meg Tilly, Meg Tilly boyfriend finds out she is spending the night in the mausoleum so he breaks in to save her and I guess Raymar's daughter after listening to the tape realizes her father is maybe not dead so she goes to the mausoleum that night as well. Sensing the gang is all here, Raymar uses his telekinetic abilities to have his coffin burst out of the slab and open up, lightening shoots from his eyes and causes numerous corpses to be released from their resting places and chase all our characters around the mausoleum. Thing is, these cadavers aren't really animated and walking around grabbing you, they have no movement, Raymar is just telekinetically moving their bodies around. One would think dead bodies that aren't the undead can't necessarily hurt you, but tell that to the Sisters who get smothered under a pile of them. However Olivia saves the day when she takes her compact mirror and deflects the lightening shooting out of Raymar's eyes back at him, blowing him up and making all the corpses become immobile once again.
The 80s abound in this movie, the clothes, the dialogue and above all the effects. The cheesy lightening effects are a tried and true classic. Tom Burman worked on the make-up and the corpses definitely look top notch, maybe not what we are seeing in The Walking Dead today, but definitely pretty damn impressive. I have no legitimate reason why I have never seen this movie before, I have heard of the title, but I knew nothing of the story and don't think I have ever seen a clip from this film before. Rated PG, for no nudity, no profanity and no gore. But still an enjoyable film, especially if you enjoy films from the excess decade. Not sure what I was expecting, but I guess I can say it lived up to expectations. Irrational story, overacting, practical effects everything you could want in a safe movie to watch with your parents on one dark night. Director Tom McLoughlin went on to direct Friday the 13th pt.6 which will segue into tomorrow night's feature directed by another Friday the 13th alumni.
One Dark Night
89 mins.
Dir. Tom McLoughlin
USA/1982
Tonight we are going to start a double dose of the 80s. First up a flick I somehow never saw when it was released and finally got around to watching. Definitely a sign of the times, let's explore One Dark Night.
This one has two separate story lines converging into one. We start with a potential crime scene, Russian mystic Raymar is found dead in his apartment with a closet full of female bodies, apparently drained of their life force. Raymar is succeed by his daughter Olivia and her husband Adam West, who poor guy, no matter what will always be Batman or the Mayor of Quahog in Family Guy. Olivia never knew anything about her father and after burying him in a mausoleum, she is visited by an old research partner of Raymar's who reveals to her, her father was a Psychic Vampire who used his telekinetic powers to drain the life force from living things. He gives her a tape to listen to explaining all about Raymar's powers.
Meanwhile in our other storyline we have Meg Tilly who wants to join a click in high school, called The Sisters. Reminiscent of the Pink Ladies in Grease, they even have their own jackets. Only problem is Meg is dating the ex boyfriend of the leader of The Sisters and she still has a thing for him. For the final initiation, The Sisters make Meg Tilly spend the night in a mausoleum and they later sneak in to try and scare her. This is where our two stories collide because...you guessed it, its the same mausoleum Raymar is buried in and apparently he is not really as dead as everyone thought.
So Meg Tilly is drugged on Demerol that one of the Sisters gave her and is wandering around the Mausoleum one dark night, two of the sisters wearing monster costumes sneak in to scare Meg Tilly, Meg Tilly boyfriend finds out she is spending the night in the mausoleum so he breaks in to save her and I guess Raymar's daughter after listening to the tape realizes her father is maybe not dead so she goes to the mausoleum that night as well. Sensing the gang is all here, Raymar uses his telekinetic abilities to have his coffin burst out of the slab and open up, lightening shoots from his eyes and causes numerous corpses to be released from their resting places and chase all our characters around the mausoleum. Thing is, these cadavers aren't really animated and walking around grabbing you, they have no movement, Raymar is just telekinetically moving their bodies around. One would think dead bodies that aren't the undead can't necessarily hurt you, but tell that to the Sisters who get smothered under a pile of them. However Olivia saves the day when she takes her compact mirror and deflects the lightening shooting out of Raymar's eyes back at him, blowing him up and making all the corpses become immobile once again.
The 80s abound in this movie, the clothes, the dialogue and above all the effects. The cheesy lightening effects are a tried and true classic. Tom Burman worked on the make-up and the corpses definitely look top notch, maybe not what we are seeing in The Walking Dead today, but definitely pretty damn impressive. I have no legitimate reason why I have never seen this movie before, I have heard of the title, but I knew nothing of the story and don't think I have ever seen a clip from this film before. Rated PG, for no nudity, no profanity and no gore. But still an enjoyable film, especially if you enjoy films from the excess decade. Not sure what I was expecting, but I guess I can say it lived up to expectations. Irrational story, overacting, practical effects everything you could want in a safe movie to watch with your parents on one dark night. Director Tom McLoughlin went on to direct Friday the 13th pt.6 which will segue into tomorrow night's feature directed by another Friday the 13th alumni.
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