Evil Laugh

A group of medical students head to an isolated mansion to help their friend renovate it into a pediatric clinic. What they don't know is that a series of brutal child murders happened at this house years before when this place was a foster home. Caretaker Martin was falsely accused of molestation by some kids and he returned the favor by murdering everyone. Now it appears he is back and doesn't take kindly to folks cleaning up his former crime scene. This is about as standard as you can get when it comes to the slasher genre, but EVIL LAUGH does have its moments. Director Dominick Brascia (the fat kid victim in Friday THE 13th PART V) co-wrote the script with lead Steven "brother of Scott" Baio and you can't really tell if they want to spoof slasher films or just imitate them. The deaths aren't very intricate, but do involve lots of splashing blood. The highlight is probably Baio getting his head baked in a microwave. Lots and lots of cleaning montages in this one with some cheesy 80s pop songs. Jody Gibson supplies the film's only nudity, which is odd as final girl Kim McKamy would go on to a highly successful adult film career as Ashlyn Gere a few years later.

An on-the-cheap, shot-on-video and quickly made 80s slasher that's enthusiastically pitched and made the more interesting for being made by Dominick Brasica (which Friday the 13th fans would pick up as being the memorable first death in "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning") in what feels like a labour of love. It might not be ranking up their with the best the 80s had to offer and could be seen as just another slasher, but the quirky "Evil Laugh" had its moments. Even some creativity, as some elements actually reminded of Wes Craven's 90s slasher "Scream". Plenty of self-knowing quips feed the shonky script (mainly from a horror-buff character) and there's a plethora of references to other horror mediums (horror magazine Fangoira to "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th"). The story is simple, as it builds up the standard conventions and its over-the-top macabre (which includes some dancing while cleaning and jittery music score) where a group of young medical students decide help out a friend re-open an abandoned orphanage, although they don't know of its terrible past which saw ten years ago the custodian murder the residents. But this weekend is not going to be any ordinary weekend, as people start disappearing and find themselves at the mercy of a jump suit wearing killer with a mask and beanie. Yeah, sadly the murderer doesn't live up the illustration on the artwork and naturally the heroine points out the horror fan for being the murderer. The execution does match the budget, as it's a slapdash of blood, nudity and humour. Sometimes things would happen off-screen, but other times we get flashes of tatty gore. The random performances are acceptable with Kim McKamy making a solid heroine and a decent Steven Baio (who also produced and co-wrote). Nothing new, but it's full of spontaneous energy. "No legend is going to scare me".

A group of medical students escape away to a run down house for the weekend. What they are unaware of is that Martin is there to join them in the celebration. This slasher flick is nothing out of the ordinary. The title of the film is implied by can you guess? Yes, a laugh, and it's a rather humorous one if anything. Maybe Larry (Dr. Giggles) Drake took some notes on this one. There is nothing really special here. Oh wait, ya, Martin did use a microwave to cash in one of the house guests, that was rather interesting to see. I wouldn't praise this picture, but I also wouldn't totally bash it. There are plenty of other better slasher flicks out there, but this one does stand out on its own. Only recommended if you can deal with 80's cheese. 6/10

I actually liked this a lot more than I should have. I wish I could see it in better quality. It's absolutely hilarious and I was surprised at the number of slashers it parodied, especially because it was only made in 1986! I had no idea that any films with this level of awareness of the genre were made so early. Some of the films it referenced had only been made 2 or 3 years prior while some were classics. This is Scream before Williamson had the idea. And while it's true that it's extremely silly, it's also pretty great and a lot of fun. Give this one a chance if you're in the mood for comedy.

A group of med students spend the weekend fixing up an old house. Of course this was the site of a horrible massacre, and of course there is going to be a new slaughter this weekend with the med students on the menu. I love horror movies frankly, so the plot of this movie doesn't exactly bother me. The slasher genre is the only one that can get away with using the same plot over and over again in my book. The problems with this movie is that once you move from the plot everything else is awful. The character are written and acted like they come right out of a sitcom. ( one girl acts just like "chrissy" from THREES COMPANY) The actors are also very bad, but you can't blame then so much. Yes they can't act, but the script didn't help much. The dialogue is outright ridiculous. The Gore is really unconvincing, and this looks to be filmed on video. Not that is uncommon today almost all horror movies ( and independent movies) are filmed that way now. But we have digital video, they have a 80's camcorder. The movie also seems to be a showcase for Steven Baio, like every scene was structured to make him the focus even though he is not the main character. What this film does have going for it is it's parallels to SCREAM. Some scenes are very similar. It does have one decent murder to it as well. As bad as this movie is, I have to say there is something about it that made me rent it 3 times. of course it is because I found it to be hysterical, ( there is even a a spur of the moment dance number that had me on the floor crying from laughing) but hey, it put money in the producers pockets so I'm sure they don't care why I watched it. Really bad ( 4/ 10)

This overall poor and redundant 80's slasher is more or less 'famous' for one killing-sequence in particular, in which some guy's head is turned into bloody hodgepodge because the masked killer places him in a microwave oven and hits the start-button. Is that even possible? Perhaps it was an older and unsafe oven model, because the one in my kitchen refuses to function as long as the door isn't closed. The head melting itself is delightfully cheesy and gross, as are most killing scenes in this ludicrous guilty pleasure of mine. Naturally, everything else about "Evil Laugh" varies from bad to downright terrible, including awful acting performances, lousy dialogs and a total lack of suspense. You know how the background myths to introduce a story's murderer are usually a lot more petrifying than the actual slasher itself? For example, finding out how and why Jason Vorhees (of "Friday the 13th"-fame) drowned in Crystal Lake is more fascinating than enduring his quest for vengeance during the next ten sequels, and also Freddy Krueger's ("Nightmare on Elm Street") acts of child-abuse and murder were a lot sicker before he got toasted by the furious parents of Elm Street. "Evil Laugh" is another prime example to state the background theory. The killer's myth is horrific, but the slasher itself is horrible. A group of medical students – who certainly don't look like medical students – plan to reopen an abandoned orphanage after it closed down over ten years ago, following a sinister series of murders. One of the caretakers, named Martin, got falsely accused of molesting the orphans and the scandal drove his father to commit suicide. When Martin was found innocent after all, he returned to the orphanage one night and slit the throats of all the children. See, now that promise would result in a gripping horror film with nail-biting tension and shocking murders! Instead, the newly arrived teenagers face a ridiculously masked serial killer who may or may not be Michael who returned from the grave, or someone entirely different. Just in case it is Michael, the title makes no sense, because why would he laugh with his tragic past? And as long as we're stumbling over details, the killer's laugh isn't really evil, but more like an infantile chuckle. For undemanding fans of lurid 80's nudity and bloodshed exclusively.

The plot to this movie, well it's that same old routine Slasher movie plot = A couple of friends travel out to a house in the country to fix it up and make it a foster home again. Ten years ago the foster home was shut down as a madman called Martin killed all the kids. They are supposed to meet Jerry at the house but when he never shows up, the friends start to suspect that something's wrong. They decide to try to not think about it too much and have some fun instead and start working in the morning. That might not be such a good idea since some of them will probably never get to see the morning as it seems as if Martin has come back to the house. Well for one thing I have to say the title is half right it does have a laugh but it sure as hell wasn't an evil laugh but the cover is rather deceiving I was expecting someone in a reaper mask to pop up and kill the teens, but nope, no reaper mask in sight. We do get a very silly mask near the ending though, which we were only to see in the last 2 or 3 killings and not in the first ones, was there some point of that. The directing is so and so, nothing too special, but I have to say that I was impressed by the use of lights in the dark basement, you can see everything that you're meant to see in the dark and that's not very common in horror movies, especially not slashers. But to be honest the movie isn't all bad I mean it does have one original kill death by microwave that's the only reason why I gave this movie an extra star. All in all I didn't think this was that bad but I have to say that it didn't live up to my expectations, nor its box art. For a slasher fan like myself, this was quite entertaining. But I really think you have to be a slasher fan to be able to watch this movie since it is pretty cheesy and slow in some parts. I might watch this again and see if it grows in my mind, though, I highly suspect that it won't.

Yeah, it's dreadfully bad, but in it's infinite badness is an enjoyable film, which one can watch with friends on a friday night and laugh your ass off. The dialogue is ridiculous, the acting is horrible, the death scenes are hilarious (one guys gets his head cooked in a microwave) and everything else is just lazy. I can't think of a funnier movie.

Routine 80's slasher film about Med students who fall victim to a slasher. Been there, done that. My evaluation: (no stars).

I have no idea why I even entertained the notion of watching this film. Eighties slashers don't do much for me at the best of times, and this one doesn't exactly have a good reputation. The film just follows on from the barrage of Friday the 13th/Halloween films and offers nothing new for the genre. To his credit, director Dominick Brascia seems to realise that he's just directing another throwaway horror movie, so there are a few nods towards other (and better) films in the genre at certain points during the film. The plot is just your standard slasher fare, and features someone that was wronged in the past blah blah and now is back for revenge blah blah. The film focuses on a group of medical students that decide to spend a weekend fixing up an old house. However, the old house used to be an old orphanage and the main carer was accused of child molestation before the house burned down under mysterious circumstances. Naturally, strange things start happening soon after they get there, and there's a killer with a 'strange laugh' involved... The film's gimmick is, as the title suggests, the "evil laugh" delivered by the killer. Instead of being frightening, however, it's completely pathetic and this idea fails to generate any suspense at all. The cast of characters is typically forgettable as all the kids are just about the same, and certainly don't look anything like medical students! Add into the mix some frankly boring plotting and a painful soundtrack, and the film is on the back foot from the beginning. The only saving grace in many slasher films is the kill scenes, but alas this one doesn't even do well on that front. Most of the murders are similar and forgettable and the only one that stands out in any way involves one of the dumb teenager having his head boiled in a microwave. However, this sequence is just too silly for words since every microwave I've ever come across won't let you turn it on without the door being shut! Overall, you would do well not to bother with Evil Laugh. It's not easy to come across anyway, and it certainly isn't worth tracking down. Avoid!