To All a Goodnight

Trailer—To All a Goodnight

Jennifer Runyon stars in her theatrical debut in this ineffective horror slasher. Set at Christmas time the uppity Calvin Finishing School for Girls has a handful of girls who are going to have a party while the president's away. Really just a mess and the opening is just horrible. A girl falls to her death (you can obviously tell it is a dummy, which may bring bouts of laughter) before you even know what the hell is going on. In addition some of the murders just happen without much a build-up. Most of the characters in this movie really are conceited, so as the viewers you really don't much care what happens to them. Does involve a killer Santa Claus that knocks off the party-goers. Not the first though, as that was the great Tales from the Crypt (1972) which I highly recommend. Nowhere near as good as Friday the 13th which was released the same year (from what I can tell this one was released first?), but they seem to have some majors things in common. If you have seen the original Friday you will see things coming a mile away. Also starring adult film star Harry Reems who plays the pilot who brings the boys to the party. Incredibly this was directed by David Hess (this being his only film he directed). Who was fantastic playing homicidal maniacs (like in the late Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left). Obviously Craven did not share with Hess on how to make an effective horror film.

David Hess is better known for playing the evil Krug in Wes Craven's Last House on the Left, but in the 80's he decided to take the plunge into the world of film directing and the results are a bit mixed. Granted, it's nice to see this film cleaned up and on Blu-Ray since my first exposure to this film was on a truly awful, muddy, and dark Media VHS, but even a great remaster can't hide the flaws. The plot is pretty much the exact same as Black Christmas with a group of girls staying at their sorority house over the Christmas break and being killed one by one by some psycho. It adds an insanely quick opening prologue (so quick that one wonders if it was the last thing they shot on wrap day and had 15 minutes to do it) that shows the girls accidentally pushing another sorority girl off a ledge (while chanting "sorority! sorority!" Huh?) so we know this is going to pay off later and probably be the killer's main motivation. Some of the death scenes are inspired and some are cursory at best and the ending is bizarre to say the least, but the pacing doesn't lag too much and it's a fairly quick investment of your time. There are certainly worse slashers out there (or even Christmas slashers out there).

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

To All A Goodnight has two reason to search for it, one, it's a slasher made when Friday the 13th was made and secondly, it was directed by David Hess most famous of Last House On The Left. It is in fact his only film he directed. But up to this writing it never had any proper release. It's only available on ex-rental NTSC VHS. Was it worth searching, well, it's low on gore or even blood. There are killings all through the movie but there are almost no effects so they used editing to shown the killings. Axes do go in heads and beheadings and stabbing take place but not as in the much acclaimed Friday The 13th made the same year. There is a bit too much blah blah in it to keep you attracted although all things to make it a slasher are available, some full frontal nudity with pubic hair, shower scene, first person shots of the killer but still, it do has his failures. If you watch with attention you will know who's the killer from the first minutes but luckily there are some surprises concerning the killer. Surely a low budget but being searched due David Hess and one of the earlier attempts of a slasher.

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 * king Harry Reems ("Deep Throat", "Educating Mandy") makes a bizarrely insignificant cameo appearance as a private airplane pilot.

"To All a Good Night" is directed by David Hess-the star of "Last House on the Left" and "House on the Edge of the Park".The plot of this obscure slasher is pretty simple:some college girls are stalked and killed by a mysterious Santa Claus after they have drugged up their housemother and invited some boys over.This film is so incredibly bad that it truly has to be seen to be believed.The acting is atrocious,the plot is stupid and highly unoriginal and there is no suspense at all.Still there is a seriously high body count and some of the killings are actually fairly gruesome for example a guy has his head split open with axe.The twist ending is okay,but nothing special.So if you love early 80's slasher films give this one a look.6 out of 10.

A killer dispatches a few people on Christmas at a finishing school. Give a film credit where credit's due. First of all; this is the first film depicting a killer Santa at Christmas (the "Tales From the Crypt" segment with Joan Collins is just that, a segment), it's a few months ahead of "Friday the 13th" with the undying formula of disposable people hacked to death at a secluded location, a minuscule budget and a 10 day shooting schedule definitely called for fast thinking and fast shooting (and a lot of painfully obvious day-for-night scenes). The fact that David Hess and co. managed to churn out a semi coherent slasher must be considered quite a feat in itself. Too bad that "To All a Goodnight" is such a bore. The kills are mostly clumsy and the extreme gore scenes look pretty bad, there's no suspense and any attempt at a creepy atmosphere in promising surroundings falls flat with cringe worthy dialog and well below par performances. For me; a William Lauer (never heard of him before) delivers the best performance as the typical horn dog of the pack while others quite literally stink. Kiva Lawrence, as the cook and overall watchdog of the girls at the finishing school, is the most experienced actress and she's not bad per se but doesn't come off any better than the rest. Future mini starlet Jennifer Runyon doesn't do any better either. There's also that killer second twist in the end where you think everything's wrapped up but it turns out not so much. Needless to say it doesn't better the film but it's another point in the flick's favor concerning how it beat most others with that indispensable routine. With no Christmas atmosphere to speak of, no real suspense, not any great gore or memorable scenes for that matter or any other small things associated with decent slashers to recommend; I hardly think "To All a Goodnight" will be a seasonal mandatory viewing in the yuletide season for slasher fans. I wanted to like...scratch that...Love "To All a Goodnight" but it's a plain old stinker in most respects.

as a big fan of horror films i do not like this film it could have been so good but sadly there were stuff in the film that just ruined the whole movie so 2 years ago a college girl was killed at her sorority house now we are in the present time 1980 and some of the girls Shy Nancy Pretty Melody funny Leia Sam Trisha Cynthia also we have their boyfriends Nerdy Alex T.J Tom Blake Cynthia gets stabbed to death walking outside to see her boyfriend Trisha has her throat slice while getting beer from the fridge Tom gets killed the next morning while searching for Trisha Blake gets shot in the head with a crospo while having sex with Sam Sam gets decapitated while having sex with Blake the next day we are just down to Nancy, melody, Leia, Alex, and T.J all of whom seem to care less that half of their friends are missing ?????? Nancy goes out for a walk by herself and find Ralph the creepy handyman of the sorority dead the group yet again seems to care less about it Leia decides to make out with the cop Melody and T.J decide to make out with each other Nancy and Alex decide to make out with each other Leia goes to take a shower and finds Sam head in the shower and the cop dead to who has a knife in his back the killer appears right next to Leia what's gonna happen the world may never know T.J and Melody are making out with T.J gets hanged with what appears to be a wire around his neck Melody runs away and bumps into Nancy and Alex who also find Sam's head in the shower Leia apparently is still alive but now she's dancing around and singing like she's on drugs or something Nancy and Melody run downstairs and find a Santa killer downstairs who is indeed ms.Jensen who is upset because her daughter was the one killed in the beginning of the film 2 years ago Melody runs outside to find the pilot to the airplane in which the boys arrived by while trying to start the plane the killer starts the helicopter propeller for them causing both to get brutally killed Nancy knocks ms.Jensen off the balcony killing her but apparently there is a 2nd killer of the detectives who is ms.Jensen husband he tries to kill Nancy but Alex shoots him killing him Alex and Nancy run off while Leia continues to dance and sing like an idiot the end i don't like this film the main problem is the quality it is so dark at many parts of movie that you can barely ( if not ) see anything going on also it is very hard to hear what the characters say a lot The killings are all really good but you don't really get to see them happening also half the group goes missing and the other don't seem to care even when the find the dead body of the handyman which does not make any sense to me also there is very little detail in the movie like what did the killer do to Leia???? i don't like this film it could have been really good but there were so many things wrong with this movie so i don't like this movie at all

OK People come on... TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT , may be marred by some poor lighting, but overall this is a serviceable and nasty lil' holiday treat. There are some fantastic kills in it, and hell anything directed by Mr. Hess, Written by The Incredible Melting man and starring 80's teen film regular Jenny Runyon, is well worth the price of admission. If anything, watch it for a Plane propeller killing. Worth a rental. Keep your eyes peeled for a DVD release. I mean, if Christmas Evil can get a fantastic repackaging, then surely something like this can get some decent treatment. 7 out of 10 definitely, for a myriad of great gruesome deaths.