'Holiday' Flix: Saturday the 14th

It was either now or wait until January.  Today's Film is Saturday the 14th, a Horror Film Parody from 1981.  The Film is somewhat of a Cult Classic, a term thrown around way too much these days.  A Cult Film is one that is seen '1,000 times' by a person.  I can't imagine anyone has had time to watch Ginger Snaps that many times since 2000.  This Film is notable for being a reaction to recent events and actually ahead of its time in many other ways.  It tells the tale of a family- led by Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss- that moves into a cursed House.  Said House is full of Monsters and some sort of vaguely-evil Book.  It is mostly a Spoof of Old-School Horror Films, even though the Title suggests it will be parodying the then-recent Slasher Film phenomenon.  Sorry, no My Bloody Valentine stuff here.  The Film has a mixed-rating all over the Internet, so I've been a bit nervous about doing it.  Would it be good?  Would it be bad?  Would I be better off just thinking of it as better than it could ever be?  To find out, read on...

A young(er) Jeffrey Tambor is Dracula and he wants to buy this House, since it is full of evil.

The problem: it was willed to his Nephew (Benjamin) and his family.

Said House is full of weird stuff, like self-washing dishes and some monsters that are good at pantomime.

Later the Daughter is attacked by a sea creature in the bathtub that is ostensibly a Parody of Jaws, but is also eerily-similar to a bit done three years later in A Nightmare of Elm Street.

Oh and their House is also on Elm Street.  Was that always an evil-sounding Street?

A call to get rid of Bats in the Attic gets the attention of Van Helsing, who is going to come and help.

As the titular day approaches, the Monsters are making themselves at home, what else can you do but...

Throw an awkward Dinner Party, of course!

Since the House won't let anyone leave, you might as well bring more people in.

As Midnight approaches, the Vampires show up and...Van Helsing is revealed to be the Villain.  An actual Plot Twist- nice!

After lots of silly faces and equally-silly effects, the Book is destroyed along with Van Helsing.  Dracula and his wife live happily ever after like our Heroes.

...until the Sequel, I guess.  The End.

All things considered, pretty darn fun.  As noted, the Film seems to be pretty polarizing as far as Reviews.  Case in point: Netflix thought I'd rate it 1.2 Stars!  So is it a great, underlooked Comedy?  Overall, I'd say mostly-yes.  It isn't perfect and the Tone is certainly a bit too silly for many.  It is very damn silly.  I liked it though, so they mostly kept it in balance.  The prevalent use of Monsters helps keeps the Film interesting.  You get a sea creature, a Mummy and about a dozen unidentifiable ones.  While they are obviously just guys in suits, I still liked them.  The Story is pretty basic and only takes place over like 3 days.  It doesn't try to build upon the terror or anything, so just bear this in mind.  Everyone is pretty likable though, so no complaints in that department.  All in all, Saturday the 14th is a fun, silly little Film that probably deserves better...even if their continuity is sometimes off.

Next up, I wrap up an import Horror Franchise.  Will it be as promising as the upcoming X-Men Film that shares its subtitle?  Stay tuned...