Tubi Thursday: Wes Craven's Invitation to Hell (1984)

 Do you want to be my +1?  Probably not...except for maybe a few weirdos out there.

Over a decade after his death, I still keep finding Wes Craven Films that I didn't know about!

In this case, it is a TV Movie from the same year that his career really broke out with Nightmare.
It is...

In the Cold Open (pun accidental- this time), a man accidentally runs over Susan Lucci.

She pops up, poses and makes him melt into an '80s Movie Skeleton.

...okay.

Context?  That comes WAYYYY later.

The Plot involves a Scientist (Robert Urich) moving to a new California town (just down the road from the one with a Witch) with his family.

He's working on a Space Suit with a bunch of functions that surely won't come into play in Act 3.

He also works for Kevin McCarthy, who only has like 2 Scenes.  Aw!

He's basically told that he should join the local Country Club and it will help his career.

In fact, everyone insists on it!

His friend- aka That Guy from Murphy Brown- and his family did it.

It involves walking into a weird Sauna which has a Guard.

Nothing weird there.

People around him change- think of a gender flipped Stepford Wives- and he's pressed more to join, even by Lucci directly.

His family joins without him and act very strange after that.

Can he uncover the secret of the Sauna?
Is the Title kind of a SPOILER?
Is this a less gross version of Body Melt?

To find out, see the weird-ass finale of this Film.

A pretty enjoyable Film, provided that you can be a bit patient.

Like the previous Craven Film, remember that this is a TV Movie with a TV Movie pacing and a TV Movie Budget.

The former is shown when you have to watch build up after build up.  The Plot kind of meanders a bit as we get from Act 1 to Act 2.

The latter is key as the Film does a big flex for the Finale.  I won't SPOIL it, but it involves a Space Suit, the laser light shows from Superman 2 and a little bit of Poltergeist.

If you can make it to the end, you're well rewarded.

These kinds of Films by Craven are interesting.  They aren't as much straight Horror and more like Deadly Blessing or Deadly Friend.  

Alas, we never got a third part of the unofficial Deady Trilogy.

Just be patient with this one- like most TV Movies, if we're being honest- and you'll like what you see.

All in all, a pretty odd Film that really makes you wait for the good stuff.  That said, the Finale is totally worth it!