Shudder Sunday: To All A Goodnight (1980)

 How did I miss the first Slasher Film of the '80s for so long? 
This is To All a Goodnight.

While it's less famous than Friday the 13th, it did come out a few weeks first.  Points for you!

Does being first make you the best or the worst though?

The Film was Directed by- get this- David Hess, a man most famous for Acting as a Villain/Creep in Films before and after this.  Why did he only Direct this one Film though?  Dunno- he's been dead for 9 years, so I can't exactly ask him.

The Film's Writer was Alex Rebar, who also Produced the Thanksgiving Slasher Home Sweet Home.  It's a shame he didn't do a Halloween Film and get the Hat Trick.  As a Bonus, Goodnight and Demented- his other 1980 Writing Credit- both feature legendary (?) Porn Actor Harry Reems.  That can't be a coincidence, right?

The Plot involves a masked Santa Killer taking out Sorority Girls based on a previous plight.  Will he/she/they get them all?  To see where alot of the Tropes come from, read on...

The Film's Cold Open shows a girl we don't know being chased by some Sorority Girls and falling off of a small balcony- which is like 8-12 feet from the ground- and dying.

We abruptly see the same School 2 years later (that number is important) and a few Students are staying behind on Campus.

They- of course- invite some guys over and the group pairs off, leaving one girl out of the mix.

Young- check.

Innocent- check.

Virginal- check.

So... you know where this is going, don't you?

A masked Maniac dressed like Santa Claus stalks and kills a few of the Co-Eds and their dates.

Surprisingly, they don't take them all on one night and instead leave a body to be found in the Morning.

Now they are staying at the House for another night...which kind of makes the passage of time kind of pointless here, no?

It is still another Night Scene for the 2nd Round.

Who will live and who will die?

Well, you can probably guess those.

What you may not guess is that this Film seems to have inspired the Scream Films are as far as its Ending is concerned.  There's 5 Films, so that's barely a SPOILER without clarification, right?

To find out, stream the Film now.

A decent Film, but it is nothing that impressive in the long run.  Bear in mind that this Film came out *before* the flood of Slasher Films, so it should be judged as such.  

These early Films- like Final Exam- have to be judged on their own merits, as opposed to the more advanced and complex Sequels that would come in the rest of the Decade.

That's not to say that the Film gets a free pass for some generally cliche Writing, odd Pacing and not a big delivery on the kills.  The Film has a variety of them, but you really miss the touch of someone like Tom Savini on these.  This is much more of an implied kill kind of Film, at least for the most part.

The Acting is honestly not bad, but it wasn't going to win any Oscars either.  Everyone plays a pretty simple Role and plays it fine.  There's no real nuance to them, other than when the pairings start to change in the Third Act.

The Ending is kind of predictable in many ways, but it does do the Bonus Twist thing, even if that too is pretty obvious.  Credit for trying.

Goodnight is a decent, overlooked Slasher from the Genre's early days.  Completists will need to see, while curious fans of the Genre will probably enjoy the stock nature of it all.  Make a Drinking Game out of it, if you'd like.

Speaking of like, I'm torn on whether I like this- I think- Fan Edit Poster....

A bunch of Santa-based kills from an early Slasher Film.  While you can probably guess every twist and turn, it is still kind of fun.

Gold Medal History: 21 Hours At Munich (1976)

It sure is going to be hard to make jokes about this one!  Today's Film is 21 Hours At Munich, a 1976 Film about the 1972 Munich Massacre.  Well, at least I'm doing Olympic Films...right?  

This, as I mentioned, is a Dramatization of the infamous events that took place during those Games.  They apparently just showed off a Monument honoring the fallen about a week ago- what luck.  It also happens to be the 40th Anniversary of this Film, so more luck.  The Film tells the tale that most people my age know from the Film Munich, even though there were 3 other Films about this same subject (counting this one).  

For people older than me, it is a pretty famous tragedy.  Famous enough that you think that they wouldn't need a Film about it less than 5 years later.  Oh, it is also based on a Book.  Seems kind of redundant, but maybe he told the Story better.  

The Film has some notable Cast Members that includes William Holden, Richard Basehart, Paul L. Smith and even a few people that are still alive.  Franco Nero steals the Show here in a Role that is far more enlightened about Arab Terrorists than most 80s Films.  

Director William A. Graham Directed over 100 Films on TV and in Theaters, including 1977's The Amazing Howard Hughes and 1980's Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones.  

If you needed a tragic and recent event adapted onto Film, he was your man.  He also did 1991's Return to the Blue Lagoon, continuing the trend.  Obscure Film burn!  

Is this once-topical Film actually good?  To find out, read on...

I appreciate your commitment to authenticity, but Filming the Movie there seems a little creepy.

Enjoy this shot of people doing Sports at the Olympics- you don't get much of it after this montage.

It is the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich- the first since WWII.  

What could go wrong?

These guys- members of Black September- show up one night with a mission- take Israeli hostages!

They kill a few in the process of taking 9 hostages, including David Hess!

The Film does a good job of giving you real people's names and seemingly getting most of the details right.  

To show that, here's a side-by-side comparison of real life to the Film.

While he's arguably the worst person in the Film, Nero (as the only Terrorist) with any real lines or backstory actually makes for a compelling Character.  

Faster D'Jango- Act, Act!

If you don't know anything about the actual events, here's the Cliff Notes Version...

Hostages taken to Airport.
Plan goes awry.
Shooting in dark.
Chaos.

In the End, all of the Israeli Athletes die (ouch) and the surviving Terrorists are later released...until the stuff that happened after 1976.  The End.

Dark, well-made stuff.  I can't really complain much about the Film.  My only real issue was some odd issue with the Transfer.  Basically, when people move around in well-lit Scenes, it flickers like a slow strobe light is going off.  I have no idea what caused this, but I don't think it has anything to do with how it was shot.  

As far as the actual Film goes, its biggest crime is that it can be a bit melodramatic.  All things considered, that's a pretty minor complaint.  After watching the Film, I checked up on some of the stuff that seemed a bit over dramatic and, well, it apparently happened.  Real Life- it can beat Fiction sometimes.  The Acting is good all around, from Holden's straight-forward demeanor to Nero's seriousness.  There really isn't a 'weak link' Acting-wise here, so kudos.  Nero really does shine here, showing his attention to detail, his twisted motivation and even his hesitance to kill.  You can almost make me care for the guy...to a point.  

Considering how stuff like True Lies (yes, it was a Comedy) and others have treated the idea of Arab Terrorists (which these pretty much are), it is amazing to think that a Film which cast an Italian as Palestinian would be more progressive. 

 It still feels a little icky telling the Tale so soon, but it isn't like I have any personal connection to anyone involved.  21 Hours At Munich is a well-made, if speech-heavy Film.  

I need to end on some sort of a joke, so...here's a Stunt Guy doing a silly death spin in the Climax.

Next up, I'm now going to get back on track.  Let's see if my random picks pay off.  Stay tuned...

The Clone Wars (Last House on Left)- Double-Feature!

Last House on the Left is an iconic film, yet, how many of us have actually seen it? We can talk about how daring it was and how it inspired the whole 'revenge movie' genre, even when it was supposed to be debunking it. Or how it is the most violent movie to have an 'anti-violence message.' That's all well and good, but I want to talk about how much it got ripped off. I have two examples for you today, since of them does not bear its own space. Let's start off with...

Last House on the Beach

The plot to this movie is embarrassingly-simple. A trio of men rob a bank in the day-time and flee. Things did not go smoothly, however, and two people in the building were killed. We don't find out by whom until later. As luck (good or bad, depending on who you are) would have it, they hide out at the titular location, only to discover that it is occupied...by a hot nun and her students (read:28yearolds). I guess we can stay for a couple of days.

*

The movie is not completely terrible, but it is quite indecisive. The blond-haired gang leader is always 'playing nice' when the others get a little too grabby. He actually makes them stop fondling one 'girl' under the pretense of them having to leave early the next morning. In the middle of the night, however, two of the men grab the girl and go to have their way with her. When the nun tries to intercede, the 'nice guy' grabs her and makes her watch. So which one is it? He tries to give a speech later saying how he 'never did anything.' The movie, thinking us to be completely dumb, shows scenes from the robbery of him shooting two people juxtaposed against his 'explanation' of the events. Yes, because we clearly trusted him, movie!

*

The ending is alright, though it feels a lot like Thriller aka They Call Her One-Eye. The bad guys all get shot in slow-motion and we are all supposed to feel better. The blond leader goes down really slow though. He gets shotgun-blasted in the chest, but still fights the girls. Who the hell is this guy- Andrew Jackson (look it up)! He gets beaten up with sticks in a very prolonged scene. Movie over yet? Yes. The End.

*

Incidentally, the above movie is the one with the line I quoted in the teaser.

Last House on the Edge of the Park

Despite having such a long, obtuse title, this is actually superior to the other one. Through a long series of events I won't disclose, a macho guy and his 'toady' friend end up at a rich people party. They have some issues with them, however, like the rich guys cheating one of them at cards and one girl being all talk and no action. Naturally, our macho lead decides to hold them hostage and torture them. Yeah, that's a natural escalation. To the movie's credit/detriment, this part makes up most of the movie (roughly one hour and ten minutes). I will give them credit for not 'holding their cards' for too long, but this part does drag a bit since it is so one-sided.

*

So what do we get exactly? One guy gets beaten up and tied to a table, where he spends 80% of the movie. Another- who looks like a cross between Ryan Phillipe in Cruel Intentions and that jerk on Gossip Girl- gets beaten up a lot, even to the point where he should clearly either be dead or nearly dead. One model lady gets her top pulled down a couple of times and yelled at. A brunette is nearly raped by the other guy, but he chickens out. Later, after he says that he doesn't want to hurt her, she does it willingly. Wow, you are coerced easily in barely an hour. The girl who would not put out for our lead is yelled at a lot and is forced to finally 'follow-through' with it. Oh and another girl shows up right at the one hour mark so she can be cut with a straight razor.

*

Why is this movie better? In spite of its masochistic tone, there is a point to it all. In the end, we learn that the whole thing was a set-up. You see, they have a random 'girl gets killed by the villain' scene which feels unnecessary. Later, we learn that the girl is, wait for it, the blond guy's sister. He let him there, made him mad and got attacked so he could eventually get his gun and kill the guy in 'self-defense.' Yeah, it is a weird and obtuse revenge scheme, but even he admits it. The villain gets shot several times- including in his special area- but takes around five minutes straight to die. Also, he barely ever bleeds from his four bullet wounds while in the pool. I guess we should all feel better, right? The End.

*

I will give the latter film credit- I would definitely NOT do a revenge scheme of my own now. Not because of the whole 'cycle of violence' thing. Just because I realize now how hard it is to pull off. Plus, your friends may not like being 'raped for your cause.' They don't elaborate on that part, but I would think that there was some dislike of that guy afterward. So this goes to show you that good, iconic films should be left alone. It's not like anyone would remake this movie...oh wait, they already did. Stay tuned next Halloween for I Spite on Your Grave (2010), I guess.

*

Up next, a film so bizarre that you need to know about it now. Unfortunately, I am out of time. See you tomorrow. Stay tuned...