You’ll Scream Till Dawn

For offbeat Christmas cheer, I wish I could recommend the 1980 horror flick TO ALL A GOODNIGHT, but I really can't. I love the title, but little else about this seasonal slasher directed by the star of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, David Hess, and written by Alex Rebar, the star of THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN.

Some bitchy sorority sisters and their equally assholish boyfriends, spending the night together in the sorority house while the rest of the campus is home for Christmas break, are stalked and slashed by a killer in a Santa suit. Eventually, only the virgin (Jennifer Runyon!) and the nerd (Forrest Swanson) are left to unmask the murderer. Is it the crazy handyman? The canola-baking neighbor lady? The housemother? One of the students? The pilot of the private plane that brought the boys to campus played by porn legend Harry Reems?

FRIDAY THE 13^TH was the obvious inspiration for this quickie shot around Loyola Marymount University in west L.A. I doubt even Runyon, who went on to become popular with young men who grew up in the '80s, based on her appearances in GHOSTBUSTERS, UP THE CREEK, and CHARLES IN CHARGE, remembers this one, and there's little reason to. Photography is dark, pacing is slack, the score is droning, the characters are obnoxious, and the final plot twist is ludicrous. Some of the bloody kills would be effective, if you could see them better.