Starring: Meghan Heffern, Adam MacDonald, Lancelot
A young married couple comes home from a date night to discover that they are imprisoned in their own house with a methodical killer inside.
Homicidal Maniac: Shaun Benson as The Killer
Run time: 1:20:00
Quick Synopsis: A couple is attacked within their home by a killer.
Review:
For the most part, Home Sweet Home is your typical home invasion horror movie. The films initial sequence has some uniqueness and originality, following the killer as he breaks into the home of the McAndrew family. At first this sequence is really interesting, however, I feel as though it dragged on a little to long. It didn't bother me too much though as a respect a low budget horror film that tries to do something different.
Unfortunately, there is little else within the film that could be described as 'different.' Soon the audience will find themselves following the usual script of this sub-genre. The husband figure is immobilized and the wife figure is momentarily captured only to escape just in time to set up the movies climax. The cast does a decent job but there are some flaws to their characters. The most frustrating for the viewer will most likely be the typical bad horror movie logic. Usually I can overlook poor logic understanding the movie has to move along in somehow, but this movie has many scenes that were just a little too much. It will make it nearly impossible for the audience to suspend their disbelief. Shaun Benson gives a solid effort as the film's antagonist, but the persona that he was supposed to portray may begin to bore some viewers. For people who watch a lot of horror movies the twist at the end will not be too tough figure out the reveal, however, others may feel some level of surprise. The effects were definitely acceptable for a low budget horror and the kills had a strong level of brutality to them. Still the film does lose its way a few times and it takes away from the entertainment. Home Sweet Home is just another home invasion, awful horror movie.
Unfortunately, there is little else within the film that could be described as 'different.' Soon the audience will find themselves following the usual script of this sub-genre. The husband figure is immobilized and the wife figure is momentarily captured only to escape just in time to set up the movies climax. The cast does a decent job but there are some flaws to their characters. The most frustrating for the viewer will most likely be the typical bad horror movie logic. Usually I can overlook poor logic understanding the movie has to move along in somehow, but this movie has many scenes that were just a little too much. It will make it nearly impossible for the audience to suspend their disbelief. Shaun Benson gives a solid effort as the film's antagonist, but the persona that he was supposed to portray may begin to bore some viewers. For people who watch a lot of horror movies the twist at the end will not be too tough figure out the reveal, however, others may feel some level of surprise. The effects were definitely acceptable for a low budget horror and the kills had a strong level of brutality to them. Still the film does lose its way a few times and it takes away from the entertainment. Home Sweet Home is just another home invasion, awful horror movie.
Fun Fact: This is the first film I have seen credit a cat.
Hidden Gem: Writer/Director David Morley seems to believe a name change will help his career as he is now going by David Morlet.
Total Kill Count:
Frank- Adam McDonald (48:00) Golf Club to Head/Scalped Gore Rating: 8
Sara- Meghan Heffern (1:15:00) Stabbed with Sword Gore Rating: 8
Frank- Adam McDonald (48:00) Golf Club to Head/Scalped Gore Rating: 8
Sara- Meghan Heffern (1:15:00) Stabbed with Sword Gore Rating: 8
Rating:
Entertainment: 4
Overall: 5
Home Sweet Home | |
---|---|
Directed by | Nettie Peña |
Produced by | Don Edmonds |
Screenplay by | Thomas Bush |
Story by | Thomas Bush |
Starring | Jake Steinfeld Vinessa Shaw Peter De Paula |
Music by | Richard Tufo |
Cinematography | Don Stern |
Edited by | Nettie Peña |
Production company | Movies Anonymous Partnership Intercontinental Releasing Corporation |
Distributed by | Intercontinental Releasing Corporation |
| |
83 minutes | |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Home Sweet Home (also known as Slasher in the House) is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Nettie Peña, and written by Thomas Bush. It stars Jake Steinfeld, Peter De Paula, and Vinessa Shaw in her film debut, and the plot focuses on a PCP-addicted killer who terrorizes a family in their remote home on Thanksgiving. Along with Blood Rage and the faux Thanksgiving trailer from Grindhouse, it is one of the few slasher films centered on the Thanksgiving holiday, and one of the few to be directed by a woman.[1]
While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic.
Plot[edit]
A parked motorist is strangled by escaped mental patient Jay Jones, a PCP addict who was institutionalized after bludgeoning his parents. Jay carjacks his victim, and runs down an old woman while driving through Los Angeles.
On the outskirts of the city, nine people have gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving at the ranch of Harold Bradley. Among the revelers are Harold's tenant Scott, and his girlfriend Jennifer. As there is no wine in the house, Harold's girlfriend Linda and her friend Gail borrow Scott's car to go and get some, while Jay cuts off the house's power. Harold turns on the emergency generator, leaves to get more gasoline for it, and happens upon Jay's abandoned station wagon. As Harold tries to take the battery out of the car, Jay slams the hood down on him, crushing his skull.
Jay severs the telephone line, and when Wayne goes out to look for Harold, he is garroted by Jay, who was hiding in the backseat of Wayne's car. Linda and Gail, who had become lost, run out of gas, and as they try to find their way back to the ranch, they run into Jay. Jay slams Gail's head into a rock, and stabs Linda to death with a broken bottle. Afterward, Jay returns to the house, where the remaining guests and members of the Bradley family have sat down to a turkey dinner.
When Wayne's girlfriend Maria goes to the washroom, Jay stabs her, and proceeds to chase Harold's son 'Mistake' (a Kiss Army soldier) around the property, eventually catching and fatally shocking him with his own electric guitar and portable amplifier. Scott discovers Maria's body while collecting firewood, runs back to the ranch, and secures the building with Jennifer, and Harold's young daughter, Angel. Jay manages to break inside, and as he tries strangling Scott, Jennifer wounds him with a knife.
Jay recovers, slits Scott's throat, and pursues Jennifer, who faints while hiding in Scott's room. In the morning, Jennifer awakens, and is assaulted by Jay when she ventures outside. A pair of police officers, alerted to the situation by Angel, pull up, and blast Jay with a shotgun. As one officer places Jennifer in his car with Angel, the other checks on Jay, who opens his eyes.
Cast[edit]
- Jake Steinfeld as Jay Jones
- Vinessa Shaw as Angel Bradley
- Peter De Paula as 'Mistake' Bradley
- Don Edmonds as Harold Bradley
- Charles Hoyes as Wayne
- David Mielke as Scott
- Leia Naron as Gail
- Lisa Rodríguez as Maria
- Colette Trygg as Jennifer
- Sallee Young as Linda
- J. Kelly as Officer Jim
- R. Fouts as Officer Tom
- Victor Paddock as First Victim
- Rochelle Constanten as Old Woman
- Anne Cribbs as Witness
Reception[edit]
Retro Slashers wrote, 'The film has heart. Sure, it's a kind of mindless and confused heart, but the acting is decent and there's a real feeling that the filmmakers were shooting for something'.[2] A 1½ out of a possible 5 was awarded by Hysteria Lives!, which opined that 'Home Sweet Home is a truly terrible movie. It's bad to the very core; but if you are in just the right mood and you're an aficionado of cheese then you might get a few kicks out of this fetid stinker'.[3] Film Bizarro deemed the film an obnoxious mess that was filled with annoying and stupid characters, awful attempts at comedy, poorly done gore, and a complete lack of originality or successful horror.[4] Critical Condition found that Home Sweet Home was 'one cop-out after another' marred by poor lighting and an antagonist who 'hams it up so badly, you half expect bacon to fly off the screen'.[5]
Film historian Adam Rockoff wrote of the film: 'For being so irredeemably terrible, Home Sweet Home has a strangely compelling pedigree... I've heard that star Steinfeld has no sense of humor about involvement with the film, which makes watching this travesty almost worthwhile.'[6]
References[edit]
- ^Goldweber 2012.
- ^Night, Amanda. 'Review: Home Sweet Home (1981)'. retroslashers.net. Retro Slashers. Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^Kerswell, Justin (15 May 2012). 'Home Sweet Home'. hysteria-lives.co.uk. Hysteria Lives!. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^Carnell, Preston. 'Home Sweet Home'. filmbizarro.com. Film Bizarro. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^Adelman, Fred. 'Horror D - I'. critcononline.com. Critical Condition. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^Rockoff 2015, p. 63.
Bibliography[edit]
- Goldweber, David E. (2012). Claws & Saucers: Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film: A Complete Guide: 1902-1982. Lulu Press. ISBN978-1-10504-350-5.
- Rockoff, Adam (2015). The Horror of It All: One Moviegoer's Love Affair with Masked Maniacs, Frightened Virgins, and the Living Dead. Scribner. ISBN978-1-47676-183-1.
External links[edit]
- Home Sweet Home on IMDb
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