Home Sweet Home
THE STORY: This is going to be a short review. You know why? Because this movie was actually pretty good. Its a little dated...it was made in 1981. But compared to other movies you'll find on this site it was almost flawless! Boy, I feel ineffectual here...like Phil, the prince of insufficient light and lord of Heck from the Dilbert comic strip. (Well, Phil may be effective, I just like his title)
Hulkish Crazy-guy, Jay Jones escapes from a mental hospital. He kills a guy and steals his car. Then he ends up in the vicinity of a ranch owned by a guy named Bradley on Thanksgiving day. One by one he kills all of the family and guests. There's no real suprise to that. He kills them in believable ways. He doesn't crack jokes like Freddy Krueger. He laughs maniacally during each kill, but then, he's a crazy guy! When he kills Bradley I'll admit I laughed out loud and said "Damn!". Bradley decided to steal a car battery. when he had his head under the hood of the car Jay comes running up and does a body slam on the hood, bringing it down on Bradley's head. I expected him to stab Bradley or something and his action was totally unexpected. that was Jay's most creative kill, the other characters die in less dramatic ways. The only survivors are Jennifer, the girlfriend of one of the guests and a little girl named Angel. When the cops arrive in the morning they shoot Jay and kill him. The end.
I'm at a loss. When I picked this tape I thought it would be the typical 80's type slasher movie and easy to riff on. But it wasn't bad. Given the way the characters act it was plausible (well, in a movie world).
BEST LINES: "Hey, you want a beer?!"-The first words uttered in the movie. That's what the guy says before Jay kills him and steals his car.
"She's so latin, I don't believe it"-Jennifer says this in reference to Marie, the Mexican girlfriend of one of the guests. I think its a little bit racist, but this movie was made in 1981 before the age of Political Correctness.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?:
1.) Bradley leaves the ranch to get gas for the generator. He finds the stolen car abandoned and decides to siphon the gas? Why? How many people would do that? Its not implausible, but for all he knows the owner of the car could just be in the bushes taking a leak. At this point in the movie we don't know how honest Bradley is, he may just be a slimeball. I just found it a bit odd.
2.) 30 minutes into the tape that I had the sound went out. Not completely but I had to turn up the TV. When it came back to normal I almost shattered my eardrums.
3.) Linda doesn't notice that the cop that pulled her over is pointing his flashlight directly in her cleavage?
NUDITY AND SEX: A glimpse of Linda's ample boobs, and that's it.
HUH?: Bradley's weird son is called "the Mistake" by everyone. no wonder he's weird.
Marie obviously understands english. She understands what people are saying around and to her. But she never ever during this movie utters a word in english. Everything is in spanish, even hen she answers a question posed in english.
THE TALLY: That's it! I'm stumped. Despite a few things that are purely a matter of perspective, this movie made sense given the circumstances! My advice is if you want a slasher movie that isn't Inferno-fodder, rent this. there are scenes that drag out a little, but all in all its not a bad movie for what it is...an early 80's slasher movie.(making it almost 70ish in its look) Its not the pinnacle of cheesiness, but its worth a look.