A mild box-office hit for New World Pictures, this lightweight attempt
at horror parody from Friday the 13th producer Sean S. Cunningham
stars former Greatest American Hero William Katt as a best-selling
pop-horror novelist (a la Stephen King) who suffers an
insurmountable case of writer's block after separation from his
soap-star wife (Kay Lenz) and the disappearance of their young son.
Hoping to purge his personal demons by writing his Vietnam War
memoirs, he moves into the massive mansion once occupied by his
deceased Aunt (who hanged herself in her bedroom), and finds
himself surrounded by demons of a completely different kind. Katt
takes the weirdness in stride, attempting to face down marauding
monsters, interdimensional trap-doors and other supernatural horrors
while concealing his predicament from the neighbors (except for a
befuddled George Wendt, who tries gamely to play along with Katt's
hare-brained monster-fighting schemes). Despite the filmmakers'
admirable efforts to maintain the manic pace with multiple storylines,
their attempt to bring all the plot elements together for the climactic
payoff results in a jangled mess. Surprisingly entertaining when
viewed as a live-action cartoon, but virtually impossible to take
seriously as a horror film. Followed by three sequels. ~ Cavett
Binion, All Movie Guide
Running Time: 92 mins
Director(s):Steve Miner
Writer(s):Fred Dekker, Ethan Wiley
Theatrical MPAA Rating: R
at horror parody from Friday the 13th producer Sean S. Cunningham
stars former Greatest American Hero William Katt as a best-selling
pop-horror novelist (a la Stephen King) who suffers an
insurmountable case of writer's block after separation from his
soap-star wife (Kay Lenz) and the disappearance of their young son.
Hoping to purge his personal demons by writing his Vietnam War
memoirs, he moves into the massive mansion once occupied by his
deceased Aunt (who hanged herself in her bedroom), and finds
himself surrounded by demons of a completely different kind. Katt
takes the weirdness in stride, attempting to face down marauding
monsters, interdimensional trap-doors and other supernatural horrors
while concealing his predicament from the neighbors (except for a
befuddled George Wendt, who tries gamely to play along with Katt's
hare-brained monster-fighting schemes). Despite the filmmakers'
admirable efforts to maintain the manic pace with multiple storylines,
their attempt to bring all the plot elements together for the climactic
payoff results in a jangled mess. Surprisingly entertaining when
viewed as a live-action cartoon, but virtually impossible to take
seriously as a horror film. Followed by three sequels. ~ Cavett
Binion, All Movie Guide
Running Time: 92 mins
Director(s):Steve Miner
Writer(s):Fred Dekker, Ethan Wiley
Theatrical MPAA Rating: R