Night of Death! (1980)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
French horror film has a woman (Isabelle Goguey) getting a job at Deadlock House, a home for the elderly where she is given orders by the strict owner (Betty Beckers) to look after the clients, cook and other basic chores. The day after her arrival the nurse who was on duty mysteriously leaves and as time goes on she is going to learn the truth and that's that the elderly here are extremely old and killing and eating the young to stay alive. As far as horror films go, this one here really doesn't offer anything new or original but there are some very good moments scattered around that make it worth viewing if you're a fan of the genre. The highlight of the film is without question its music score by Laurent Petitgirard who actually makes the film quite chilling in a few scenes. The music score has a very eerie tone to it and it's one I could find myself listening to often and enjoying it every step of the way. This mixes in well with the atmosphere created by the director, which is very thick at times and so much so that you can smell the death inside this old house. Another major plus is the performance of Goguey who manages to be very believable in her role but she's also good enough to make us care about her, which isn't something that usually comes along in a Euro horror flick. The supporting players are also quite good as they certainly deliver in their roles and give it their all. The gore in the film is extremely cheap as we see a body get sliced down the middle and for the rest of the movie we see our elderly folks pull stuff out of it and eat. The body is extremely fake looking but this doesn't hurt the film too much. We also get a little bit of nudity throughout the film. What really kills the movie is that the screenplay really doesn't offer too much because after we realize that the elderly people are cannibals, it takes way too long to reach the ending that we know is coming. We know they're eventually going to want to eat the new nurse but it takes forever to get there. With that said, fans of the genre will still want to check this forgotten film out as there's still enough here to make it worth watching.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
French horror film has a woman (Isabelle Goguey) getting a job at Deadlock House, a home for the elderly where she is given orders by the strict owner (Betty Beckers) to look after the clients, cook and other basic chores. The day after her arrival the nurse who was on duty mysteriously leaves and as time goes on she is going to learn the truth and that's that the elderly here are extremely old and killing and eating the young to stay alive. As far as horror films go, this one here really doesn't offer anything new or original but there are some very good moments scattered around that make it worth viewing if you're a fan of the genre. The highlight of the film is without question its music score by Laurent Petitgirard who actually makes the film quite chilling in a few scenes. The music score has a very eerie tone to it and it's one I could find myself listening to often and enjoying it every step of the way. This mixes in well with the atmosphere created by the director, which is very thick at times and so much so that you can smell the death inside this old house. Another major plus is the performance of Goguey who manages to be very believable in her role but she's also good enough to make us care about her, which isn't something that usually comes along in a Euro horror flick. The supporting players are also quite good as they certainly deliver in their roles and give it their all. The gore in the film is extremely cheap as we see a body get sliced down the middle and for the rest of the movie we see our elderly folks pull stuff out of it and eat. The body is extremely fake looking but this doesn't hurt the film too much. We also get a little bit of nudity throughout the film. What really kills the movie is that the screenplay really doesn't offer too much because after we realize that the elderly people are cannibals, it takes way too long to reach the ending that we know is coming. We know they're eventually going to want to eat the new nurse but it takes forever to get there. With that said, fans of the genre will still want to check this forgotten film out as there's still enough here to make it worth watching.