NightofDeath

Night of Death (1980)

You know you kind of expect the Italians and Spanish to put out some over the top memorable horror movies, but not the French, especially not a nasty little movie that uses gore and nudity to score some shocks with the audience. Here we have a story of an isolated old folks home filled with some strange characters. To this place comes a young nurse named Martine. She has been hired to work at the home, but is treated rather poorly at first for arriving early. Not long after she arrives the other nurse disappears and Martine thinks something is up. Of course we the audience know that the elderly residents are cannibals and that they eat their nurse every couple of months to maintain their youthful vigor! How do we know this? Because early on we are treated to them making supper of Martine’s former co-worker!

Night of Death starts off a bit slow, but then finds it’s rhythm and becomes an entertaining entry into the horror genre. The movie follows a familiar story line with Martine being put into an unknown and strange place (the old folks home) so that she can be taken advantage of later on by our villains. Now I have to admit that I liked the first 15 or 20 minutes and the last 10 the most. There is a long stretch in the middle where the filmmakers play that “will she or won’t she find out what is going on right now” game. This drags a bit, but when the action starts up it really gets going. The movie attempts not 1, but actually 2 twists. The 1st one is okay and has to do with Martine’s boyfriend and didn’t really surprise me. The 2nd one I saw coming a mile away, and for me kind of ruins the ending of the movie just a bit. I mean I don’t mind a downer ending, but this kind of feels cheap.

I need to talk about the gore in this movie. Now I’m sure that those who grew up on the Savini effects of the late 70s and 80s might not be terribly impressed with what is presented here. But I really did have fun with what I got. After seeing a woman basically butchered and eating while she was still fresh and gooey the movie goes a long time before getting back to the red stuff. But these early scenes, including some of the most disturbing “scooping’ that I’ve seen in a long time definitely wets the old whistle and kept me interested for more later on. Once Martine figures out what is happening she goes on a bit of a spree taking out all the elderly cannibals as she finds them. You get some nice eye gouging, head smashing, stabbing, and even a hand getting chopped off. Pretty good stuff if you ask me.

This isn’t a perfect movie but it is fun. I rather enjoyed the quirky characters and story, plus there is some good gore. This is the kind of odd movie that Synapse is rather good at digging up and putting out on DVD. I for one am glad to have it in my collection. I recommend Night of Death as a purchase.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer