One Dark Night

Director - Tom McLoughlin (Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, Freddy's Nightmares)

Starring - Meg Tilly (Psycho II, Body Snatchers), Melissa Newman (RoboTech, The Undefeated), and Robin Evans (Rage of Honor, Fire in the Night)

Release Date - 1982

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "A shocking tale of horror that takes you beyond fear"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

    I'm an active member in several horror groups and every month I see people going absolutely insane when companies like Severin, Arrow Video, and Vinegar Syndrome announce their newest releases.  I'm a fan of these companies, especially Vin Syn, but one company that often goes over looked is MVD's Rewind Collection.  Over the last few years they have released some seriously underrated releases with some seriously heavy hitting horror titles.  A few months back they announced the release of the 1982 Tom McLoughlin horror flick One Dark Night.  I had never seen this one but I was really looking forward to it.  I quickly rushed to my email and requested a review copy.  I want to once again thank MVD for sending this one my way!

     The film follows a group of young women who convince one of them to stay in an old mausoleum as part of an initiation into their group called Sisters.  That mausoleum happens to be the final resting place of a telekinetic man who recently killed several people before the police found his body.  Now their night of hazing is turned into a fight for survival.  

     One Dark Night is not one I had heard other genre fans mention until MVD announced the blu release and even then only a few people showed excitement for the release.  I'm baffled by this because I honestly enjoyed this one quite a bit.  It may not have iconic characters or a memorable killer but it does offer up an enjoyable horror experience.  The acting in this one is fairly well done.  As I stated earlier, none of the characters stand out but everyone delivers fantastic performances.  I genuinely loved the characters and what they brought to the story but they don't really stand out.  I was also surprised to see Elizabeth Daily in this early 80s horror flick.  Most may recognize her from her role in Rob Zombie's Devil's Rejects, as well as, the voice behind the animated characters Buttercup, Tommy Pickles, and many more but to me she will always be Dottie from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.  The story for this one blends supernatural horror with a slasher like tale.  It struggles to make it's own story but it's still fun watching all these elements come together.  With that being said, some aspect of the film is not as effective and even some parts of the story is abandoned with no explanation as to what the fuck is going on.  It's not as messy as Spookies but I do feel that there was two many directions the story was trying to go without any definitive say.  Finally, the film has some wild make-up effects and prosthetics but don't expect to see a bloodbath.  The dead bodies all look great and the scene in the crypt with the killers corpse rotting looks absolutely fantastic but that's the extent of the effects.  Overall, One Dark Night is a surprisingly solid horror outing that has a great cast of characters and a decent enough story.  It does get a bit sloppy at times but it's still very much enjoyable.  I highly recommend it.