Pledge Night (1990) During hell week a frat house is stalked by the murderous spirit of a ’60s hippie who was accidentally killed during a frat prank years earlier. A surprisingly fun little flick, this start off as an Animal House-type romp and halfway through turns into an over-the-top splatter comedy in the spirit of Evil Dead. While technically unimpressive and sporting a bit too many Freddy Krueger moments, this has plenty of low budget charm and a good cast. The movie’s sense of humor helps, as do a few homoerotic scenes (including the “cherry race”), and male frontal nudity, something rarely seen in the horror VHS era. B
Silent Night (2021) An end-of-the-world satire about a stiff upper lip British family spending their last Christmas together before civilization is deemed extinct by a deadly toxic cloud (the result of mass pollution) enveloping the planet. A good cast (Keira Knightly, Matthew Goode, Annabelle Wallis, Lucy Punch, and Jojo Rabbit‘s Roman Griffin David) helps keep the uneven screenplay afloat, especially when scenes unexpectedly shift gears from light-hearted comedy to bleak horror. Knightly is endearing, young David, as the moody family doomsday prophet, is thoroughly annoying, and the ending leaves a lot to be desired. C
Stephen King’s Thinner (1996) One of many King adaptations that came in the wake of Pet Sematary, in which an overweight, revered mob lawyer (Robert John Burke), as well as a few of his colleagues, are cursed by an old Romani man after the accidental death of his sister. Harmless but rather ho-hum in terms of execution, this does have a good performance by Burke and some clever make-up FX by Oscar winner Greg Cannom. In the end you can’t help but wish there was more meat on these bones. C+
