Very well executed

Undescribable Perfection

one of my absolute favorites!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

A group of finishing school girls remain on campus for the Christmas holiday and join together for festivities at their nearly-empty school. Unfortunately, a psycho in a Santa Claus suit is lurking around, and bringing more than holiday cheer.The directorial debut of David Hess, who is most known for his appearance in Wes Craven's grindhouse classic "The Last House on the Left," this marginal slasher flick is absurdly hammy and yet has simultaneous bursts of greatness. The opening sequence lasts all of thirty seconds, is badly-shot, has zero context, and is virtually identical to the opening scene of "Prom Night" (which in itself is strange given that these films were released within mere months of each other). When the very-obvious stunt dummy went cascading off the balcony, I knew I was in for a doozy with this one.From thereon, the audience is served a routine narrative that is indistinguishable from any other slasher, except that it's poorly-edited. Uneven pacing may perhaps be the film's greatest sin-the plot chugs along in an awkward fashion, and the first act in many ways feels like it should be the second. I would commend this inversion as at least a brave narrative experiment, but given the shoddiness of the entire production, it's safe to say it was unintentional.It's not all bad, though. There are some solid murder sequences here and a handful of effective (yet again, poorly-edited) gore effects. There is one murder sequence involving a knights' armor that is ridiculously clever and one of the bursts of brilliance that I think warrant a viewing. What the film lacks in conventional Christmas environs (it takes place in a very obvious Southern California) it makes up for in its employment of the Santa Claus suit as the killer's mode of concealment; the killer's appearances are sometimes chilling, and it's worth noting that the film may be the first proper "killer Santa" picture (not counting the 1972 "Tales from the Crypt" segment), a title which often goes to "Silent Night, Deadly Night," released four years later. The performances here are offbeat by and large, with silly dialogue to match, though Jennifer Runyon makes an okay heroine.Overall, "To All a Goodnight" is what I'd classify as a good bad movie; as a slasher, it is very much by-the-books, and boasts a script riddled with abysmal dialogue and bizarre pacing. By the same token, it has its charms, and I did find key moments to be brilliant. Unfortunately, it's simply not the sum of its parts. 5/10.

Spoiler warning..I saw this on vacation after renting it from a mom and pop video store. At the end, I remember the Final Girl escaping by jumping off a roof. Another sorority sister, the mean one, was doing some kind of dance on the roof while the killer watched from a second story window. What the heck did any of that mean? Anyone know?

The idea of a killer dressed as Santa Claus attacking a group of young people at a sorority house sounds great to a horror fan like myself! Which is why I was so excited to this the other day. Unfortunately, 'To All A Goodnight' was a major disappointment. It had so much potential, but with so many flaws to me this is a below average slasher film that I wouldn't care to see again.The movie begins with a girl accidentally falling to her death during a prank/initiation. Flash forward two years, this time with a group of new girls who are staying at the sorority house over Christmas. They invite a bunch of boys over to spend the holidays with them which of course was added just to increase the body count. Eventually, a killer dressed as Santa kills a few people and one of the body is discovered the next morning. A cop comes to the house and tells them to stay and lock up for the night (not sure why they listened, I would have gotten the hell out). Anyways, a few more murders happen that evening leading to the killer's revelation.There are so many things wrong with the movie. The main group of characters are so annoying and make it hard to get through the film at times. The dialogue and acting are so bad, it just makes most scenes seem awkward. Plus, it's Christmas. Where is the snow? I feel that the movie could have been much more moody and creepier with a snowstorm outside or something. And why would they stay at the house an entire day after finding a bloody corpse. It makes no sense. Also, the lighting is pretty bad so don't expect to see everything clearly, including some of the kills. The killers identity was sort of obvious to me anyways, but there is a second twist which came out of nowhere for me. It felt rushed and fell flat. 'To All A Goodnight' has it's moments, like a helicopter propeller kill and making one of the characters go completely insane after finding a decapitated head in the shower. But after I had so much anticipation in seeing this, I felt that it wasn't a very good movie and could have been so much better.4/10

I got this one for two reasons. First, to add to a collection of Christmas themed horror and fright films, and also because it's directed by David Hess. While he made a most convincing and despicable villain in Last House on the Left and House by the Edge of the Park, he really should have left the directing here to others. The story is fairly typical 80s teenager vs slasher fare, although the whole killer in a Santa costume is intriguing. The methods used to knock off the teens are fairly standard (except for one rather sharp effort that gets two teens at one time), yet generally well-done. The film suffers from a lack of pacing, pretty sluggish and slow in many places with a continuous repetition of the Are We Safe in the House or What? mantra, to the point of causing a viewer to wish the kids would all get killed quickly. The wish is mostly fulfilled, but it sure takes a while. The end is not particularly surprising unless you've not seen this type of film before. Still a worthwhile item to have if you keep a collection of Christmas scare flicks, as I have.