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PLEDGE NIGHT (1988) aka Death Night aka Hazing In Hell Director: Paul Ziller Hacktors: Todd Eastland, Joey Belladonna, Will Kempe. Rating/5: The lowdown: Between its early '80s boom period and the Scream-led revival, the slasher genre produced overlooked movies both good and bad. 1989's Intruder is a good example of a corker, while Pledge Night typifies the cheap, dodgy knock-off. Yet it's far from unwatchable... at least, once you get past the first 45 minutes. The story, such as it is, sees the supernatural return of Sid Snyder (played by Anthrax's then- singer Joey Belladonna in a 20-years-ago flashback, then Will Kempe once he's on his murderous rampage), seeking vengeance for his accidental death by acid bath at the hands of some brainless frat brothers. Good points: It's refreshing to see a supernatural killer here - particularly as it's so unexpected, given the movie's straight-up Porkys-by-numbers first half. And once the facially-disfigured Sid is on the loose, he racks up a fair few killings, some of which are quite well presented, with a fair gore level, although many (such an egg whisk down the throat) are off-screen. There are some fun cheapo effects, such as Sid pulling out a length of his own intestine to strangle one unlucky pledge. We also see a fair few naked breasts, which always helps to keep the eyelids apart. Oh, and the score was provided by a Fistful Of Metal-era Anthrax, even if their music isn't always used at the most appropriate times. Bad points: You can tell only too plainly that this is director Ziller's first effort. Many of the scenes are poorly staged, especially the limp fight scenes. The first 45 minutes truly test the patience, eschewing plot build-up in favour of tedious hazing rituals, featuring such latently homosexual hijinks as pledges picking up cherries with their butts. Not that there's anything wrong with latently homosexual hijinks in themselves, of course, but this is just dull, dull, dull. While the story's resolution is admittedly a tad different, it also very much makes you think, 'Oh. Is that it, then?'. Fans of Belladonna should also be warned that he only takes up a minute of screen-time and it's no surprise that an acting career didn't follow. DVD Details: Bizarrely, there seem to be three different European DVDs of this title, all released around the year 2000. I have it as Pledge Night on the JSV label, in a print with occasional glitches (maybe it's just this disc) and a bare minimum of extras: a trailer and slideshow. Amusingly, the Dutch subtitles run about a minute early, so you can see the dialogue which is about to arrive! Dragon Film's release, under the title Death Night (although the onscreen title remains Pledge Night!) seems a safer bet if you can find it, as it offers a trailer and filmography for Paul Ziller, plus a nice colour insert with photographs and more filmography action. There's also a German Red Edition available... Overall: Pledge Night is a film of two halves: one a dumb waste of time, the other a dumb, fairly entertaining waste of time. Feel like wasting some time? This is your movie. Otherwise, for a far superior slasher flick featuring a disfigured student out for bloody revenge, check out 1987's Slaughter High. Release Date: Out now, if you can find it. Still available on VHS through Amazon (see link below). [Check it out at Amazon US] [Reviews Menu] [Home] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-present