25 years, and he just sat in his cell. And probably ate the spiders that wove that web.
Happy Hell Night is a slasher horror movie from the year 1992 starring Darren McGavin.
During an initiation dare in the late sixties, a group of kids held a mock black magic ritual to revive a corpse of a priest named Zachary Malius and, to their horror and dismemberment, find out that the corpse is now the vessel of a murder-happy demon.
Authorities lock Malius up in a madhouse and the town tries its best to forget the whole thing. But 25 years later, another initiation dare is planned and this time it involves of taking a picture of a certain madhouse patient...
No relation to Hell Night.
This film features the examples of:
- Agony of the Feet
- An Arm and a Leg: Ralph grabs Sonny with his left hand when he gets locked up in now-awakened Malius's cell. He loses it before finally getting off by his captor.
- Bald of Evil
- Big Bad: Father Malius, the demon-possessed corpse.
- Black Eyes of Evil: Malius' eyes are completely black.
- Chekhov's Gun: Surgical tools at the mental institution are later used to kill a nurse, and a pickaxe on the fraternity's wall is taken by Malius to be used as his primary weapon.
- Deadline News: Ned's exclusive report on S-TV ends with his death at Malius's hands.
- Deal with the Devil: It was part of the events that led to Malius coming back wrong, which eventually led to the current carnage.
- Demonic Possession: Malius acts the way he is because he is a corpse possessed by a demon.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: The kids that did the ritual that resulted in Malius getting possessed should really have known better than to fuck around with Black Magic, much less treat it like a game.
- Filth: Bara has installed cameras all over the fraternity house and uses them to record sexual encounters.
- Ghost Butler: When Ralph steps into Malius' cell, the door behind him closes itself, leaving him to Malius' mercy.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The mysterious man who convinced Henry Collins, the father of Sonny and Eric, to revive Malius' corpse with black magic in the sixties. He is responsible for every death in the film.
- Harpoon Gun: Eric picks up one in the attic, referred to as his "shark gun". He soon uses it against Malius, sending him crashing through a window.
- Impaled Palm
- Life-or-Limb Decision: When caught in a Bear Trap, Malius cuts his right arm off with a scalpel.
- Living Statue: Malius' influence causes a life-sized crucifix to come to life, as witnessed by Father Cane.
- Mad Libs Catch Phrase: Malius' catchphrase is "No [something]"; leading to comments like "No parking", "No sex", "No TV", etc.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Is it really a surprise that a man called Malius ended up as a demon-possessed killer?
- No-Tell Motel: Sonny and Susan have a steamy time there, much to Eric's dismay, as he is Susan's actual boyfriend.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: Malius poses as a mannequin at one point.
- Not My Driver: Thinking that they have banished Malius from the world of the living, Sonny and Susan get in a car. Turns out that Malius is the one driving it. Roll Credits.
- Off with His Head!
- Shower Scene: One victim takes a shower before being ambushed by Malius. She is later found in the now blood-filled bathtub.
- Sinister Minister: Malius. Inadvertently, though, as he had no say about becoming a vessel for destruction.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Malius spends 25 years locked away in an asylum out of sight or mind. Judging by the cobwebs over him, he hasn't objected much to it.
- Slashed Throat
- Stop Motion Lighting: Father Malius' awakening from two decades of non-action is shown via continuous flashes from Ralph's polaroid camera.
- Undeathly Pallor: Justified with Malius, as his paleness comes from the fact that he is a corpse.
