Home Sweet Home (also known as Slasher in the House) is 1981 Slasher Movie, as you can probably tell from the alternate title.In 1973, eighteen year-old drug addict Jay Jones beat both his parents to death, but was deemed insane and stuck in a Los Angeles asylum. Eight years later, on Thanksgiving Day weekend, Jay escapes and goes on a PCP fueled rampage, eventually ending up at the secluded ranch house of Harold Bradley, whose friends and family have gathered together to celebrate the holiday. Suffice to say, Jay is going to make the revelers a little less thankful...As far as eighties slashers go, Home Sweet Home is exceedingly generic, but it does have two noteworthy things going for it. One, it was the first (and is still one of the few) horror films set around Thanksgiving; and two, it happened to star famous Hollywood fitness guru "Bodies by" Jake Steinfeld, who gives a deliciously hammy performance as the completely batshit Jay.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
But Liquor Is Quicker: The officers decide to hang around the area, guessing Linda and Gail will get pretty loose after drinking the wine they bought at the store.
Camera Abuse: When Jay strangles the guy who offers him a drink, the can gets thrown at the camera, covering it in beer.
Car Fu: Jay runs down an old lady crossing the street with his recently hijacked station wagon.
Cat Scare: A noise is heard, the turkey is found knocked over, and Angel's unmoving legs are sticking out from under the table. Turns out she just snuck some turkey.
The Cavalry: Officers Jim and Tom (who had only one previous scene, in which they seemed less than reliable) show up at the last minute to pump Jay full of lead before he can kill Jennifer.
Determinator: Jay keeps going, even after getting a carving knife slammed into his back (he's reduced to stumbling a lot, though). The knife also remains stuck in him for the rest of the film.
Freudian Excuse: One of Jay's two lines of dialogue indicate his parents (or at least his mother) were abusive.
The Gambling Addict: Wayne, who becomes absolutely livid when the power goes out and he can't watch the big game.
Goomba Stomp: While Harold is busy trying to steal the battery out of his parked car, Jay jumps on the hood, slamming it down on his skull.
Gory Discretion Shot: For a hit and run, oddly. Jay is shown heading towards the old lady, there's an intense zoom in on her screaming face... then we're shown Jay laughing with blood all over the front of the car.
Infant Immortality: Jay has seemingly no interest in Angel, the little girl.
Instrument of Murder: Jay mangles Mistake's electric guitar and portable power supply, and electrocutes him with them. It is the most well lit night scene in the entire film.
Just Hit Her: Near the end, Jay's attempts at killing Jennifer involve little more than throwing her at the ground a lot.
Peek-A-Boo Corpse: Jay strings up either Harold or Wayne's body (it's dark) in the woods for Linda to find. Later, Maria find the mutilated body of one of the other women in the washroom.
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