I first saw this in the late 80s on a VHS. Revisited it recently on a DVD. Plot - four college students are taken off to run-down mansion and are given the task of spending the night in the creepy old mansion. The house has a dark past, twelve years prior, the owner of the mansion had killed his wife and children except for one who disappeared. The movie is very slow. The first kill happens aft a long time n the tension is nada. As slashers go this is particularly tedious, the kills are bland and badly shot. There is zero nudity in spite of being directed by a porn director. We do get to see some cleavage of the overweight Linda blair dressed in a Santa claus dress. Her chubby cheeks were a total turn off man. One couple keep beating around the bush about sex. They seem to be half dressed in bed for hours but nothing happens. The emphasis on atmosphere is a good point in this film. The house is creepy and the story just offbeat enough to be unsettling. The scene in the tunnels were creepy for those times. Recommended only for 80s slasher fans.

.....Then the film has failed in it's goal.Before being able to join Alpha Sigma Rho fraternity and its sister sorority, four students must spend the night in Garth Manor, twelve years to the day after the previous resident murdered his entire family. Some, however, say that one member of the Garth family survived, and still resides somewhere in the now-deserted mansion.....If like me, your a horror fan, and haven't seen this film before, it's a shame, because it's nothing more than a 'stay the night in a haunted house' film. No that it's a bad thing, but so many have been made since, this has nothing to offer, even though it was made before these became more popular.Obviously the selling Point is Blair, still quite fresh from The Exorcist, and for a while, she did try her hand at being a 'Scream Queen', but Laurie Strode had already beat her.So we begin with the big boys of the frat locking the contenders in the house, the boys getting frisky, and Blair brushing of her intended. Because after all, she is dressed as Red Riding Hood, a virtual metaphor for purity and not straying off the path.So the big guys have set up speakers in the house which feature maniacal screams and laughter, until what we all know would happen eventually.It's not scary in the slightest, but at least the deaths are inventive and quite visceral.It's not surprising that it never became as big as other horror films made at the same time, because it's just that little too flat, but it passes the time, and never really gets boring.

Linda Blair stars as one of four college pledges who must spend the night in the creepy old mansion(reputed to be haunted, with a murderous history) in order to join the sorority and fraternity. Seniors plan to pull pranks on them for fun, but discover to their dismay that "reputed" turns out to mean "factual"...Surprisingly effective thriller may not be original, but has good performances and direction, which create characters you come to care about, and a genuinely spooky atmosphere, especially when it moves underground. Scary and (reasonably) smart, this one stands out from the usual "slashers" of the period, and results are above average, with a memorable ending.

Four teens are going to sleep in a manor with terrific stories about it.Yeah,very original for the time.The acting is good,except Linda Blair.I especially liked the Vincent Van Patten performance,and Suki Goodwin is good in her role of bad girl.There isn't much blood and the murders aren't original.The special effects are poor and we didn't see breast and there the scenes in bed are very innocent.The setting is amazing and one of the best settings in the horror story!!I give it a 5 and not a 6 or a 7 because the killer back story isn't clear and that's upsets me.Megamagdaleno's mark:5'2SPOILERSThe favorite kill:Peter,who is cornered and pierced by a scythe.Then,the Peter's flashlight falls into the floor as we hear the killer's grunts