Similar movies to this imo would be Hell Night (1981), Happy Birthday to Me (1981), Nightwish (1989) or Next of Kin (1982). These sorts of movies you may like. What I like a lot about To All a Goodnight are the subtle clues you can easily pickup on when watched again. There are plenty of hints that the enemy is at the gates. The acting is easily good enough, it captures that 80's vibe well enough and doesn't waste time getting to a bit of slashy fun.Its a cheap thrill for an hour and a bit, the promiscuousness of girls makes this one of those types of slashers where the victims are totally caught off guard. Most of the thrill comes from seeing how many people get killed until they realise what's going on. There is a bit of mystery as well.

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.

To All a Goodnight (1980) * 1/2 (out of 4) At a sorority house, a prank turns deadly as a young woman being chased by her sisters falls off a balcony and dies. Flash forward two years and a group of girls invite their boyfriends over just as a psycho shows up to kill them off.TO ALL A GOODNIGHT is a really bad slasher from first-time director David Hess who is of course best remembered for playing the bad guy in Wes Craven's THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. It turned out 1980 was a very big year for him as he not only directed his first movie but also appeared in the highly controversial Ruggero Deodato shocker HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK. Sadly, this film here just doesn't have a whole lot working for it, although I will praise Hess for at least making a very professional looking film on less than $70,000 and in under ten days. I was really shocked to hear those figures because this film at least looks professionally done so I'm a little curious why Hess didn't try his hand at directing again.As far as the film goes, it's a pretty sluggish affair because there are obviously all kinds of corners being cut. It's obvious watching the film because some scenes just appear to be first takes that they had to use because they didn't have more time. I say this during a couple sequence where the killer goes to stab at people and it just looks like it's a rehearsal or being done in slow motion (the knife going towards people). Another problem with the film is that there's really nothing too memorable going on. There's no question that this was an attempt to cash in on the slasher genre that was just taking off and it's clear this was rushed to try and cash in on that. The screenplay itself throws in the various clichés that by this time were already old-fashioned. There's a bit of BLACK Christmas thrown into the film and you can also at least say this featured a killer Santa Claus several years before SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT.The special effects really aren't the greatest as the majority of the stuff happens off screen. The stabbings are good enough but no one will mistake them for the work of Tom Savini. There was one very memorable throat slashing where you see the throat pretty much pull apart. I'm a little surprised that this here made it past the MPAA. As far as the performances go, they're what you'd expect in this type of film but for the most part they're all good enough. Jennifer Runyon is the most known name in the cast, although porn star Harry Reems can be seen briefly. The film does offer up quite a bit of nudity so director Hess at least had that going for him.TO ALL A GOODNIGHT is a pretty forgettable slasher but I'm sure some fans of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT will want to see it just as a curio.

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.