Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.

Today’s theme: Tobe Hooper!

About the Author: Parker Simpson is a writer and podcaster focusing on cult films and their social impacts. They currently cohost Where Is My Mind, a podcast focusing on underappreciated films from a variety of genres and countries. They have also held panels, chartered local organizations, and written articles to their blog. When not writing or studying, they like to spend time with their pets and go outside. Check out the podcast Linktree and blog.

Being a fan of Freddy Krueger led me to this, and I was very intrigued seeing this in Tobe Hooper’s late output. Surely this will be a compelling feature.

Night Terrors is a direct to video effort that Tobe Hooper was asked to direct after Gerry O’Hara left the project. Featuring Robert Englund as the Marquis de Sade and a slew of actors familiar to the direct to video scene (including William Finley), it follows a young woman visiting her father in Egypt (it’s really in Israel) as she gets wrapped up in a cult run by de Sade’s descendant.

If you read that and thought “what the fuck?” to yourself, you’d be correct! How de Sade’s family ends up in Egypt is never explained, nor is the formation of his cult. The film reeks of unexplained bullshit thrown in just to happen. Naked dude on a horse? Painted snake lady? Exorcisms during an orgy featuring snakes? Cool, I guess. I’m ok with weirdness, but after a certain point it needs to make some sense.

Another choice is to intercut the modern day storyline with de Sade’s ramblings from his prison cell. I’m all for giving Robert Englund more screentime, and to his credit he is very fun to watch. But the back and forth makes no sense; it would work better as a straight period piece like it was originally intended.

Englund’s performance excluded, the acting from most of the cast is questionable at best. Zoe Trilling as Genie (a play on Eugenie, ha ha) overacts and screams a lot. I don’t like that her character is constantly a damsel in distress and is saved by forces outside her control, but she doesn’t make it any more watchable. Most everyone else phones it in. No one, not even Englund or Finley, truly attempts to elevate this nonsensical script; they all just play into its absurdity (intentionally or not). Combined with the silly premise, it’s really quite fun to watch.

The whole movie looks cheap. 90s DTV has a certain charm that I find irresistible, but even with the on location filming, the budget is painfully clear. The dungeon/basement settings are particularly hard to look at. A 4:3 ratio does nothing to help the film, and there is a distinct orange tinge over everything, likely indicative that this needs a restoration. 

I feel bad not liking this. Tobe Hooper, Robert Englund, and de Sade should have been a match made in heaven (or hell, depending on what you believe). Turns out none of them can help a lousy script. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but watching this is akin to watching a car crash. At least it was fun.