hwg1957-102-265704 A group of female teenagers at the Calvin Finishing School are menaced during the holiday break by a maniacal killer in a Santa Claus costume. The motive of the killer is easy to work out and so is the identity of the killer. The teenagers and their boy friends (who come in a plane to meet them) are stalked and most of them get killed. So a pretty routine slasher movie. The gore is OK but apart from that it is rather dull. There is a final twist at the end which comes out of nowhere and is not necessary.The cast are ordinary and the characters on the whole are annoying so one looks forward to them being bumped off, which they are in standard slasher movie ways. As normal for a teen horror film they act stupidly most of the time. The director David Hess has genre connections but only in acting. His direction is routine. I was puzzled about the title of the film but an erudite friend told me it is the last line of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' by Major Henry Livingston Jr.

gwnightscream This 1980 horror film features a crazed killer dressed as Santa Claus stalking a group of friends at an all-girl school where an accidental death occurred 2 years prior. What can I say? This film is disappointing. Many scenes are dark which makes me want to go to sleep, the characters are unlikable, except for the main girl, Nancy (Jennifer Runyon), the editing stinks and the ending is kind of predictable and ridiculous. Also, The film obviously rips off "Prom Night," "Black Christmas," "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th." The only plus is the girls showing some skin and a couple of kills/deaths. I'd only view this if you're into slasher flicks, but it's a weak one.

Woodyanders A handful of college students at the Calvin Finishing School for Girls find themselves being terrorized by a psycho dressed as Santa Claus during Christmas break. The strictly workmanlike direction by David Hess (yep, Krug Stillo from "The Last House on the Left") manages to keep the formulaic, yet still fairly enjoyable and engrossing story moving along at a reasonably steady pace, but alas crucially fails to generate much in the way of either suspense or spooky atmosphere. The gore f/x are decent enough, although the murder set pieces could have been staged with a bit more punch. The by-the-numbers hackneyed script by Alex Rebar (yep, he played the titular hideously goopy fellow in "The Incredible Melting Man") trots out all the tried'n'true body count clichés in an almost endearingly clunky fashion: We've got a creepy handyman (hulking West Buchanan), carefree young folks who mark themselves for doom by smoking pot and doing the deed prior to meeting brutal untimely ends, a past tragedy that gets gruesomely avenged a few years down the road, a couple of lame last reel twists, and so on. Bill Godsey's bland cinematography and the wonky synthesizer score both leave something to be desired. Fortunately, the sturdy acting by the able cast keeps this movie watchable: Jennifer Runyon in her film debut makes for an appealing final girl as token nice gal Nancy, Forrest Swanson contributes a likable turn as the nerdy Alex, buxom babe Linda Gentile heats up the screen as seductive strumpet Melody, foxy slender redhead Judith Bridges brings a winningly brash spirit to her role as the sassy Leia (and also even bares her tasty tight body in a shower scene), Kiva Lawrence does well as kind-hearted house mother Mrs. Jensen, and Angela Bath snarks it up delightfully as snooty bitch Trisha. 70's porn legend Harry Reems pops up in a small part as an airplane pilot. An okay slice'n'dice opus.

bfan83 TO ALL A GOODNIGHT was arguably the first slasher flick to feature Santa Claus as a killer. In my opinion, it is also way better than Christmas EVIL, or SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. Unfortunately, it has become all but forgotten by horror fans.The plot revolves are 5 young women, who are boarders at the exclusive Calvin Finishing School who are staying behind for the holidays. They decide to drug their housemother and invite their boyfriends over for a late night frolic. During the night, two of them are murdered. The next day, the rest of the group discover their friend's bodies and they soon must fight for their lives as they begin dying one, by one.Granted, TO ALL A GOODNIGHT is far from a good film, but it does try. It doesn't present itself anymore than just being a straight slasher. They are a few odd moments in the film. One having to do with one of the girls ballet dancing on the balcony (I'll let you find out that one for yourself.) The only other complaint that I have is that the ending felt rushed and anti-climatic.Horror fans will be pleased to know that it has one heck of the body count and the gore is decent. We have a death by a wire garrote, another at the receiving end of a private plane's blades, a decapitation and so on and so on.Overall, it's an entertaining and woefully underrated slasher film that needs to see a resurrection on DVD. If you can locate a copy on ebay (did I mention it's rather rare?) pick it up. It makes a nice addition to any hardcore horror movie collector.