10 Most Underrated Horror/Slasher Fims Part Four: Night Warning(1983)

Night Warning is one of the strangest entries in the early 80's slasher boom. Like Silent Scream, it's really more of a thriller than a slasher, but it definitely uses a lot of the trappings of the genre. The most amazing aspect of Night Warning can be summed up in two words: Susan Tyrell!! She is an absolute maniac in this film, she is completely OTT, and one of the best horror villains I can think of.

The story begins with Tyrell watching her baby nephew while her sister and husband go on a trip. They find the brakes have been tampered with, and end up smashing into a logging truck(awesome beheading scene!). This leaves Tyrell with the infant as her own, and she raises him as her nephew, but acts like a doting mother at every turn. Billy(Jimmy McNichol) notices that Aunt Cheryl is getting to be a bit too controlling as she forbids him to leave home for college, then tries to discourage him from seeing his girlfriend. One night after she makes the moves on a TV repairman(who is also gay), and he declines, she stabs him to death. She tells Billy, who arrives immediately afterwards, that the man tried to rape her, and she killed him in self defense. Bo Svenson, in his usual redneck role, shows up as the Sheriff, and he knows that the TV repairman is gay, and was dating Billy's basketball coach. This leads the Sheriff to believe that Billy is gay, and he killed the man, not Aunt Cheryl. Things get really crazy after that, and Tyrell goes completely bat-shit crazy, it is definitely a sight to behold. There isn't a high body count, but when there is a kill, it's high quality. Definitely one of the best films of the genre!

I am happy to announce that the aforementioned Scorpion Releasing will be putting this out on DVD next year, under it's alternate title, "Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker", and I can't wait to replace my worn-out VHS!!!