"To All a Goodnight" (1980)

[Rebel]

Here is a movie that i do not believe is on DVD or any other format other than the epic VHS. It's very old and its a Christmas themed slasher movie of the very early 80s, 1980 to be exact.

It was released in 1980 by MEDIA Home entertainment. I found a copy on youtube. I doubt you are finding this unless you want to pay out of your arses for an original.

This movie has a 4.8/10 on IMDB and for the life of me I am not sure why. I defended "Christmas Evil' to Abraxis which has a similar rating as this one but this one I can't defend as well.

I'm going to be overly generous and give this movie a 2 out of 5 stars. Maybe I am harsh. I might bump it to a 3 if I give it a repeated viewing.

Positives:

--Atmosphere
-- Semi creepy killer in a Santa Clause outfit
---Had an actual plot
---Very moody movie
--Gore
--Interesting twist

Negatives

---Very hard to see half the time (my biggest gripe)
---Annoying characters half the time
---Some crazy girl dancing around singing which makes no sense.

You can check it out for yourselves

Director Interview



TRAILER



THE MOVIE:

[FireStar]

I must admit this one has slipped by me, its the first I've heard of this one.

[FireStar]

Yeah especically since they've already done 2 Santa Claus movies.

[Rebel]

Hmm. It's not baddddd but its not great either. Of course Abraxis you hate everything

It's worth a watch. It aint being found anywhere else unless you get mega lucky in a second hand store

[Zombified Jeremy]

Maybe it is hard to watch because it is in "epic VHS" and not on DVD.

Take the Legacy DVD of Sleepaway Camp for example, which is poor VHS rip and doesn't compare to the Anchor Bay DVD transfer.

[Rebel]

Transfers be no issues for little old me. I like seeing things as they were shown to begin with. The cover art to this is better than 80% of the DVD's and Blu rays you see in Walmart any of the week

STILL, though this is rare and worth a watch at least. It goes like hot cakes on ebay when it gets put. I am the proud collector of epicness here and not around to flaunt it ;D

[Zombified Jeremy]

Actually, VHS transfers don't represent what a film was made to look like most of the time.

Most of them are in fullscreen instead of widescreen (with the rare "letterbox" exception), which was the original aspect ratio, so if one claims to enjoy them as they were originally shot, then they would get a copy that wasn't hacked up to fit a TV.

[Rebel]

Hmm. 1:33:1 and 1:85:1 there isn't too huge of a difference if that widescreen is stretched to full screen. Now if it was 2:35:1 that's different. Not many used that one back then as they do now.

Hmm. Abraxis now you are speaking my language, but sadly I can't find any Betamaxes. I have a laserdisc and another format here I bet none of yall ever heard of because it only lasted like 5 years

[Rebel]

Hint: It lasted for 5 years as a format before going toodles, which is it Abraxis?

[Zombified Jeremy]

Actually, there is a considerable difference when any widescreen film is hacked up into fullscreen.

It also isn't "stretched" as you claim, but altered through a process called pan and scan, which completely removes parts of the picture to fit the screen.

In terms of a movie getting "stretched," a closer example would be The Evil Dead, which was shot in fullscreen, but modified into widescreen for most DVD releases. Some recent DVD and Blu-Ray releases have included both versions.

[Rebel]

Um, if that was the answer Brax, big wrong

Jeremy, that's because Evil Dead was shot in 16 MM film print which is a low quality print over the standard size hence why anything done to it would make it look funky. Hell it would look funky in theaters regardless

[Rebel]

A format called "CED"

[Teenage Frankenstein]

The film was directed by David Hess, who was Krug in the original Last House on the Left. Although I do enjoy watching it every other Christmas,I didn't get to it this year, but one thing that annoys me is where were the Mothers picketing theaters for this killer Santa slasher?No where to be seen. But yet three years later they were out in force for Silent Night, Deadly Night.I'd say it had more to do with the negative depiction of the catholic orphanage in SNDN than anything.

[Rebel]

Jan 2, 2011 8:05:42 GMT -5 Teenage Frankenstein said:

The film was directed by David Hess, who was Krug in the original Last House on the Left. Although I do enjoy watching it every other Christmas,I didn't get to it this year, but one thing that annoys me is where were the Mothers picketing theaters for this killer Santa slasher?No where to be seen. But yet three years later they were out in force for Silent Night, Deadly Night.I'd say it had more to do with the negative depiction of the catholic orphanage in SNDN than anything.

Do you have this Rare VHS in your house? If so you are automatically EPIC in my book

[Teenage Frankenstein]

Yep sure do.

[Chainsaw]

I pride myself in bein able to find any movie lol. You can et this one for $15 here www.stumpydisks.com/tradehorror.html

If that's too much I can probably find a copy for like $5 if I talk to some of my contacts.

I will admit that I have not seen this movie. Not many 80's slashers I can say that about. ;D

[Rebel]

Oh my, epicness! The original media vhs is fairly pricy so I don't know I am a cheap man

It's on youtube if you wish to watch Chainsaw.

[fridayfan1979]

I ordered this one from stumpydisks.com about 3 years ago but never got it. I sent them an email and they said they'd send another copy, I still didn't get it. Then they stopped responding to my emails. Needless to say, I haven't ordered from them since.

[FireStar]

That sucks FridayFan, stories like that are why I never buy from those types of sites. I only ever order from Amazon.

[fridayfan1979]

I've learned my lesson Fire, I only order from amazon.com or deepdiscount.com now.