UNHINGED (1982)
Tagline: The Nightmare Begins When You Wake Up
(Horror, Drama, Mommy Dearest) [R]
Note: This movie did not get a MPA rating. It definitely would have been an [R].
It’s not that I don’t trust you, but if I’ve told you once I’ve told you a thousand times, I don’t trust that Nancy as far as I can throw her. Just because you’re away I don’t want her talking you into doing things you know you shouldn’t.
In this one college students Terry, Nancy, and Gloria are headed up to a rock concert against Nancy’s mother’s wishes. They end up encountering a rainstorm and crash the car. One of them is badly wounded and they end up looking for help. They arrive at an old estate and run into Marion and her mother Mrs. Penrose. It doesn’t take long before they notice that there is something strange going on and one of them decides to leave the house to find help. Can Terry and her friends survive the UNHINGED?
First off, some of the dialogue is very stiff, Marian and her mom look like they are reading off a teleprompter and were told to exhibit zero emotion. It is not until the final act of the movie that one of them starts displaying some sort of range emotionally. For me, this was a bit distracting, but it does add to the eeriness of this thing.
When it comes to the score, maybe it’s intentional, but it sounds like they just let someone lose in the Halloween aisle at Menards and they just went to town clicking the buttons on anything that made sound. Then they layered that over every rejected horror movie score all at once. Regarding the storyline, we do get a pretty in-depth background for both Marion and her mother. It’s probably more than the movie needed to offer, but I never complain about over-exposition.
Acting wise we get Janet Penner who was local to Oregon where this movie was filmed. She does a pretty solid job in this once the movie gets going. She was in a few horror flicks, but her biggest role was in HOMEWARD BOUND: THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY. Virginia Settle plays Mrs. Penrose the elder of the estate. Her performance is creepy as heck, but she was only in one other film aside from this. Laurel Munson plays Terry in this and is fine, but certainly not great. This was her only film ever. Sara Ansley plays Nancy who is probably my favorite character, but she doesn’t get much screen time after the first half of the movie. This was also her only role. Then rounding out the main case we have Barbara Lusch who plays Gloria. She would go on to do several TV shows and movies and as of 2018 was still acting. Her biggest film was probably the TV movie AFTER THE SHOCK.
This movie was famously part of the “video nasties” controversy in 1983 and was banned in the UK. Since that time it was later given a DVD release in 2004. To be honest, this thing wasn’t even on my radar in the 1980s and the only reason I reviewed it as part of my October horror lineup is because it was free on YouTube. The ending here is a downer, which is why I am guessing this is one of the lesser-known horror flicks of the 80s. It does have a very HIDE AND GO SHRIEK feel to it.
I didn’t hate the twist ending and I thought they did a good job of concealing what was really going on, but there is one ingredient you need to include if you want me to recommend a horror flick and this thing doesn’t have it. As a result, UNHINGED gets a 3 out of 7. If you don’t give us this very important ingredient, I can’t help you.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF ANAVISIO PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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