Finally! An obscure video-nasty worthy of its reputation!

Coventry

The notorious "video-nasties" formed a rather ambiguous milestone period in the horror genre. From one viewpoint, still now it's an excellent checklist for horror fans to use and track down as many rare flicks as possible with a questionable reputation. On the other hand, however, this exact same list contains way too many titles that should have been long forgotten by now, but instead gained a totally undeserved cult reputation. "Night Warning" is the exception to this rule, actually. Here we finally have a video-nasty that is raw, creepy and genuinely unsettling, yet it's totally unknown and nearly impossible to find. The film can be described best as some kind of demented soap opera with truly disturbing themes and the absolute most offensive one-liners you're likely hear ever. Mrs. Cheryl Roberts stands as one of the craziest ladies cinema, as her devotion for her 17-year-old nephew Billy is rather unhealthy and, well, actually quite sick! After the death of his parents when Billy was just 3 years old (in a very suspicious car accident, I may add), aunt Cheryl raised him. But now little Billy is growing up fast and aunt Cheryl loses her last bit of sanity when he becomes an independent young man and intimate with girls his own age. When she murders a plumber and tricks Billy into believing he attempted to rape her, the rather unorthodox police inspector Carlson starts digging into the family's past. The film isn't really that gory, apart from a couple of moments, but the tone and atmosphere are quite unsettling. Bo Svenson portrays the most memorable character; the cop who's even crazier than auntie Cheryl herself. He's a severely homophobic, perverted, racist, obnoxious and downright mad copper that rather neglects all the evidence in the murder case just to obtrude his own twisted world perspectives on his suspects. "Night Warning" is a lot more intelligent, progressive and experimental than it looks and it's definitely a couple of classes above your average 80's slasher in which barely dressed prom queens are running around screaming their guts out. It's a sick-spirited but intriguingly curious oddity that just demands a proper re-release on DVD.

score 8/10

Coventry 6 November 2006

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1515515/