Deadly Manor

Several college-age ‘kids’ spend the night in a spooky manor. What could go wrong?

Six youths on their way to an elusive lake in upstate New York pick up a dubious hitchhiker and are eventually compelled to stay at a remote, dilapidated mansion in the sticks. Will they make it out alive?

"Deadly Manor” (1990) combines 80’s slasher with spooky house à la "Hell Night" (1981). Coming out ten years after the seminal “Friday the 13th,” it’s rather late in the game but fans of those movies and “Tourist Trap” (1979), "The Funhouse" (1981), "The Prowler" (1981), "Frightmare" (1983), "Zombie High" (1987) and "Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil" (1991) should appreciate it even though it ranks with the least of em’. Like "Slugs" (1988), it’s a Spanish production shot in the USA.

Some critics understandably complain that the going is slow but, despite some dubious make-up at the end, I felt the flick works up some nice spookiness, as well as some quality mystery in regards to what’s going on at the remote, rundown manor. Clark Tufts stands out in the cast as Jack, looking like a rock star.

The female cast consists of Claudia Franjul (Helen), Liz Hitchler (Susan) and Kathleen Patane (Anne), but the highlight is Jennifer DeLora, who shows up around the midway mark. Speaking of whom, she appears nude in one sequence, as well as in photos. There’s additional overt nudity involving several bike enthusiasts, mostly in the form of old photos. Just a heads up.

The film runs 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot at Hillburn Manor, a derelict 100-year-old mansion in Suffern, New York, that was demolished after the film was shot in five weeks around September, 1989. Suffern is located about 40 minutes north of Manhattan near the border of northeastern New Jersey.

GRADE: B-