DIRECTED BY
John Bernard
STARRING
Shirley Jane Harris - Trish Walton
Tanya Gordon
Jayne Hutton
Heath Porter
Ken Marshall
Lindsey Reardon
[If IMDB doesn't even know who plays who, that says a lot about this film.]
Genre - Horror/Supernatural/Slasher/Demons
Running Time - 88 Minutes
I had watched this a month ago and had planned for a HIT and MISS type of review. But I pretty much repressed a majority of this film because it's pretty much garbage. So to write a detailed review about why you shouldn't see this movie is pretty much impossible at this point. Luckily during every film I plan on reviewing, I take notes about the film that help me remember important moments and where I make comments about what I liked and didn't like. So instead of a normal review, I'm going to post the notes I wrote for 1987's THE STAY AWAKE. Watch me go from interested to frustrated during the 88 minute run time.
PLOT
In 1969, some American serial killer [ who murdered 11 girls] gets ready for the gas chamber during his execution. However, he's not all that concerned about death, as he claims he won't die since he's the Angel of Darkness. He's executed and that's that.
Unfortunately, his spirit returns 19 years later - in Europe [?] where he invades an all girl's school. The girls are doing a Stay Awake [where the girls stay awake all night] to raise funds for their school. So while the girls and their teacher do aerobics, watch horror films, and make out with boys, the Angel of Darkness kills them one by one.
REVIEW
I have three words for THE STAY AWAKE:
WHAT THE FUCK!?
[ I wish I had a time clock for these notes. I apologize for that]
- Opening scene: Killer sexually assaulted 11 women and murdered them. Gets death.
- Opening scene okay - edits between execution and victims.
- Somewhat eerie score and okay soundtrack with doowop, hair metal, and jazz.
- "Angel of Darkness" - goes from human voice to demonic one out of the blue
- Dies in 1969 American, travels to 1988 Europe - WTF? Why would he do that???
- St. Mary's Girls School - girls doing aerobics - uh huh.
- Aerobics scene is like 5 fucking minutes. What is the point of this?
- Travelling POV shots.
- One of the girls is scolded for being " fat" - She's not and actually looks decent. [Bitches]
- Boombox explodes and melts. Ghost laughs.
- Girls watch a horror film on TV. Teacher joins them.
- More POV shots with growling and weird sounds.
- A rat gets killed for no reason.
- School reminds me of the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" video.
- More POV shots. Why not?
- Even more POV shots. Oh c'mon!
- Girls play dead to scare Ms. Walton. Scene plays out way too long.
- Four dudes enter film and trespass on school grounds.
- The Stay Awake is supposed to raise school funds - by doing what exactly?
- Girls playing volleyball. Sigh.
- " It smells like the ass-end of a camel..." - LMFAO
- 40 minutes in. NOTHING INTERESTING HAS HAPPENED!!!
- The worst thing these girls do: smoke cigarettes. Rebels.
- Cross on Ms. Walton's necklace scares the Angel of Darkness away.
- Girls shower scene. No nudity whatsoever. What's the point? Could have made this film better.
- Another POV shot, this time done in Sam Raimi THE EVIL DEAD style.
- Goof: One girl in shower wearing something covering her breasts. Great direction, numbnuts.
- Old man on grounds gets heart pulled out of his chest. It still beats afterwards.
- Girls talk about sex and boys. I thought this film was called THE STAY AWAKE, because this is boring me to sleep?
- The Angel of Darkness sounds like a mix of a crying baby and a meowing cat. I don't know if I should be disturbed, or laugh my ass off.
- Use of slow motion.
- Hose wraps around one girl's neck and kills her.
- Demon pops up. Strangles Alison's boyfriend with a tentacle.
- Ghost appears in human form with red eyes. Kills Alison, who looks like a man.
- TERRIBLE ACTING!!!
- Expository dialogue about Alison and Jason. Abortion and stuff. Why is this necessary?
- College boys dress in costume to scare girls.
- Angel of Darkness kills the college boys in demon form, strangling them with tentacles. One boy gets head squashed into the wall.
- Two other girls get murdered, I guess. Bad editing.
- Token black girl finally says something 61 MINUTES into the film, where she's been in since the beginning of the film.
- Token black girl runs away from group. She's grabbed by a tentacle but the cross on her necklace save her life.
- Token black girl asks for help. Ms. Walton and the other girls don't seemed bothered by her pleas. They leave her behind and go the opposite way. Stay classy.
- Girls don't seem to respond or react believably when the Angel of Darkness addresses them out of sight. FUCK THIS SHIT.
- The Angel of Darkness melts a phone. This movie is melting my brain.
- More POV shots. Fuck me.
- Dead girls become the Brides of Darkness. Um okay.
- Car explodes. I'm almost there.
- Girls decide to fight Angel of Darkness by hurling javelins towards him. Why do I bother sometimes?
- Fake ass puppet monster. Man in rubber suit.
- Fake ass puppet monster tries to burn Ms. Walton, but fails at his job.
- Ms. Walton, even though monster is chasing after her and trying to kill her, does a total costume change. Frizzed her hair too. REALLY??????
- Ms. Walton and the fake ass puppet monster don't behave realistically - almost robotic.
- Killed fake ass puppet monster with acid supposedly.
- Nope, still alive.
- Ending DRAGS.
- Demon gets burnt to a crisp.
- Girls are okay with what they just experienced, smiling and laughing. HUH?
- Love song plays during the end credits. FUCK THIS MOVIE.
THE FINAL HOWL
Avoid THE STAY AWAKE like the plague. Don't stream it. Don't rent it. Don't watch it. Just forget it even exists - unless you need a quick cure for insomnia. Just a God-awful exercise of boredom, misery, and frustration. For a film caled THE STAY AWAKE, it'll do the opposite. Absolute garbage.
John Bernard
STARRING
Shirley Jane Harris - Trish Walton
Tanya Gordon
Jayne Hutton
Heath Porter
Ken Marshall
Lindsey Reardon
[If IMDB doesn't even know who plays who, that says a lot about this film.]
Genre - Horror/Supernatural/Slasher/Demons
Running Time - 88 Minutes
I had watched this a month ago and had planned for a HIT and MISS type of review. But I pretty much repressed a majority of this film because it's pretty much garbage. So to write a detailed review about why you shouldn't see this movie is pretty much impossible at this point. Luckily during every film I plan on reviewing, I take notes about the film that help me remember important moments and where I make comments about what I liked and didn't like. So instead of a normal review, I'm going to post the notes I wrote for 1987's THE STAY AWAKE. Watch me go from interested to frustrated during the 88 minute run time.
PLOT
In 1969, some American serial killer [ who murdered 11 girls] gets ready for the gas chamber during his execution. However, he's not all that concerned about death, as he claims he won't die since he's the Angel of Darkness. He's executed and that's that.
Unfortunately, his spirit returns 19 years later - in Europe [?] where he invades an all girl's school. The girls are doing a Stay Awake [where the girls stay awake all night] to raise funds for their school. So while the girls and their teacher do aerobics, watch horror films, and make out with boys, the Angel of Darkness kills them one by one.
REVIEW
I have three words for THE STAY AWAKE:
WHAT THE FUCK!?
[ I wish I had a time clock for these notes. I apologize for that]
- Opening scene okay - edits between execution and victims.
- Somewhat eerie score and okay soundtrack with doowop, hair metal, and jazz.
- "Angel of Darkness" - goes from human voice to demonic one out of the blue
- Dies in 1969 American, travels to 1988 Europe - WTF? Why would he do that???
- St. Mary's Girls School - girls doing aerobics - uh huh.
- Aerobics scene is like 5 fucking minutes. What is the point of this?
- Travelling POV shots.
- One of the girls is scolded for being " fat" - She's not and actually looks decent. [Bitches]
- Boombox explodes and melts. Ghost laughs.
- Girls watch a horror film on TV. Teacher joins them.
- More POV shots with growling and weird sounds.
- A rat gets killed for no reason.
- School reminds me of the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" video.
- More POV shots. Why not?
- Even more POV shots. Oh c'mon!
- Girls play dead to scare Ms. Walton. Scene plays out way too long.
- Four dudes enter film and trespass on school grounds.
- The Stay Awake is supposed to raise school funds - by doing what exactly?
- Girls playing volleyball. Sigh.
- " It smells like the ass-end of a camel..." - LMFAO
- 40 minutes in. NOTHING INTERESTING HAS HAPPENED!!!
- The worst thing these girls do: smoke cigarettes. Rebels.
- Cross on Ms. Walton's necklace scares the Angel of Darkness away.
- Girls shower scene. No nudity whatsoever. What's the point? Could have made this film better.
- Another POV shot, this time done in Sam Raimi THE EVIL DEAD style.
- Goof: One girl in shower wearing something covering her breasts. Great direction, numbnuts.
- Old man on grounds gets heart pulled out of his chest. It still beats afterwards.
- Girls talk about sex and boys. I thought this film was called THE STAY AWAKE, because this is boring me to sleep?
- The Angel of Darkness sounds like a mix of a crying baby and a meowing cat. I don't know if I should be disturbed, or laugh my ass off.
- Use of slow motion.
- Hose wraps around one girl's neck and kills her.
- Demon pops up. Strangles Alison's boyfriend with a tentacle.
- Ghost appears in human form with red eyes. Kills Alison, who looks like a man.
- Expository dialogue about Alison and Jason. Abortion and stuff. Why is this necessary?
- College boys dress in costume to scare girls.
- Angel of Darkness kills the college boys in demon form, strangling them with tentacles. One boy gets head squashed into the wall.
- Two other girls get murdered, I guess. Bad editing.
- Token black girl finally says something 61 MINUTES into the film, where she's been in since the beginning of the film.
- Token black girl runs away from group. She's grabbed by a tentacle but the cross on her necklace save her life.
- Token black girl asks for help. Ms. Walton and the other girls don't seemed bothered by her pleas. They leave her behind and go the opposite way. Stay classy.
- Girls don't seem to respond or react believably when the Angel of Darkness addresses them out of sight. FUCK THIS SHIT.
- The Angel of Darkness melts a phone. This movie is melting my brain.
- More POV shots. Fuck me.
- Dead girls become the Brides of Darkness. Um okay.
- Car explodes. I'm almost there.
- Girls decide to fight Angel of Darkness by hurling javelins towards him. Why do I bother sometimes?
- Fake ass puppet monster. Man in rubber suit.
- Fake ass puppet monster tries to burn Ms. Walton, but fails at his job.
- Ms. Walton, even though monster is chasing after her and trying to kill her, does a total costume change. Frizzed her hair too. REALLY??????
- Ms. Walton and the fake ass puppet monster don't behave realistically - almost robotic.
- Killed fake ass puppet monster with acid supposedly.
- Nope, still alive.
- Ending DRAGS.
- Demon gets burnt to a crisp.
- Girls are okay with what they just experienced, smiling and laughing. HUH?
- Love song plays during the end credits. FUCK THIS MOVIE.
THE FINAL HOWL
SCORE
I've seen this last year on YT. Nice soundtrack, cool tracking shots and a fun-looking monster - the rest is crap, especially the outstandingly stupid plot and the horrid dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI liked all those things until they got so repetitive and annoyed me. This film is just bad. Like REALLY bad. Ugh.
DeleteI must be masochistic when it comes to bad movies, because whenever I read words along the lines of "avoid The Stay Awake like the plague!", I suddenly do a Barney Stinson and basically think "challenge accepted!". haha!
ReplyDeleteHey Fred, have you ever heard of a movie called Invitation to Hell? (Not the Wes Craven one). I got a public domain horror ten-pack (comprised mainly of Price, Lee, Cushing, Lugosi and Chaney) out of the local library, and that was one the films. It's a weird, grainy, hard-as-hell-to-hear slasher film that's only 40 minutes long. I can't find anything on the internet about it.
I happen to be a masochist too, which is why I bother reviewing these terrible films.
DeleteAs for INVITATION TO HELL, I've never even heard of it until now. Is it worth checking out? Or is it terrible as well?
It's ok, but pretty boring. The film print is practically unwatchable though, thanks to totally muffled dialoge, and a blaring microphone for a soundtrack.
DeleteIt actually does have an IMDb page though. I just didn't notice it was it because the plot sounded different to what this movie seemed like (I looked at IMDb before watching all the way through the movie), and it said the movie was 74 minutes long, not 40. So there are a couple of reviews for it here and there, it's not totally undocumented.
To quote Chris and Barney: "Challenge accepted!"
ReplyDeleteJust to put things into the proper perspective again, "The Stay Awake" is still infinitely better than anything the British film industry has ever produced ! ! !. Never forget Fred, always steer well clear of British made garbage.
ReplyDelete