Review of One Dark Night (1982) by Jonathan Y — 13 Mar 2014

Tom McLoughlin's modestly ambitious supernatural chiller/zombie flick not only delivers the icky goods, it's also a surprisingly polished and effective little gem. McLoughlin milks the film's ominous mortuary setting for all it's worth, while tight editing and gruesome makeup effects help make 'One Dark Night' a uniquely morbid and original horror movie.

Sure, it's got some oddball dialogue and occasionally clumsy dubbing (Adam West's lines seem to be coming from two different sound booths), but rather than being a detriment, the rough edges somehow only add to the charm.

Plus, the well-staged climactic zombie attack is truly memorable, a sort of low-rent version of the corpses-amuck climax of Tobe Hooper's 'Poltergeist'.