Invitation to Hell (1984)
Written By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Wes Craven
Producer: Robert M. Sertner, Frank von Zerneck
Screenwriter: Richard Rothstein
Date Released: May 24, 1984
Cast:
Robert Urich as Matt Winslow
Joanna Cassidy as Patricia “Pat” Winslow
Susan Lucci as Jessica Jones
Joe Regalbuto as Tom Peterson
Kevin McCarthy as Mr. Thompson
Michael Berryman as Valet
Patty McCormack as Mary Peterson
Rating = 2.5/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Invitation to Hell (1984) follows a family of four who moves to a suburban neighborhood in California, when Matt receives a new job to create a new space suit. But, upon adjusting to their new home, many people are trying to entice the family to join the Steaming Springs Country Club, which is a good networking and recreational place for the family. Unbeknownst to Matt, his family decides to join the club, when but they return, he notices their strange behavior. He must try to figure out what is going on with his family and the neighborhood.
Gore Factor
There is no gore in this film. The only notable scene is in the beginning when antagonist, Jessica, melts a driver with her finger after the driver accidentally runs her over. There are no other scenes that incorporate gore or blood.
The Grave Review
Invitation to Hell (1984) was an interesting story about locals being replaced with their evil counterparts because of their desire for power, money, or other pleasures. The film felt like a poor combination of Hellraiser and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. As far as Wes Craven films are concerned, this was not his best work in any respects. Specifically, the threat that the antagonist posed, and the character development felt sluggish and needed just a little more to create a more engrossing storyline.
In all fairness, main character, Matt Winslow (Robert Urich) was an interesting character. As a viewer, you wanted to know more about him and his back story. Unfortunately, the film only touched on him a little bit and never took the next step to build his character up.
In the end, the route to defeating evil was the power of family and we respect that heart-felt idea.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Invitation to Hell (1984) two and one-half graves out of five graves.
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