Fans of "USA Up All Night" will love "Halfway House" for two reasons:
1. This campy tale about a home for wayward girls who constantly go missing has everything that those classic films of the 70s and 80s do - There's sex, violence and monsters aplenty along with enough smart, brassy dialog to fill another three films.
2. "Halfway House" is written and directed by Kenneth Hall who was no stranger to the classic late night movie show. Hall wrote "Puppetmaster" and "Nightmare Sisters" as well as directing such choice fare such as "Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout" and "Evil Spawn".
"Halfway House" takes a refreshing approach to the Women-In-Prison genre with a story about Larissa (Janet Tracy Keijser) who is searching for her sister when she goes missing after a jog by the ominous house. Larissa seduces a well-meaning but horny cop (Shawn Savage as Sgt. Dick Sheen HA!) into helping her infiltrate the house as a delinquent teen. Once inside, our Nancy Drew runs afoul of Sister Cecelia (Mary Warnov in wonderfully subtle performance) and her handyman Lutkus (the hilarious Cleve Hall, Kenneth's brother) along with a slew of sexed-up, bitchy 'inmates', who constantly try to escape the house without much success, for what lurks in the basement isn't very pretty and apparently very hungry.
Hall is in fine form here, recapturing much of what was so great about spending Friday nights glued to your TV. And like wine, he's aged well and brings a fearless sense of thematics to "Halfway House", making it a must for repeat viewings.
I caught a screening of "Halfway House" at the Valley Film Festival last year and was blown away by this independent movie's tenacity to please a crowd. Hall spoke afterward, proving he may be L.A.'s answer to John Waters smart, irreverent and completely charming, it's no wonder that his films have endured all this time. I was thrilled when I found out it was coming out on DVD in August in the uncut version I saw. Long live blood, breasts and beasts!!!
1. This campy tale about a home for wayward girls who constantly go missing has everything that those classic films of the 70s and 80s do - There's sex, violence and monsters aplenty along with enough smart, brassy dialog to fill another three films.
2. "Halfway House" is written and directed by Kenneth Hall who was no stranger to the classic late night movie show. Hall wrote "Puppetmaster" and "Nightmare Sisters" as well as directing such choice fare such as "Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout" and "Evil Spawn".
"Halfway House" takes a refreshing approach to the Women-In-Prison genre with a story about Larissa (Janet Tracy Keijser) who is searching for her sister when she goes missing after a jog by the ominous house. Larissa seduces a well-meaning but horny cop (Shawn Savage as Sgt. Dick Sheen HA!) into helping her infiltrate the house as a delinquent teen. Once inside, our Nancy Drew runs afoul of Sister Cecelia (Mary Warnov in wonderfully subtle performance) and her handyman Lutkus (the hilarious Cleve Hall, Kenneth's brother) along with a slew of sexed-up, bitchy 'inmates', who constantly try to escape the house without much success, for what lurks in the basement isn't very pretty and apparently very hungry.
Hall is in fine form here, recapturing much of what was so great about spending Friday nights glued to your TV. And like wine, he's aged well and brings a fearless sense of thematics to "Halfway House", making it a must for repeat viewings.
I caught a screening of "Halfway House" at the Valley Film Festival last year and was blown away by this independent movie's tenacity to please a crowd. Hall spoke afterward, proving he may be L.A.'s answer to John Waters smart, irreverent and completely charming, it's no wonder that his films have endured all this time. I was thrilled when I found out it was coming out on DVD in August in the uncut version I saw. Long live blood, breasts and beasts!!!