Die Nacht der Apocalypse (1981)

Die Nacht der Apocalypse: Directed by Terry Bourke. With Chard Hayward, Louise Howitt, Deborah Coulls, Roger Ward. A Young woman is looking after her sister’s house, unaware that her sister and neighbor have been murdered by their handyman who also happens to be a serial killer.

“u0026quot;Lady Stay Deadu0026quot; may be the most inept horror movie Iu0026#39;ve ever seen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s the kind of movie where you stop paying attention to whateveru0026#39;s supposed to be happening on screen and start tallying off every mistake the director made.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLike when the lady discovers her neighbouru0026#39;s body hanging in his shed – why did the killer move it to such a prominent position? Could it be that the plot wasnu0026#39;t going to continue moving unless she realised heu0026#39;d been killed?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOr what about the scene where the killer and the lady are playing tug of war with a garden tool through a hole in the front door? Cuts from the killer to the lady show they are obviously holding opposite ends of something completely different. The director doesnu0026#39;t even bother to make this appear convincing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe killer, bearded and bespectacled, is the least threatening example of such a man Iu0026#39;ve ever seen in a movie. Heu0026#39;s more like Forrest Gump than Jack the Ripper; indeed, in a scene where he is supposed to be strangling somebody, you can clearly see he only has the gentlest possible grip around her neck.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe police that arrive to help her are also among the most useless Iu0026#39;ve ever seen in a film. At one point a motorcycle mounted policeman rides his bike straight at the killer with no regard to his own safety. Of course he goes flying, but on second thought this may have been the safest option for him: these police are so pathetic with guns I was waiting for the moment when one missed so badly they shot themselves in the face instead. They arrive in pairs with weaponry, and are almost immediately in the same position as the poor young girl, at the killeru0026#39;s total mercy, and youu0026#39;re thinking: donu0026#39;t they have training or something for situations like these? How can a killer this moronic immediately bring two policemen to their knees?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEvery scene of violence is so badly done you have to guess at what youu0026#39;re supposed to be seeing. Thereu0026#39;s a rape scene, for example, that looks more like the perpetrator is trying to push a couch into place. He drowns the victim, but at one point she obviously moves inside the bag sheu0026#39;s been placed inside. Is this why the movie is called u0026quot;Lady Stay Deadu0026quot;? Well, no matter, she does u0026quot;stay deadu0026quot;. The movie forgets about the fact that she is apparently still alive and does nothing with it; sheu0026#39;s a corpse in all future scenes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt defies belief that this was made by the same guy who did u0026quot;Night of Fearu0026quot; and, especially u0026quot;Inn of the Damnedu0026quot;. It also defies belief that it was made by someone who had ever directed a movie before.”