By Melissa Antoinette Garza
There are not many Thanksgiving horror films out there. Thankfully, one of the few we do have, HOME SWEET HOME (1981) is a wonderful train wreck of insanity. It’s not subtle and it’s not high-brow. It’s over-the-top lunacy done with a self-awareness that makes for some hilarious moments. If you need an escape from the family for a bit, dive into this cult classic as it is currently chilling on YOUTUBE.
Muscular alpha-male Jay Jones (Jake Steinfeld) is not a mentally sound man. He has struggles. For example, he’s hooked on drugs, has horrible anger issues followed by bouts of boisterous laughter, killed his parents and just escaped a mental institution. He also killed and maimed a few guys on his way out See, the boy has struggles and obviously our rehabilitation programs leave a lot to be desired. What an indictment on our health system! Sure, let’s go with that. I want to be on Jay’s side!
Worse, it’s Thanksgiving. He has enough stress and with the holidays here, it’s no wonder that the first guy to offer him a beer gets dragged out of his car and strangled to death. In his defense, the guy was in a car while drinking. He wasn’t driving, but who knows what his plan was. Maybe, Jay prevented a drunk-driving accident by killing that guy. It’s possible. You don’t know!
An announcement on the radio comes thru advising that Jones is a dangerous dude who could be on PCP. Hmmm – maybe he just needs drug counseling. Has anyone tried that? That could be why he finds it so amusing when he mows people down in his car and blood spatters across the windshield. I’m not the best on appropriate social reactions, but I think cracking up in hysterical laughter when you hit someone with a car isn’t the correct reaction. Then again, I’m not a doctor and I don’t have a medical journal handy so I don’t want to judge poor Jones too harshly.
As Jay is killing his way home, a group of friends and family get together to celebrate Thanksgiving at Harold Bradley’s (Don Edmonds) place. Accompanying him are his girlfriend Linda (Sallee Young), his young daughter Angela (Vinessa Shaw) and his son Mistake (Peter De Paula) who wears mime style make-up, rocks a guitar, practices magic and is a proud member of the KISS army. He’s a sad little man who is trying way too hard, but he’s a good brother.
Couples, Scott (David Mielke)& Jennifer (Colette Trygg), and Wayne (Charles Hoyes) & Maria (Lisa Rodriguez) join Linda’s best friend Gail (Leia Naron) rounding out the group. Maria annoys everyone playing folk music on guitar while Wayne cheers her on. He’s somewhat supportive, but mostly a douche.
Jones continues his joyous bloodbath to the Bradley ranch and then continues with his crazed crime-spree. One has to recognize the entertainment value that Jake Steinfeld bring to this production. His zany physical comedy routines during his murder sequences make it so much more enjoyable. Generally, I prefer whodunits, but this is one rare scenario that I’m happy we saw the killer from jump.
HOME SWEET HOME is a fun and silly flick that is 100% camp. The acting is all over the place, the tone remains light and there isn’t a genuine scare throughout. Still, it’s hilariously awesome. For the few who have seen LAS VEGAS BLOODBATH (1989) it’s a bit like that though with a higher-budget (believe it or not) and less gore.
For slightly more well-known comparisons, I’d say it sits somewhere in-between the tone of CHEERLEADER CAMP (1988) and RETURN TO HORROR HIGH (1987). It’s definitely worth the watch. It’s a horror fan light enough where those easily scared can watch and yet is still extremely amusing.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6.5/10
