A quick glimpse at the cast for this film would make any horror fan giddy with glee. The actual movie doesn't live up to those high expectations, but it's far from being all bad. Desi Arnaz Jr. (!) plays an author who makes a crazy $20,000 bet with his publisher that he could write a great novel in only 24 hours. To do so, the publisher gives him the keys to an old abandoned house where he won't be disturbed. Not true. Once he gets there he is interrupted by a multitude of guests including a family which consists of John Carradine, Sheila Keith, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price. They are gathered there in a twisted family reunion to release their brother from the room he's been imprisoned in for forty years. Even Christopher Lee drops by as Corrigan, the man who has just purchased the house. Soon, they realize that the caged brother is loose and out for revenge. What a great plotline and what a dream cast! This movie should have been a hell of a lot better. It's hard to pinpoint the exact problems with the film, but I would venture to say that the lack of lighting was a major fault. Sure the house has no electricity but I think they took the title of the movie a little too literally. Scenes after scenes are barely visible and the actors' faces are undecipherable. Only the moments in the main dinning hall are well lit. Also, the great actors are given very little to do. Cushing gets a few chuckles as the scared brother but Price, Lee and especially Carradine are somewhat wasted here. Well, at least Price gets the best line of the film `Please don't interrupt me while I am soliloquizing.' And on the plus side, the story has enough twists and turns throughout to keep one`s interest and the ending, while a bit of a cop-out, manages to surprise.
1:...And All Through the House这个故事讲述一名在圣诞前夕谋杀了自己丈夫的女子正在处理尸体之际,曾在广播中报道过的一名有着强烈杀人倾向并乔装成圣诞老人的模样变态却逃窜到她家附近,而这时的她却无法报警....2:Reflection of Death一名男子为了私奔,不惜抛妻弃子,深夜与情人驾车逃离本来的居处,可是在路上却发生了令人异想不到的恐怖事件,这个故事十分精彩,后期的《小岛惊魂》,甚至是《死神来了》等很多恐怖片的灵感来源都可以在这个故事里得到充分体现3:Poetic Justice讲述两名冷酷势力的父子,为了赶走他们一向讨厌的邻居,用尽残忍冷酷的手段而逼死他人并最终得到报复的故事,这个故事非常传统,剧情也几近老套,但是由于老牌演员Peter Cushing那令人惊叹,入木三分的表演而提高到了另一个层次,让观众深深为故事里那位受尽排挤,但却善良孤独的老人而同情悲愤。
遥远星系发生叛乱,银河共和国被推翻,奥尔德兰星的莉亚公主(卡里•费什尔 Carrie Fisher 饰)领导抵抗组织对抗银河帝国,却不幸被银河帝国的维德勋爵(大卫•普劳斯 David Prowse 饰)所俘。机器人R2-D2携银河帝国新武器“死星”的结构图与同伴翻译机器人C-3PO逃至塔图因星,途中被加瓦人抓住卖给青年卢克•天行者(马克•哈米尔 Mark Hamill 饰)的叔父。在卢克的帮助下,众人阴错阳差找到了隐居的绝地武士欧比-旺•肯诺比(亚历克•吉尼斯 Alec Guinness 饰)。欧比-旺交给卢克绝地之道,并带卢克与两机器人到港口城市茅斯伊斯垒,雇佣走私者韩•索罗(哈里森•福特饰)的千年隼飞船前往奥尔德兰……本片获第50界奥斯卡最佳艺术指导,最佳服装设计,最佳视觉效果,最佳剪辑,最佳原创音乐,最佳声效六项大奖及特殊贡献奖(本•伯特 Ben Burtt),并获最佳电影,最佳男配角(亚历克•吉尼斯),最佳导演(乔治•卢卡斯),最佳原创电影音乐四项提名。