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Fragasso originally wanted a psychosexual giallo flick, but the evil producer then hired the vile Mattei to finish shooting the gore scenes and slasher sequences, which would make it possible for the film to ride on the coattails of the popular Freddy Kruger movies and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. To this day, the master is still convinced that this ruined his masterpiece, but let’s just acknowledge that, due to its absurdity, Night Killer wouldn’t have been a functional movie anyway even if it had stuck to the original screenplay. With additional production touches, Night Killer offers a nonstop WTF spectacle. Horrible acting (even more obvious in the numerous sloppy one-shot scenes) is combined with atrocious dialogue. Individual sequences are strung together seemingly at random, partly with the aim of confusing viewers and concealing the final denouement, which most will figure out immediately after all of the characters have been introduced. Despite all of the anti-efforts, the film is pervaded by an aura of perversely twisted misogyny, ensuring that viewers will be disturbed by this thoroughly insipid and frequently ridiculous work. (08.01.2023)

Yet another anomaly of a movie written and directed by Claudio Fragasso (and his wife Rossella Drudi), which you can watch with quiet amazement at how anyone could have meant this seriously. Night Killer’s Italian title (Non aprite quella porta 3) leeches off Texas Chainsaw Massacre, while the killer’s appearance rips off the one in A Nightmare on Elm Street. But don't worry, the plot goes off in its own dubious way. The core of the plot is so terribly meaningless and naive that you can actually enjoy it. And should you feel that some of the murder scenes were superfluous in the context of the movie, you're right: Bruno Mattei was hired to spice the movie up by filling in the missing gore, and so he shot a few extra scenes. The acting performances are so terrible that they make you laugh out loud (yet the over-the-top Peter Hooten is totally brilliant!). For lovers of "so bad it's good" movies, Night Killer is an absolute must, as is Fragasso's notorious Troll 2 released the same year. (14.01.2020)

The Italian horror movie Night Killer is quite trashy. They made a horror movie that just blatantly ripped off anything it wanted and yet, in the end, still made something that is somewhat original. Although the acting performances are truly awful, it comes across as an utterly ridiculous movie, underneath there is a story that is not completely straightforward, so it has the right spirit at least. (26.05.2020)