After landing a coveted job at Micro-Digitech, hotshot engineer Matt Winslow (
ROBERT URICH) packs his wife (
JOANNA CASSIDY) and kids (
BARRET OLIVER &
SOLEIL MOON FRYE) in a station wagon and relocates to them a Californian suburban outpost not unlike the neighborhood featured in
POLTERGEIST. What differentiates this adobe-shingled enclave from other similarly set horror flicks is the inclusion of a very exclusive country club known as Steaming Springs. Matt's college pal and work colleague Tom Peterson (
JOE REGALBUTO of TV's
MURPHY BROWN fame) and his wife Mary (
BAD SEED bad ass
PATTY McCORMACK) are all up in the Winslow family grill about taking a membership at Steaming Springs. Problem is, Matt has his misgivings after meeting the club's creepy proprietress Jessica Jones (
SUSAN LUCCI), and would rather perfect his thermal spacesuit than keep up with the Petersons. Behind his back, his wife and kids join the club and Matt begins to notice troubling changes in their behavior. Wife Pat becomes insatiable in the bedroom, and obsessed with lacquer-coated home furnishings; the kids grow distant and banish the family dog from the house. Matt finally realizes that his real family has fallen prey to the membership drive of Steaming Springs, and dons his thermal spacesuit to save them from the evil clutches of Jessica Jones. Directed by horror maestro
WES CRAVEN,
INVITATION TO HELL falls short, literally, in the casting choice of
SUSAN LUCCI. While she might come across as larger than life as Erica Cane on the long-running soap
ALL MY CHILDREN,
LUCCI's diminutive stature, and even lesser acting abilities, are dwarfed by that of
URICH and
CASSIDY.
INDELIBLE SCENE(S):
- The opening sequence involving the hit-and-run of Jessica Jones
- Pat becomes a super freak and scratches the insignia of Steaming Springs into Matt's shoulder
- Matt is attacked by his children's evil doppelgangers, and SOLEIL MOON FRYE channels the voice of MERCEDES McCAMBRIDGE's DEMON
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