Home Sweet Home (1981) User Reviews

Yet another holiday-themed 80s slasher.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 23 February 2011]

Home Sweet Home features one of the craziest killers ever to grace a trashy 80s slasher: a musclebound escaped mental patient who injects PCP under his tongue. Within minutes, this gibbering, wild-eyed, spittle-flecked loon (overacted with relish by body-builder Jake Steinfeld) has throttled a drunk, stolen his car, and callously ploughed down an old lady as she crosses the road (leaving a bright red splash of blood all over the windshield).

Having introduced us to her drug-fuelled juggernaut of a maniac, director Nettie Peña then acquaints us with her equally memorable collection of eccentric victims-to-be who have gathered at a remote woodland ranch to celebrate Thanksgiving: lovers Scott and Jennifer (who can't keep their hands off each other), ex-record company executive Bradley (exploitation producer/actor Don Edmonds) and his big-breasted girlfriend Gail (Leia Naron), hot singing senorita Maria (Lisa Rodríguez) and her boyfriend Wayne (Charles Hoyes), Bradley's young daughter Angel (Vinessa Shaw) and his irritating teen mime-artist/magician/rock guitarist son Mistake (Peter De Paula).

With its colourful characters established, the stage is set for what could easily have been one of the most awesomely absurd slashers of all time, but what follows completely fails to capitalise on its potential for seriously demented horror (surprising considering the involvement of Don Edmonds, director of infamous Nazisploitation flick Ilsa–She Wolf of the SS, a man who knew a thing or two about trash cinema).

Rather than a smörgåsbord of exploitative excess, Home Sweet Home turns out to be a surprisingly reserved affair, with director Peña missing virtually every opportunity to deliver outrageous nudity or gore: most of the characters are dispatched without the need for expensive or time-consuming special effects (ie., they're bloodless and boring); Mistake, who is begging to be gutted like a pig from the word go, suffers a frustratingly bloodless death, electrocuted by a high voltage cable (he could have at least burst into flame or exploded as the current surged through his body); and the film's hottest babe, Maria, gets down to her bra but is killed before baring her jubblies (whereas any self-respecting movie psycho would have ripped off her underwear before delivering the death blow).

Home Sweet Home is just about worth seeing for Steinfeld's unbelievably OTT performance and De Paula's mind-bogglingly bizarre face-painted fret-board widdler, but given the promise of the off-the-wall opening scenes, it can only be viewed as a bit of a disappointment overall.

"You want a beer"?

[lost-in-limbo · 3/10 · 24 December 2016]

What did I just watch?! Another holiday day themed slasher, but this one you gotta see, to believe. It's bad, beyond bad. But it's how ridiculously stupid and inept, you're just so bemused to what you're seeing on screen. Some of the early death scenes are just laughable. That's even before the stalk and slash enters the picture. And Jake Seinfield's over-the-top killer's performance goes a long way to cementing that. Watch this buffed lunatic shooting up on PCP, while crazily laughing at every bruising encounter. However he's not the most irritating character. Yes, there's someone worse. A weird teenager decked out in what looks like mime makeup, while running around playing his electric guitar. And what type of name is Mistake? Oddly creepy character with an identity crisis. With these type of inclusions you just wonder if its definitely intentional in its attempts to raise your eye-brows.

The Bradley family and some of their friends are celebrating Thanksgiving in a remote country home. However this is disturbed when an escaped mental patient decides to crash the celebrations.

As for it being a slasher, it's fairly tame (after such a promising start) and predictably mundane. Some blood here and there. While the kills were rather daft, then actually brutal. Creativity was indeed lacking. But with such poor lighting and shooting it mostly in the dark, just made it hard to make out at times what was happening. The overwrought music on the other-hand wanted to telegraph everything. Just making sure that you knew there was evil around. Director Nettie Peña's handling is rough around the edges, as it's stingy budget shows and no tension whatsoever despite its rural forlorn location. It was dull, when it wasn't centering and using close-ups shots on the jacked-up, bodybuilding killer giggling away and carving up the guests. The rest of the cast give nothing more than disposable performances working with an inane script. There are some names like a very young Vinessa Shaw, Sallee Young (known for 1980 "Demented") and then you got all-rounder Don Edmonds (who's acting/producing on this one).

Aside for a few amusingly dumb moments, "Home Sweet Home" is a lousily plain 80s slasher turkey.

Slasher by Jake!

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 29 October 2020]

Also known as Slasher In the House, this is one of the few Thanksgiving slashers that I can think of - that said, I can tell you others are Deadly Friend, Blood Freak, ThanksKilling, ThanksKilling 3, Blood Rage, the remake of The Boogeyman, Kristy and Intensity - and it's also a section 3 video nasty, so it has that going for it.

It also stars Body By Jake star Jake Steinfeld, who legend says refuses to discuss that he was ever in this movie. Dude, if he had Cameo, I'd pay to ask about this movie every single day. He plays PCP addict Jay Jones, a guy who has already destroyed his parents.

Harold Bradley should have never made Thanksgiving dinner for the nine victims in this movie, including his heavy metal son "Mistake." But here we are, with car trunks getting slammed onto heads, stabbing nice young ladies and the aforementioned KISS loving son getting electrocuted.

Director Nettie Peña was an editor and associate producer on Dracula Sucks, so there's that.

This is also the first role for Vanessa Shaw, who was Allison in Hocus Pocus (and also appeared in Eyes Wide Shut, Ladybugs and the remake of The Hills Have Eyes).

Seriously, Mistake should have been the killer, or better yet, he could have just run away and survived, heading off to Wisconsin where he and Marvelous Mervo would start a band that would destroy minds and reap souls when they both weren't playing practical jokes, peeping on women and crying about how tough life was for them.

Also: more movies should have killers that inject PCP directly into their tongue before grunting like maniacs and killing everyone around them. Remember when people did PCP and would go nuts and turn into criminal supermen? Whatever happened to it after the video game NARC?

Fine

[TeacupHorror · 26 November 2009]

Home Sweet Home has its moments, but ultimately suffers from an awful story. It has some nice death scenes, but little else. Only watch if your in the mood not for a good movie but some fun scenes of death and blood. It's pretty awesome, but fails in the end. Watch only if in the mood. Most of the soundtrack s lifted from Mad Max. The plot is about a killer who escapes from the asylum and kills a bunch of people. Not much else. Very good if in the mood. A lot of good effects. Very bad acting. The killer is very buff. He is very creepy. Has a maniacal laugh. Shoots PCP in his tongue. Very bad movie, but good deaths. Fun for horror fans. I watched it on thanksgiving, where it takes place, and had a blast. No DVD available, but VHS is good.

Another dull slasher

[Tikkin · 2/10 · 16 June 2006]

The only remotely good scene in this film is when the killer mows down an old granny crossing the street. But it's downhill from there. The killer is a beefy muscle-bound type who laughs like a madman each time he kills. Nothing much really happens in the film. The killer makes his way to a house in the countryside where people are having their thanksgiving dinner, and stalks around the house in darkness slowly bumping everyone off. To cover for the lack of budget (meaning lack of gore) almost every death scene was shot in the dark. There's not even a cheesy decapitated head to laugh at. There's nothing. No entertainment value whatsoever. The stalking around in the dark is tediously dull and without suspense.

Slasher fans should avoid this unless you're a completest, in fact any sane person should avoid it. I'm starting to get sick of seeing all these "lost" slasher films that turn out to be bore-fests, why do I bother?

Home is where the Retards are...

[Coventry · 2/10 · 4 May 2008]

Sometimes when you're watching an obscure low-keyed 80's slasher and the main characters are getting introduced one by one, you simply can't wait for them to die quick and most excruciatingly painful. "Home Sweet Home" is one of them movies that exclusively features two-time loser characters. More specifically we have a big raunchy ranch full of social outcasts celebrating Thanksgiving and one seriously frenzied killer. The latter, played by Jake Steinfield who apparently is some kind of acclaimed health and fitness guru in America, just escaped from the loony bin, ran over a defenseless old lady with a stolen station car (actually the best scene in the entire film) and now he's heading for the countryside to feast his maniacal lusts on a Thanksgiving gathering of dorks. It all sounds fair enough, but "Home Sweet Home" is just another dreadful and nearly unendurable stalk-n-slash movie with no suspense whatsoever, abominable performances and – worst of all – uninspired and lame killings. The most intolerable characters is actually named Mistake and he annoys everyone, especially the viewer, with his white-painted mime face, awful guitar music, lame jokes and imbecilic magic tricks. The psychopath isn't much better, because all he ever does is showing off his biceps (impressive, of course) and laugh moronically. The dialogs are absolutely horrible. Example: "Hey, who's this beautiful bitch?" "Hi, my name's Jennifer!". Half of the film you're staring at a black screen and yet the other half is even more boring. This totally dud and cheesy turkey was the debut of beauty Vanessa Shaw ("The Hills Have Eyes", "3:10 To Yuma") but, not surprisingly, it took her another decade to find work after starring in this garbage. If you're ever wondering why so many 80's horror movies ended up in total oblivion, watch this junk and just be glad they did.

Really Bad

[janeannafoote · 5/10 · 20 October 2020]

While it's nice that someone was thoughtful enough to attempt a Thanksgiving slasher film, I doubt this is what most of us had in mind. Most of it is painfully boring and padded beyond comprehension and most of the darker scenes are impossible to see. That said, I can't lie and say that the image of a cackling body builder shooting up drugs on his tongue and running over little old ladies in the street isn't incredibly entertaining.

A definite thanksgiving turkey

[acidburn-10 · 1/10 · 25 November 2009]

Oh my god what a bad bad movie, Christ out of all the bad 80's Slasher's I mean this has to be the worst, worse than stinkers like Don't Go Into The Woods Alone, Scream (1980), The Forest and well you get the idea. After seeing many Holiday Slashers, it occurred to me that I've never seen one about Thanksgiving yet and that's what attracted me to this disgrace of a movie.

The acting well don't get me started, the killer whatever his name is was just awful not even a hammy campy awful, just plain awful and keeps making these stupid growling noises and as for the rest of the cast, well that guy who wears white make up and annoys everybody with a guitar was just terrible and I was only happy when he finally gets killed off, the only redeeming feature that this movie has. The movie also looks awful, definitely done on the cheap even though that's not always a bad things as several horror movies are low budget but still turn out to be great, but not this one. This one looks as if someone used a video camera and got a bunch of porn stars as actors, I mean are we really supposed to believe that these lot are related to each other, I mean I couldn't which one was which, and also the pacing and the murders are rubbish.

All in all A definite thanksgiving turkey... Stay well clear.

Home Sweet Home

[Scarecrow-88 · 3/10 · 23 November 2009]

Man o Man, if you want a turkey for Thanksgiving get a load of this joker! Just don't expect a quality, prize turkey because Home Sweet Home is as stale and bland as they come. Psycho bodybuilder Jake, after injecting PCP in his tongue(yikes!), runs over a little old lady who dropped a bag of groceries in the middle of the street, stealing a station wagon from a guy downing a beer. This loony, who escaped from an asylum(yawn), will be rudely interrupting the Thanksgiving dinner of a group gathered together for the holiday, and for the most part they're an insufferable brood you'll care little about once they are dispatched. Just get a load of the kid in white face, always fingering his guitar, annoying those he's around for kicks(..often interrupting couples while they're making out)..oh, and the dweeb performs magic tricks, too, sheesh. I gotta hand it to Jake, the dude is ripped, but, despite his impressive physique, the guy just isn't menacing..sad to say, he's right the opposite, a veritable laughing stock for a lurking madman. Despite an agreeable amount of victims to kill, Jake spends a hell of a lot of time as a voyeur looking at folks from behind the bushes or leaves from a tree. He lets out a continuous cackle when attacking or chasing victims, Jake certainly revels in ending lives. Oh, and Jake makes sure to breath really loud, I guess because his psychopath covers a wide area rather effectively while those he kills have a hard time ever reaching home, getting lost in a territory they should be rather familiar with. Amazing how practically all the cars in the movie either run out of gas or don't start. The violence is mostly off-screen, even though the nature of the attacks is sadistic. A major problem is the amount of time between each kill, and even at 80 minutes it seems to mercilessly drag.

Bradley's(Don Edmonds) ranch is the location where most of the action is supposed to take place, but Jake isn't particular in where he assaults his victims. Scott and Jennifer(David Mielke and Colette Trygg)are a kind yuppie couple who arrive at Bradley's ranch to rent an apartment, finding themselves in a fight for their lives as Jake has massacred everyone else who was to partake in the Thanksgiving festivities. They have to assume responsibility for little girl Angel(Vinessa Shaw)once her adult guardians are removed from her life thanks to Jake.

Home Sick

[zeppo-2 · 1/10 · 12 January 2007]

Wouldn't say this is the worst horror film I've ever watched but it's certainly in the running! Most truly awful films are let down in one or two departments, i.e. bad script, acting, direction, special effects, overall budget, etc. This film goes for a full house, bad in every single one!

I assume that most of the dialogue is improvised or if not, the scriptwriter is barely literate, incoherent and non-sensible. The escaped mental patient who goes on the killing spree is one of the most inane of all time. To show how deep his madness is, he just laughs insanely all the time. This points out how as an actor, just how good a bodybuilder he is.

The rest of the cast are just as bad, weekend friends who are so irritating and annoying,the guy with the Kiss make-up and guitar been the worst, how you will cheer when the killer gets hold of him. You are quite pleased when they are eventually dispatched by the killer. The ones who survive are so bland it almost defies description, when they are supposedly fighting for their lives, the raw emotion displayed is akin to rigor mortis setting in.

And the final death scene is probably the worst I've yet seen, remember when you were kids and playing cowboys & indians or soldiers, etc, and when you were shot, some kids would roll over and over as they pretended to die? This is on that level. Truly pathetic.

These people involved with this debacle should never be allowed within 100 feet of a camera ever again.

Avoid at all cost.

A terrible, terrible student film

[stefanbain · 1/10 · 7 September 2007]

This is one of the worst movies ever made. Not 'fun' bad, just plain awful. It is about a man who escapes from prison. He was there for killing his parents. He shoots up some PCP and goes on a strung-out killing spree. The victims are comprised of these very annoying characters who gather at a home for Thanksgiving. They are so annoying and poorly acted that you can't wait for the killing to begin. The acting is worse than anything one can see in bad porn, the editing is choppy, the audio is poor, the dubbing does not sync up, the art direction consists of spatters of novelty blood. The killer actually spends the last part of the movie with a big butcher knife sticking out of his back...why didn't he die? The PCP, of course...that stuff makes you, like, live man. In the end credits the director/editor thanks her Dr. parents (for the funding?) and her College film school. Watch this only as an example of 'How not to make movies."...the killer looked good in his tight jeans, though.

Has its moments.

[shuklavinash · 8/10 · 21 January 2012]

Home Sweet Home remains an underrated slasher today, but I am here to justify its uniqueness till date. The early 80s gave us several slashers, some of which were ahead of their time, while the others were considered mediocre. Comparing these mediocre ones with the best slasher films of today, I can surely say that the ones we have now are nothing more than over-gory scare whimpers. For instance, there was nothing special about Zombie's Halloween or the House of Wax remake. Today the slashers underestimate the charisma of atmospheric tension, which is far better than the blood spilled on floor and spotted on walls. You see, blood is not the only element that induces horror. If the blood alone could have done everything, we wouldn't be cursing Nick Palumbo for his hyper-egoistic trash 'Murder-Set-Pieces'. Home Sweet Home was released at the time when the industry was employing different fictional slashers to capture the market. Some were lucky enough to create a buzz and spawned numerous sequels, while the unlucky ones became forgotten gems and are worth more value now. The over-mining of Horror gave us several memorable movies like The Beyond, The Burning, Cannibal Ferox, Bloody Moon, Dead and Buried, Evil Dead, Dark Night of the Scarecrow and so many others. It is quiet certain that most of them didn't allow certain others to ensue cult following, but the quickly overlooked ones like Home Sweet Home now seem like a breath of fresh air that have both indigenous moments and considerable amount of terror.

The Bradleys have a family gathering on Thanksgiving at their ancestral home in the countryside. A giggling homicidal killer (Jake Steinfield) is on loose and unfortunately stumbles over the Bradleys. A game of cat and mouse begins when the family members are stalked one by one and meet grisly deaths at the hands of maniac. At last a couple and their daughter are left to face the insane murderer.

So what makes this movie work? Very simple, The Atmosphere. The film is noted for portraying some brutal deaths which force the viewers to sympathize with the poor victims. A family juggler, who revels others laugh at his infantile activities is manhandled and gruesomely killed. The location of Bradley house does most of the work as we can easily guess that their home is away from any help. The psychopath takes delight in killing and torturing his victims. He is homicidal and cunning and has the body of a giant. Don't you see this as a fatal combination? Most of the stalking scenes are great and have been filmed with the maniac's viewpoint. This makes the viewers stay with the killer most of the time, and watch 'themselves' doing all the murders. Some scenes like the women being chased and ripped apart and the car bonnet scene, where Bradley Sr. is crumpled under the bonnet, when the maniac jumps over it like a toad. Like most of the slashers, HSH seems to have been produced at an ultra-low budget, but when it comes to authenticity, this is a genuine slasher with those moments that the slasher buffs crave for. I would suggest all the lovers of the classic slashers to go for it, because you won't be disappointed. Jake Steinfield as the homicidal maniac is excellent. His aggressive looks, giggle-infested murders, menacing advancements and forceful gestures make HSH a classic. Vinessa Shaw as small Angela is worth a watch. Who knew that this 5 year old little girl would play a nice part in Alexander Aja's The Hills Have Eyes remake?

Gore lovers may find HSH uninteresting, but I think that a horror film succeeds in its attempt to scare you, when you are disturbed by it. If you can afford to take some extra tension on a dull weekend, this might be the stuff you're looking for, and if you're still not sure what 'atmosphere' means, I suggest you to watch Kubrick's The Shining, Hooper's TCM, and Carpenter's Halloween that are almost gore-free, but set an intense atmosphere you would never ever like to be a part of, and the one that would rule your senses forever.

At least the annoying guy got killed!

[Bezenby · 6/10 · 25 August 2012]

Surely telling you the annoying guy got killed isn't a spoiler! I mean, the film itself sets up all these potential sex scenes, and then this guy dressed like a KISS member, playing a guitar, shows up and ruins everything. I was more worried that he wouldn't survive until the killer turned up!

The killer is a buffed up muscle man who shoots PCP under his tongue and laughs all the time. In the first few minutes he kills a drunkard and runs over an old woman. If you like watching serious slasher flicks then you might as well give up on this one because the tongue is rigid within the cheek. With the guitar playing moron (named Mistake), the fat business partner and the wailing Latin lady, this film is played for fun and not much else.

Truly, it ain't a classic by all means, but when one of the potential 'heros' syphoned gasoline from another car, then gets crushed when the killer jumps on him, you're not talking about high class cinema, but I couldn't help but like this (really) stupid film. At least you can watch it in the knowledge that the really annoying characters (namely Mistake) are going to be killed. I was surprised the killer just didn't shove that guitar right up his arse, because that's what I wanted to do!

An average slasher film, but it's aware of the cheese level, and wallows in it, and it's worth a watch at least.

Psycho Jerk in the worst way.

[loomis78-815-989034 · 1/10 · 15 March 2014]

A musclebound psycho jerk (Future trainer to the stars and bodybuilding guru Jake Steinfeld in a truly embarrassing performance) runs down grandmothers with his car and crashes a thanksgiving dinner party in the woods. If you look up "worthless slasher film" in the dictionary you may see this film listed there. This film has all the ingredients for a terrible slasher film. A truly ridiculous killer who yells and screams instead of stalks and slashes. Annoying characters played by grade Z actors. Not a drop of originality, inspiration, suspense, scares, tension, or effects. There isn't a moment of fear waiting inside this empty horror film for anyone. Jake Steinfeld as the slobbering killer would eventually challenge Hollywood's stars to be their best, in this film he challenges you to see if you can sit through all of it without busting your TV into a million pieces.

Maniacal Laughter?

[horns-1 · 30 May 2003]

Haw-hee hee-ha-ha-ha heh-heh haw-he-he-ha-ha . . . terrible. SLASHER IN THE HOUSE, or HOME SWEET HOME (words which are supposedly tattooed on the killer's hand, why?), has got to be the worst of the worst in the slasher/horror genre. As a horror collector myself, the only value in this one is the appearance of actress Vinessa Shaw in her first movie playing the little girl, Angel. She went on to be quite popular. Although, it's probably one of the lousiest child roles I've seen.

Throw out the script here. Heck, what script? Why would this production team even have needed Thomas Bush's screenplay to shoot this film? Jeez, the better question: Why did Thomas Bush write it in the first place?! Though this may sound a bit harsh, I'm sure if you see this film you'll find you agree. The dialogue is horrible and its delivery is forced. It would have been better if the whole thing was ad-libbed. Normally I don't mind wooden acting, bad lines, etc., and I've seen lots of cheesy Bs, but this one takes the cheesecake. It annoyed the h@*! outta me.

SPOILERS (which in this case is an "oxymoron")

The killer, Jake Steinfeld, is exceptionally bad in the part. I can just hear the director saying, "Okay, Jake, just be as crazy as you'd expect an escaped murderous mental patient to be. ACTION!" Then Jake starts laughing. And it's not good, people, believe me, it's not good. Honestly, I think he's been scarier in those infomercials he's done. Now, granted, it's not a challenging role to begin with, little dialogue and such, but I think the bulk of character believability rested on Jake's shoulders and he let it roll off. Little kids playing monster in their backyards do a better job. Kane Hodder as Jason and Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface are two examples of what one can do with such a part. Jake sucks, to put it plainly. There's a mime/magician running around with a guitar and portable amp being chased by everyone, a few pretty girls, ugly guys, two unbelievable cops, bad camera shots, lame gore, and Jake stupidly laughing. There's also an unbelievable death scene where Jake, grunting, jump-rolls on the hood of a car while the victim is stealing a battery thereby killing him. Bull&@#!, if that would've killed someone then I'm Michael Jackson.

Really, this is a film for the serious collector only, the kind that must have everything, even the worst. For anyone else, forget it. You've been warned.

Never seen anything like this before!!

[natashabowiepinky · 4/10 · 13 July 2013]

In a startling twist of originality, we have ANOTHER escaped looney, ANOTHER remote building full of people and ANOTHER bloody massacre. This mad dude looks like Sylvester Stallone's evil brother on steroids, and we know he's a bad 'un because in the opening credits he murders a boozer, steals the guy's car and then mows down a sweet old lady in it. Now, you don't get much more villainous than that.

It's interesting to see in these films, their idea of 'comedy relief'. Here, we have an electric guitar playing teen in mime make-up who gets in everybody's way, and an outrageously stereotypical Spanish broad with the most pronounced, loud accent since Dick Van Dyke. Alas, these so-called figures of fun are just pains in the neck, and we can't wait for them to end up on the killer's hit list. Which sadly, isn't till much later on.

There's also plenty of chasing in the dark, and typical stupid behaviour exhibited by the 'stars' of movies like this. You know... when everything points to something dodgy going-on, these bozos choose to ignore it and go and have sex, eat a meal, perform magic tricks etc. Sorry, my sympathy level for these moronic future corpses is naught. Finally, despite being shot on multiple occasions and stabbed in the back, do you think Mr Muscles eyes will flick open just when everyone believes he's brown bread? Well, do ya?! 4/10

Thanksgiving slasher movie that is all turkey

[Stevieboy666 · 4/10 · 7 September 2021]

A musclebound, PCP injecting, laughing maniac escapes from a mental institution in Southern California and targets a ranch where a group of family and friends have gathered for Thanksgiving. This is a bad movie but two characters ensure that it remains in the memory as opposed to being instantly forgotten. Firstly the killer. Jay Jones (Jake Steinfeld), no back story is given but how many other psychos laugh out loudly when committing cold, senseless murder? The film has an adequate kill count, some are reasonable bloody, others - such as death by car engine bonnet - are laughable. The second character is one of the Thanksgiving group, a kid (who looks like he was well in his 20's or older) called Mistake (Peter De Paula), he wears mime artist facial make-up and holds an electric guitar throughout his screen time. He is very annoying but also amusing in equal amounts, trust me if you enjoy bad movies then Home is worth watching just to see these two. Overall the acting and script is bad, the lighting is poor, not helped by my low quality DVD. In Britain the VHS found itself as a Section 3 Video Nasty back in the 1980's, meaning the police could confiscate it, however it was never prosecuted for obscenity. Reality is it is fairly tame when compared to many other slasher movies. My review is based on a two viewings and I actually enjoyed more the second time. If you enjoy movies that are fun because they are so bad then I would recommend this one. Ha, ha, ha, ha!

Bodies by Jake

[NoDakTatum · 1/10 · 7 October 2023]

This silly slasher flick is notable for exercise guru Jake Steinfeld's awful turn as the killer. In an isolated ranch house, a group of friends gather for a big meal. I see turkey, I see cranberry sauce, but no one ever mentions the word "Thanksgiving." The characters include a Mexican singer, her blustery boyfriend, a little girl, a record exec, his girlfriend, another woman, and a golden blonde couple who are the obvious heroes. Oh, I forgot the exec's son- a talking mime who plays an unplugged electric guitar. You want him to be the first to die, but we don't get everything we wish for. Everyone is dispatched one by one in the course of the evening.

While car trouble has long been a staple of this type of film, this is not satisfied with one breaking down. We have TWO cars not start, meaning the victims, I mean occupants, must get out, and walk, and die. Everyone is killed by Jake, who sports David Hasselhoff's "Knight Rider"-era hair and a big knife. The gore consists of fake blood, liberally spilled. Not only is the production amateurish, so is the post-production, as most of the dialogue, and Jake's maniacal laugh, are dubbed. The silliest aspect of the film is the amount of characters who go "looking" for other characters. Half the cast leaves and is killed, and the remaining survivors come up with the worst excuses for where they could be. How many Thanksgiving meals are interrupted by sudden trips to the local bar to watch the big game?

If you want to pity anyone (besides me for sitting through this), pity the little girl who at one point is abandoned in a dark room with killer Jake. Only after the heroic couple vacate the premises do they decide they should probably try to retrieve the defenseless child. It is this kind of stupidity that takes the smallest amount of campy fun out of this effort. In the end, Jake is un-killable because he is on PCP- at least it wasn't because of something dumb. "Home Sweet Home" is one unwelcome guest, skip it. Also known as "Slasher in the House" and "Bloodparty."

The worst slasher movie ever made!

[dullfinboy · 1/10 · 31 March 2013]

This was without a doubt the worst slasher movie ever made. The characters were some of the dumbest bunch of idiots in a movie ever. The acting was very bad and there was no suspense what so ever. The killer was very stupid. This had on of the most random movie openings ever. A guy is in his car and is then strangled to death by the killer. The killer injects drugs into himself the proceeds to take the car and run over an old lady. That is an indication that this movie will suck. The effects also suck. The kills were so dumb. The ending was very bad. The movie was extremely boring and not even scary. It was the worst slasher movie ever.

"Bad, But Slightly Amusing!"

[gwnightscream · 1/10 · 23 January 2014]

This 1981 horror film stars muscle trainer, Jake Steinfeld (Body By Jake) as escaped mental patient, Jay Jones who goes on a killing spree and stalks a group of people celebrating Thanksgiving. Steinfeld is creepy and humorous as the drugged up, psychotic killer with his maniacal laughing and growling. The film as well as the acting is bad, but slightly amusing which is expected by early 80's slasher/horror flicks. There are some moments which may be unintentionally funny, like the beginning with our psycho driving through an elderly woman crossing the street. I'd probably watch this at least once if you're a fan of slashers.

Bazooms

[saint_brett · 2/10 · 8 March 2023]

"Hey, you want a beer?" Johnny Knoxville asks before Lou Ferrigno bursts onto the scene and strangles him.

Isn't that the car Michael Myers escaped in?

Is he really gonna stick that needle in his mouth? I'm fast forwarding this.

The music sounds a bit 'Mad Max 2-ish' at the start here. The end credits music does as well.

You may have saw that music video by Scatterbrain where he pulls a wrestling stunt on the old lady? Which is hilarious. In this however, he rolls over the granny with his stolen ride.

Two preppy rich snobs drive on an isolated dirt road and it's kind of got a 'Friday the 13th' sequel feel about it.

Is that Dave Grohl?

What's the unusual makeup of the cast? Alaskan nomads, preppy prom king & queen, Kiss member without the star and country bumpkins.

20-minutes are wasted introducing you to the unlikeable characters but it's not explained why they're all under the same roof.

None of them have names either so it's gonna be hard 'splaining who from what? And whose kid is this?

Other than the old lady at the start turning into cream of mushroom soup there are no other high points to speak of until the 26-minute mark when Ferrigno jumps off the top rope of the ring and breaks Michael Gross' back.

The idiot with the painted face is annoying but his red marbles trick was impressive.

It saddens me to say that this movie, so far, is a few shades better than Canada's 'Things.' And that's saying something.

I was warned that this movie was flat, now I'm starting to see why.

Nothing's happening.

I know this guitar strum - it's Stairway to Heaven but tweaked to accompany The Seekers rendition of it.

"Earth angel, Earth angel, why do you eat turkey at nine at night? Isn't it past your bedtime, child?"

Movie's so dark at times I don't even know what I'm looking at.

Uninspired kills. No suspense. Poor casting with the hulking dummy as the killer. Silly laugh doesn't add to the insanity. It only makes it phony. This movie has nothing going for it. It's trying to ride off the back of the original 'Friday the 13th' and 'Halloween's' success.

Who actually owns this 'Poltergeist' child? She actually looks like Tabitha from 'Bewitched.'

At the one hour and 3-minute mark 'Home Sweet Home' has worn-out its welcome! I want out and don't care what happens for the final 20-minutes. It just doesn't hold your interest and I regret comparing it to Jason earlier.

A long, drawn-out, scene at the house sees the last remaining victims holed-up waiting for dawn to arrive, (sunrise is always your safety,) but the killer's already inside the house with them.

Did my eyes deceive me or did Blondie just knife Ferrigno in the back while her panic-stricken boyfriend grabs her and is like, "Come on, let's get out of here," and they're both out the door saving their own asses and leave Tabitha behind in the house with the killer? I know I didn't see that. Even though I did.

Blondie regrets abandoning Tabitha and decides to go back but witnesses Ferrigno sporting a knife in his back and bolts for her life a second time, leaving the parentless child behind again.

Sorry, Tabitha, but they're only thinking about themselves. Looks like you're on ya own.

That theory about women and children first went down with the Titanic according to the adults in this movie.

It's every man for themselves apparently.

Wow, how didn't Blondie win an academy award for that screaming fit at the end?

Avoid.

Addison Randall doesn't say much, and it's obviously why.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 29 April 2023]

He's a hulking escapee from a mental institution who manages to steal a car and promptly run into a sweet looking little old lady, instantly killing her. The blood on his windshield blocks his view, but he still manages to find a load of other victims, making his presence known by grunting before he attacks and laughing maniacally during and after he kills. His choice of carnage outside of the old lady are young people whom the audience roots for to get knocked off, and at least the film manages to do this in some macabre but very amusing ways. The acting is amateurish (although it appears they are trying to act rather than recite their lines in monotonic ways), but they come off annoyingly bad none the less.

There's a weird character who spends the entire in mime/clown makeup and speaks in ahideous Spanishaccent, a justifiable motive for wanting him to be bumped off. Randall's heavy breathing comes off as irritating after a while, and his character gets absolutely no back story other than the fact that he doesn't trust women. Lots of the scenes take place at night so the photography is extremely dark. Other technical aspects of the film expresses even more how truly dreadful this is.

Best Film Known to Man Kind only Zeus Himself could do better

[big_papi · 10/10 · 27 January 2006]

This film is excellent, its well acted and brilliantly made only Jesus himself could make a better film than this. The best scene in the film is Death by car bonnet, in which a character with a moustache is pulling the battery from underneath the bonnet and the killer frog splashes on top of the bonnet killing the dude. This film is well worth buying for the comedic opening scene and the frog splash death. Also the killer looked like a cross between Lou Ferengo and Nick Frost. Just imagine that the killer is the hulk on rampage mode it makes the film a lot better.

p.s. You know it makes sense all you nay sayers

Laughing psycho.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 6/10 · 6 January 2010]

A muscled mental patient escapes from an asylum and promptly starts murdering people.The killer is played by Jake Seinfeld and wears no mask or costume of any kind.He laughs almost non-stop and becomes truly insane.A Thanksgiving meal of a 'normal' American family is going to be ruined by a slasher."Home Sweet Home" is one hell of a bad film.It's very cheaply made with atrocious acting and improvised dialogue.But the killings are plentiful including running over with a car or electrocution by electric guitar.The character of mime has to be seen to be believed.He carries the guitar around with him at all times,playing it loud as he annoys everyone around him at all times.I had some fun with this inept and plot less slasher,so let's bite this turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

Turkey Of A Movie

[Ms_Carter · 3/10 · 22 November 2022]

This is a bad movie But not the worst movie I've seen The story is messy as hell and the kills are mediocre at best But I will say they give you a variety of victims and characters From middle aged adults A mime / clown / joker guitar player (all rolled into one guy) A female hispanic guitar player I guess ? (No Obliss Espanial) Police officers who seem more interested in getting laid than solving crime A little girl I'm guessing 10 or younger A POOR OLD GRANNY GETS RAN OVER AFTER DROPPING SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AND MAKES THE MOST LAUGH OUT LOUD "O" FACE JUST BEFORE GETTING KILLED THAT I'VE SEEN IN A WHILE.