Saturday the 14th

Fun horror spoof, albeit one-dimensional and underwhelming

A normal family (Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, et al.) inherits a creepy mansion in Erie, Pennsylvania, but a centuries-old vampire & his bride (Jeffrey Tambor & Nancy Lee Andrews) are also interested in the house. Severn Darden shows up as Van Helsing. Fun shenanigans ensue.

“Saturday the 14th” (1981) is comedy-horror that doesn’t spoof, “Friday the 13th,”, as the title implies, but rather Dracula flicks, “Jaws,” “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” “The Birds,” and various other creature features. The movie has a good heart and is amusing in a silly way, but the setting is limited to the mansion and the story’s not compelling enough. The potential of the script needed further milked.

Nevertheless, Kari Michaelsen as the daughter perks things up on the feminine front. She was 19 during shooting, but looks 15-16. Meanwhile Nancy Lee Andrews as the vampire bride is sharp, but not enough is done with her (she, incidentally, was engaged to Ringo Starr at one point).

The film runs 1 hour, 15 minutes.

GRADE: C