Sleeve Design: Unknown

Have a Nice Weekend!
 

Michael Walters | USA | 1974

This very obscure proto-slasher film, written in 1972 and directed two years later by the one-shot Michael Walters, remained in limbo until its liberation in the mid 1980s home video marketplace. Have a Nice Weekend is for the most part driven by long passages of credibility stretching dialogue, coupled with failed suspense scenes — which attempt to turn each cast member into a potential suspect. On the positive side are the film’s unusual and unique epilogue after the ‘The End’ credit, and the surprising revelation of the murderer's identity. Co-author John Byrum wrote and directed the same year’s x-rated Inserts with Richard Dreyfuss and Bob Hoskins.

Disenchanted Vietnam veteran Chris Gilbert (David Huffman) returns home requesting that the whole family meet up at their summer house, situated on a small, secluded New England island. The autumnal splendour of the surrounding woodland is quickly disturbed as the weekend's stopover breaks out into bickering, ill will, acrimony…and murder. Frank Ryan (Arthur Roberts; The House that Cried Murder), the suave family gardener to island neighbours Donald and Joan Kraft (Peter Dompe, Valerie Shepherd) is found stabbed to death in the woods. 

With no immediate contact to the outside world available, Chris aggressively assumes control of the whole group, organizing a military-style search to try to find the island’s unwelcome intruder. However, Chris’ tenure as leader is short-lived, as he is mercilessly hacked to death with a gardening hoe by the unknown assassin. When his lifeless body is found by the surviving guests, they realize to their horror that the killer must be one amongst them!

 

 

Major player in both the super 8mm and video markets, Derann’s 1984 world home video premiere of the film would have resurrected this title, but for reasons unknown the release remained a vapourware title — almost. It appears that Derann’s master was used for the Norwegian Intervideo, the US All American (a sideline of Des Dolan’s Mogul outfit) and the British release on the lowly Fright-Nite Films labels. Revealingly, both the All American and Intervideo releases still retain the Derann logo before the start of the feature.

A dreadful cover from Fright-Nite Films (which appeared to have be related to AVR Home Entertainment), must surely have helped cement the film as a total non-renter; its diffuse image of the half-smiling Chris Gilbert, superimposed over orange-red flames delivers nothing but indifference. The hyperbolic tagline of “Savage brutal and horrific” is merely confusing. 

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cast : Michael B. Miller, Peter Dompe, Arthur Roberts, Valerie Shepherd, Nikki Counselman, Colette Bablon, Pat Joyce, David Huffman, Jeanne Ruskin