Main Cast: Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, Severn Darden, Jeffrey Tambor, Kari Michaelsen
Release Year: 1981
Country: US
Run Time: 75 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
In this early '80s send-up of venerable horror clichés, Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss star as John and Mary, an ordinary couple who inherit a mysterious house from a deceased uncle. Along with kids Debbie (Kari Michaelsen) and Billy (Kevin Brando), they move into the musty mansion, unaware that vampire Waldemar (Jeffrey Tambor) and his wife are desperately seeking an ancient book housed within its walls. Soon, Billy finds the book and learns that opening it releases an assortment of scary creatures. John and Mary, however, refuse to believe Billy's tall tales, not even after Mary ends up with puncture marks in her neck and an aversion to normal food. Soon, a mer-man is stalking Debbie in the bathtub, relatives are disappearing and monsters have taken over the house. Help arrives in the form of the wise Van Helsing (Severn Darden) -- or does it? Saturday the 14th provided the directorial debut for veteran horror screenwriter Howard R. Cohen, who would return to the same territory with 1988's Saturday the 14th Strikes Back. Benjamin, who is married to Prentiss in real life, also appeared in the horror satire Love at First Bite. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Kevin Brando - Billy; Nancy Andrews - Yolanda; Craig Coulter - Duane; Roberta Collins - Cousin Rhonda; Thomas Newman - Cousin Phil; Rosemary de Camp - Aunt Lucille; Annie O'Donnell - Annette; Carol Androsky - Marge; Stacy Keach - Attorney; Paul "Mousie" Garner - Major; Irwin Russo - Truck Driver; Patrick Campbell - Mailman; Michael Miller - Ernie Muldowney
Credit
Arlene Alen - Art Director, Jeff Begun - Co-producer, Nicole Scott - First Assistant Director, Howard R. Cohen - Director, Kent Beyda - Editor, Joanne D'Antonio - Editor, Mary Waid - Hair Styles, Parmer Fuller - Composer (Music Score), Kathryn Miles Logan - Makeup, Daniel Lacambre - Cinematographer, Marie Consiglio - Production Manager, Julie Corman - Producer, Ronald Judkins - Sound Mixer, Ronald Judkins - Sound/Sound Designer, Joanne D'Antonio - Sound Editor, Michael Sloan - Sound Editor, Jeff Begun - Screen Story, Jeff Begun - Screenwriter, Howard R. Cohen - Screenwriter, Nicole Scott - Production Coordinator, Veronica Flynn - Script Supervisor, Jude Parker - Second Assistant Director, Roger Jans - Still Photographer, Sarah Bardo - Costume/Wardrobe, Connie Sech - Costumes Assistant, Alan Toomayan - First Assistant Editor, Mark Lione - First Assistant Editor, John Wright - Set Decorator
An all-American family inherits a deceased uncle's house. John (Richard Benjamin) and Mary (Paula Prentiss) together with their daughter Debbie (Kari Michaelsen), and son Billy (Kevin Brando) then move into the house. Waldemar (Jeffrey Tambor), a vampire figure, and Yolanda (Nancy Andrews), his wife, want desperately to get into the run down house because it contains a book of evil.
Billy finds the mysterious book Waldemar and Yolanda are after. He opens it and reads of a curse hanging over the date of Saturday the 14th. As he turns the page a monster is unleashed, and with each turn another disappears from the page and is materialized within or outside the home. The house is soon swarming with monsters. Soon strange things start happening: eyes appear in John's coffee, sandwiches are eaten, the television tunes into The Twilight Zone only, dirt is found in Mary's bed, dishes get done by themselves, neighbors disappear. As this is happening, neither John or Mary suspect anything, blaming things on a lack of curtains.
Waldemar gets into the house by turning into a bat. Mary keeps hearing noises at night which she thinks are owls, but are the sounds of Waldemar as the bat outside her window. John hires an exterminator to get rid of the owls. The exterminator is actually Van Helsing (Severn Darden), who is also after the book of evil in the house.
John and Mary begin planning a house warming party on Saturday the 14th. Guests arrive but can not leave. When they try, a large storm appears outside the door. As the night unfolds the monsters begin to off the guests one by one. Eventually a duel between Van Helsing and the vampire erupts where it is discovered that Van Helsing is after the book in order to rule the world. The vampire Waldemar is actually trying to prevent this from happening. Good wins over evil, as Van Helsing and the monsters are defeated. The family ends up in an upscale all-American looking home while Waldemar and Yolanda keep the original house as their own.
